By Peter Laird, MD
A recent article in the LA times caught my eye showing an astounding prediction of half of the US population have diabetes or pre-diabetes by the year 2020, only eight years away.
New report calls diabetes a ticking bomb for U.S.
Half of all Americans will have diabetes or pre-diabetes by the year 2020 – and the diabetes epidemic will cost the country $3.35 trillion over the next decade, according to a report from the UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization.
Half of all Americans will have diabetes or show early symptoms of the disease by 2020, and the epidemic will cost the country $3.35 trillion over the next decade, a new report predicts.
The saddest part of these figures is that diabetes is preventable in a majority of people who will eventually develop it, and can also be delayed with adherence to exercise and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle and obesity. My wife has two close relatives with diabetes in the family which motivates her to maintain her weight and exercise, she is actually doing her second stint on the exercise bike right now. She frankly HATES her exercise bike and simply states, "it is time for my torment" every time she mounts the two horned rider. Yet, the thought of developing diabetes and the risk of kidney disease which she sees me struggle with every day is an active motivator as well.
The solution for this epidemic is quite simple, eat right and exercise, yet how many will avoid the inevitable deluge of new diabetic patients in the coming decade. Quite sad that a little effort on our part could avoid such suffering, death and expense.
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