Labrador has the highest prevalence of diabetes in the country? Future forecasts expect this to
increase too, at an alarming rate. It's a bigger issue than most people think. (Before we get any further
remember there are a few types of diabetes. For our purposes we are talking about Type II which is
when the pancreas still produces insulin but our bodies aren't as efficient at using it). Currently it's
estimated that 9% of the people in our province have diabetes and by 2020 that number will be 14%.
That's an astonishing 73 000 people! It costs our province about $254 million every year, which by
2020 will be over $322 million. This is just the tip of the diabetes iceberg too. Many people have
diabetes several years before being diagnosed, so these numbers likely don't truly reflect the amount
of people who have this disease in our province. Estimated numbers here don't include people who
are living undiagnosed, those who have diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes) or those with pre-diabetes. Pre-diabetes is not diabetes, but also not a normal blood sugar either. It's when blood sugar sits between what is normal and that of someone with diabetes. It's thought by 2020, rates of diabetes and pre-diabetes in Newfoundland and Labrador will be at 32%. Yes, that's right, one in three.
Diabetes is a chronic disease and something people will have for life. It's a disease that doesn't show
itself right away and causes slow damage over a period of time. Because of these things unfortunately
diabetes is a disease which often gets overlooked. It's not often taken with the same seriousness and
sentiment, as say cancer, but rather discussed and treated as a not-so-serious medical condition, as say irritable bowel syndrome. Like cancer, we all know someone with diabetes. Interestingly enough
cancer can sometimes be curable, diabetes is not, and they both can one how or another result in
premature death. Diabetes is much more serious than some would like to believe, and it is suffice to
say it has become an epidemic in our province.
For the health and sustainability of our people we need to get serious and act now. Reports from
the Canadian Diabetes Association earlier this year told us given the circumstance, and when in
comparison to other provinces we (Newfoundland and Labrador) are doing a pretty poor job at the
prevention of this disease. The fact of the matter is that they are right. Second to Quebec, we are the
only province not have a provincial chronic disease prevention program for diabetes in place. One
is apparently in the works, but when looking at other provinces they seem to have had strategies and
programs in place for years. Provincially we also lack a diabetes registry, meaning we aren't able to
effectively track what's happening to manage the disease and it's partnering health conditions. This too, along with our lifestyle factors are partly to blame.
There are several risk factors associated with Type II diabetes. Being over forty, having a family
history, having high blood pressure, cholesterol or heart disease, and being overweight especially
around the middle are just a few. What's scary is that many of us, and people we know surely have one or more of these risk factors. In addition to this, it has been noted Newfoundlanders and Labradorians nationally have the highest prevalence of unhealthy diets and second highest prevalence of inactivity and obesity. So what can we do to prevent it? Besides the obvious things we can't control like age, sex, race and genetics, we can start by eating a healthy, balanced diet. Participate in regular physical activity. Maintain a healthy body weight, and last but not least not smoke. It's all things we've heard before and sounds relatively simple, doesn't it? Perhaps we need to do more, or at least pay more attention given provincial rates still continue to climb.
As seen in The Telegram November 14, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment