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Health Horror Shows--Sequels Even Worse!!

The recent health news double-feature was really scary:
1. 40% of Adults Obese
2. 1 in 5 Adolescents with Prediabetes

Then came the even-more-shocking news on the “sequels”:
  1. For adults: “Severe obesity is likely to become the most common BMI category among...low-income adults”-- close to 1 in 3 >75-100 pounds overweight by 2030--when about 50% of adults will be obese nationwide.
  2. For teens with prediabetes:  “However, compared with adults, decline in β-cell function seems to occur at an accelerated rate resulting in relative insulin deficiency and progression to overt type 2 diabetes with insulin treatment needed to control hyperglycemia within a few years after diagnosis.”
Let us be clear what this means:
  • High child obesity (~20% nationally now) is leading to very high adult obesity (40% now, going to 50%+) and severe obesity (1 in 12 adults now, going to 1 in 4 in 2030).
  • Unlike typical adult-onset diabetes in the past, which is often treated with metformin or other oral drugs initially--teen prediabetes can progress quickly to adult diabetes requiring insulin injections.
  • There's a good reason for the term "diabesity": obese adults have >2x higher risk of diabetes--and apparently this risk increases even more with age & obesity duration.
  • The bottom line: widespread early inactivity & unhealthy nutrition is creating an ever-growing ever-earlier-onset diabesity tsunami later in life.  
Yet the health sector is unsure what to do about unprecedented levels of teen prediabetes.  Much teen prediabetes remains undiagnosed--probably the same with young adult diabetes.  Certainly, not enough steps are being taken early among youth to postpone diabetes onset.   

While undiagnosed diabetes may “save” 50% short-term by postponing treatment costs, this increases the risk of serious side-effects from untreated diabetes. And these downsides are much more expensive, and terrifying, than treatment including: neuropathy, gangrene & amputations; permanent vision loss; and heart & kidney disease.

Finally, a reminder: diabesity is caused overwhelmingly by inactivity & unhealthy nutrition.  While treatment is better than non-treatment, prevention is best of all.  

 [Note: bold/italics/underlines mine.]

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  1. Lilian WaleJune 1, 2020 at 7:59 AM

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