New cases of type 2 diabetes finally on the decline

It seems that the health message is starting to get through to our friends over in the USA with the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that rates of new cases of type 2 diabetes have fallen.

According to researchers, the rate of new cases in the USA fell by about a fifth from 2008 to 2014, which is the first sustained decline since the disease took a hold in the country 25 years ago.

Edward Gregg, one of America’s top diabetes researchers, is quoted in a recent article as saying:

“It seems pretty clear that incidence rates have now actually started to drop… Initially it was a little surprising because I had become so used to seeing increases everywhere we looked.”

Here are some other points from the article:

• There were 1.4 million new cases of type 2 diabetes in 2014, down from 1.7 million in 2008.
• There is growing evidence that eating habits, after decades of deterioration, have finally begun to improve.
• The amount of soda Americans drink has declined by about a quarter since the late 1990s, and the average number of daily calories children and adults consume also has fallen.
• Physical activity has started to rise, and once-surging rates of obesity, a major driver of type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, have flattened.
• Type 2 diabetes afflicts one in every 10 American adults and is the country’s leading cause of blindness, limb amputations and kidney dialysis.

We were inspired to read about Lynette Carpenter in the article, who decided to tackle type 2 diabetes with all her might after her cousin’s leg was amputated because of the disease. She reduced her Coca-Cola intake from 50 cans a week to fewer than seven and she started walking regularly. The result? She lost nearly 20 kilograms and has so far managed to avoid developing full-blown type 2 diabetes. Go Lynette!

Follow the link to read the full article.