In the United States and many other countries, diabetes rates have risen steadily with obesity rates in the past few years. A recent study at the Loyola University Health System has discovered that 62.4% of American adults with type-2 diabetes are definitely obese, and 20.7% are 100 pounds overweight. Diabetes prevention and treatment are still very important to obese people.
New Drug will Cut Off Link Between Obesity and Diabetes
People have known for years that some substances produced by fatty tissue are responsible for the link between obesity and diabetes. Many people who are overweight or obese develop insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes at some stage in their lives. Now an experimental treatment might have found the link between obesity and diabetes.
A French research team found that inhibiting the action of CXCL5 can help to protect obese mice from developing type 2 diabetes. CXCL5 is a molecule produced by certain adipose tissue cells. Researches show that it has much higher levels in the tissues of obese people than in those of individuals with normal weight. Once the treatment can be confirmed in humans, new drugs may be made and the link between obesity and diabetes could be cut off, and obese people do not have to suffer more from diabetes than other people anymore.
Diabetes to Become Bigger Money Problem
But even if the medicine curbing CXCL5 is available, diabetes will still become a much bigger and more costly health problem in the future.
The number of Americans with diabetes will rise from 23.7 million in 2009 to 44.1 million in 2034, according to a study at the University of Chicago. By that time the diabetes rate in the United States will increase from the current 7.9% to more than 11%.
The study also forecasts that in the same period, medical costs associated with treating the disease will triple from 113 billion dollars to 336 billion dollars. That’s to say, the average cost of treating diabetes will increase from the current 4,768 dollars to 7,619 dollars per person per year by 2034.
So now is the time for people, especially for people with obesity, to do more to change diet and exercise habits to prevent diabetes than people with normal weight.
References:
Increasing BMI and waist circumference and prevalence of obesity among adults with Type 2 diabetes: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, Journal of Diabetes and its Complications, 16 November 2009
Molecule Discovered That Makes Obese People Develop Diabetes, ScienceDaily (Nov. 27, 2009)
Number of US diabetics to double in 25 years: study, AFP, November 29, 2009
Chen Nanyang - Chen Nanyang's journalist career began in 2002 when he started writing for China's Nanfang City News, Singapore's United Morning Post and ...
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