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WHAT'S NEW
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Are you at risk of getting diabetes?
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With Canadian diabetes rates on the rise, find out if you're at risk for developing the disease and know its signs and symptoms.
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By Heather Camlot
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The prevalence of diabetes in Ontario has increased so dramatically between 1995 and 2005 that it has already zoomed past the global rate predicted by the World Health Organization for the year 2030.
According to a study by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, the rate of diabetes increased 69 per cent, hitting nearly nine per cent of that province's population and exceeding the WHO's estimation of 6.4 per cent worldwide for the year 2030.
"Given this linear growth in prevalence of diabetes, more than 10 per cent of the adult population of Ontario will be diagnosed with diabetes before 2010," wrote lead author Dr. Lorraine Lipscombe and colleagues in the report published in the March 3, 2007, issue of the Lancet medical journal. "If similar trends are occurring throughout the developed world, then the magnitude of the emerging diabetes epidemic is far greater than we anticipated."
Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes
More than 2 million Canadians have diabetes, according to the Canadian Diabetes Association. Some 10 per cent have Type 1 diabetes, predominantly diagnosed in children and teens and occurring when the pancreas cannot produce insulin, the hormone that regulates the amount of glucose in the blood. The other 90 per cent have Type 2 diabetes, when the body cannot use the insulin properly.
Left untreated or incorrectly managed, diabetes can lead to heart disease, kidney disease, eye disease and nerve damage.
Obesity and diabetes
As the population ages, as obesity rates rise and as lifestyles become more sedentary, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes increases. According to the ICES study, the rate almost doubled, from 1.8 per cent to 3.5 per cent, for people aged 20 to 49 between 1995 and 2005. The rate increased from 10.6 per cent to 17.1 per cent for those 50 and older.
Gestational diabetes occurs in about 3.5 per cent of pregnancies, and can be a predictor of diabetes for the mother and child.
What are the risk factors?
Anyone 40 years or older is at risk for Type 2 diabetes and should be tested every three years. Furthermore, you should be tested more often if you are a member of a high-risk group -- Hispanic, Asian, South Asian, Aboriginal or African descent -- are overweight or have an apple-shaped figure, have a first-degree family relative with diabetes, have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, gave birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds or had gestational diabetes, have impaired glucose tolerance, or have health complications associated with diabetes.
You'll also want to be tested more often if you have been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, acanthosis nigricans (a skin condition that presents dark patches) or schizophrenia.
What are the warning signs?
Although many people never display any symptoms, the CDA suggests you see your doctor if you experience any of the following:
• Increased thirst
• Increased urination
• Weight gain or loss
• Fatigue, low energy
• Vision problems
• Recurring infections
• Slow-healing cuts and bruises
• Tingling or numbness in extremities
How can you reduce your risk?
You've heard it before and here it is again -- eat well and work out. "More and more research findings suggest that healthy exercise and dietary habits are the keys to reducing the risk of diabetes," says Jeremy Brace, a spokesperson for the CDA. "The Canadian Diabetes Association suggests each person living with -- or at risk of -- diabetes consult their doctor to discuss which exercise program is best for their personal situation."
Two studies, the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study and the Diabetes Prevention Program, found that low-calorie, low-fat meals paired with moderate activity of at least 150 minutes a week reduced the number of cases of pre-diabetes that progressed to diabetes by 58 percent. Pre-diabetes is diagnosed when glucose levels near, but have not yet reached, the level of a diabetes diagnosis.
For more information about diabetes and what you can do to prevent the disease, visit the Canadian Diabetes Association, Health Canada and the American Diabetes Association.
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