murray, on 26 June 2011 – 07:03 PM, said:
Low calorie regimen might cure diabetes
This could be big, seeing how ten percent of the world’s adult population have diabetes.
edit: link dosen’t work well. best to google low calorie diet hope cure diabetes
Exercise has a strong beneficial effect on insulin receptors in skeletal muscle (can’t remember if exercise stimulates creation of new receptors or repairs old ones). Pretty difficult to get diabetes type2 if you exercise much, or have a physical job. (Now ‘fatty liver disease’ may be a different story…).
Diabetes type 2 is almost entirely a disease we’ve brought upon ourselves. Essentially, your blood glucose level remains elevated (from eating more than you need for a long time) that the insulin receptors finally become less receptive, and stop taking up blood glucose (think ‘food’ at the cellular level). The results at the cellular level therefore are indistiguishable from starvation. First the non-essentials get shut off (your extremities loose blood flow, become gangrenous, and they get cut off). Then blood flow through fine capillaries gets compromised (your vision is first to go, followed by cognitive function). It’s a hell of a way to go, particularly since it’s entirely avoidable.
Diabetes type 2 used to be called “elderly-onset diabetes”, until it started showing up in teens of the “McDonalds Pepsi Generation”. Now the centers of the diabetes T2 epidemic are in India China. Some counties (provinces?) in southern India have rates in the age 65+ population of over 18%. Kicker is, they develop diabetes at body mass indices that are within WHO healthy guidelines, presumably BMI was so low earlier in their lives.
e
Massive, massive, problem for the US healthcare system. Very expensive to treat (these people are disabled, and need home healthcare), yet utterly avoidable. Good news for the ‘rotund’ bear: as long as you’re not in end stage, it’s largely reversible if you stop gorging, and start exercising. One suggestion? Ride a bike to as many of your errands as you can.
