New record: 26 million Americans now have diabetes

Monday, April 18, 2011 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: diabetes, Americans, health news

(NaturalNews) More Americans than ever now have type 2 diabetes, according to statistics recently released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Twenty-six million Americans now have the disease, which is ten percent more than in 2008. And a shocking 79 million others have pre-diabetes, a condition marked by higher-than-normal blood sugar levels that indicate pending insulin-production failure.

"These distressing numbers show how important it is to prevent type 2 diabetes and to help those who have diabetes," said Ann Albright, director of the diabetes translation division at CDC, in a statement. "We know that a structured lifestyle program that includes losing weight and increasing physical activity can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes."

What is perhaps even more concerning than the sharp rise in diabetes cases is the even larger increase in pre-diabetes cases. According to data, the pre-diabetes rate jumped by nearly 40 percent since 2008. So if the entire pre-diabetic population eventually becomes diabetic, nearly one third of the entire U.S. population will eventually have diabetes.

Currently, 8.3 percent of all Americans, and 11.3 percent of people over the age of 20, now have diabetes. Twenty-seven percent of those that have it, or roughly seven million people, are not even aware of their condition. Based on trends, diabetes rates are only expected to continue to rise in the years to come.

In addition to physical lifestyle changes, there are many medicinal superfoods like almonds, green leafy vegetables, and camu camu, that can help to prevent and treat diabetes when incorporated as part of a healthy diet. Avoiding processed foods like soda that are rich in highly-refined sweeteners will also help to keep blood sugar levels low and prevent the destruction of the pancreas, the organ that produces insulin.

To learn more about diabetes and how to prevent and treat it, visit:
https://www.naturalnews.com/diabetes.html

Sources for this story include:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110126/hl_afp/...