As the next World Diabetes Day on November 14, 2009 approaches, we need to turn our focus to the specific ethnic groups most affected by diabetes and its complications. In the USA, one group of particular concern is Latinos, which now comprise America’s largest minority group (slightly edging out African Americans) and remain the fastest-growing segment of the population. As of 2000, more than 44 million Latinos were living in the United States, accounting for almost 15 percent of the total population, and they are expected to comprise 30 percent of Americans by the middle of this century. A diverse and heterogeneous group, Latinos share a common ancestry, language, and culture, even with a mix of European, African, Asian, and Native American blood. For them, diabetes is a huge and rapidly expanding problem: currently over two and a half million Latinos (about 10 percent of Americans afflicted with diabetes) have it, and their lifetime risk of developing it is around one in two.
Unfortunately, as a Latino, you share an increased incidence of diabetes regardless of your precise ethnic mix. Latinos are second only to Native Americans in having the highest incidence of diabetes in the United States, and they get it at earlier ages than other populations. Among Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans, the age of onset is thirty to fifty years. More than 10 percent of all Mexican Americans twenty or older have diabetes, which is almost twice the rate of non-Hispanic whites of a similar age. Cuban Americans have a slightly lower rate of diabetes than Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans, but still higher than non-Hispanic whites. Thus health concerns like diabetes in Latino communities can have serious and wide-reaching implications for the national health care system and America’s collective health, not to mention the health of any of your relatives living south of the United States in your family’s native country.
Why is your diabetes risk higher if you’re Latino? It may have to do with the genes you inherited, but obviously there are other factors (e.g., lifestyle choices) that may be equally, if not more, important in the disease’s development. Fortunately, we now know that type 2 diabetes is largely preventable even if you have a higher risk due to your ethnicity, as demonstrated by a study of over 3,200 people concluded in 2003. All of the individuals participating in the Diabetes Prevention Program had prediabetes and were at high risk of developing the disease. At least 15 percent were Latinos, and the results showed that lifestyle choices—diet, exercise, and body weight—can make it possible to delay or prevent diabetes onset in two out of every three Hispanic individuals, more than when all ethnic groups were included. From this study alone you can conclude that while being Latino may increase your risk of getting diabetes, the lifestyle choices that you make likely will have a greater effect.
What can happen if you don’t control your diabetes? Although it’s not fun to think about, you need to be aware of the harm that diabetes can do. Ignoring your diabetes care and claiming ignorance about its possible consequences is not the way to go with this disease. Why? Because diabetes worldwide causes more than 3.2 million deaths per year, or six deaths every minute, and probably more. The leading cause of death in all Americans is heart disease, whether or not you have diabetes. Latinos, however, have a higher risk of developing and dying from diabetes, and they’re also twice as likely as other populations to experience complications such as heart disease, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, amputations, and nerve damage. This insidious disease is the sixth leading cause of death in Latino communities and the fourth leading cause of death among Latino women and seniors.
Having an elevated blood glucose or blood sugar level can have a tremendously negative impact on your long-term health and enjoyment of life. Diabetes has the potential to rob you, on average, of more than twelve years of your life while reducing the quality of life for twenty or more years. Diabetes causes other health problems that can severely limit your quality of life. For instance, elevated blood sugar levels over time can damage your eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Poorly controlled diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults, with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (a severe form of diabetic eye disease) alone causing tens of thousands of these new cases in addition to those caused by glaucoma, cataracts, and neuropathy of the optic or eye muscle nerves. Poorly managed diabetes is also the leading cause of kidney disease treated by dialysis and ultimately kidney transplants. Nerve damage can cause numbness in feet or hands, gastroparesis (slowing of the digestion of food), carpal tunnel syndrome, and severe dizziness when standing up, and can lead to toe, foot, and leg amputations. If you’re pregnant and have diabetes, your baby can get too big and have a higher risk of birth defects unless you effectively control your blood sugar.
Scared? Good, you should be! So, get up off the couch and do something about it while you still can, and take your Latinos amigos with you! Get out and spread the word on World Diabetes Day, and get your exercise at the same time. You can live a long and healthy life with diabetes or prediabetes by means within your control, like your diet, physical activity, and stress management. The good news is that it’s possible for you to start gaining health benefits today—and you need to realize this yourself and let everyone else know. Diabetes is a killer and a debilitator, but it doesn’t have to affect you, your friends, your family, or even the world. Taking control of your diabetes is important for you and your whole family and what better time to start spreading the word than on the upcoming World Diabetes Day!
Sheri R. Colberg, PhD, is an exercise physiologist and professor of exercise science at Old Dominion University and adjunct professor of internal medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. A respected researcher and lecturer, she has authored more than 150 research and educational articles on exercise, diabetes and health, as well as numerous diabetes books, including Diabetes? No Problema!: A Latino’s Guide to Living Well with Diabetes. More information can be accessed at www.shericolberg.com.
Unfortunately, as a Latino, you share an increased incidence of diabetes regardless of your precise ethnic mix. Latinos are second only to Native Americans in having the highest incidence of diabetes in the United States, and they get it at earlier ages than other populations. Among Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans, the age of onset is thirty to fifty years. More than 10 percent of all Mexican Americans twenty or older have diabetes, which is almost twice the rate of non-Hispanic whites of a similar age. Cuban Americans have a slightly lower rate of diabetes than Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans, but still higher than non-Hispanic whites. Thus health concerns like diabetes in Latino communities can have serious and wide-reaching implications for the national health care system and America’s collective health, not to mention the health of any of your relatives living south of the United States in your family’s native country.
Why is your diabetes risk higher if you’re Latino? It may have to do with the genes you inherited, but obviously there are other factors (e.g., lifestyle choices) that may be equally, if not more, important in the disease’s development. Fortunately, we now know that type 2 diabetes is largely preventable even if you have a higher risk due to your ethnicity, as demonstrated by a study of over 3,200 people concluded in 2003. All of the individuals participating in the Diabetes Prevention Program had prediabetes and were at high risk of developing the disease. At least 15 percent were Latinos, and the results showed that lifestyle choices—diet, exercise, and body weight—can make it possible to delay or prevent diabetes onset in two out of every three Hispanic individuals, more than when all ethnic groups were included. From this study alone you can conclude that while being Latino may increase your risk of getting diabetes, the lifestyle choices that you make likely will have a greater effect.
What can happen if you don’t control your diabetes? Although it’s not fun to think about, you need to be aware of the harm that diabetes can do. Ignoring your diabetes care and claiming ignorance about its possible consequences is not the way to go with this disease. Why? Because diabetes worldwide causes more than 3.2 million deaths per year, or six deaths every minute, and probably more. The leading cause of death in all Americans is heart disease, whether or not you have diabetes. Latinos, however, have a higher risk of developing and dying from diabetes, and they’re also twice as likely as other populations to experience complications such as heart disease, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, amputations, and nerve damage. This insidious disease is the sixth leading cause of death in Latino communities and the fourth leading cause of death among Latino women and seniors.
Having an elevated blood glucose or blood sugar level can have a tremendously negative impact on your long-term health and enjoyment of life. Diabetes has the potential to rob you, on average, of more than twelve years of your life while reducing the quality of life for twenty or more years. Diabetes causes other health problems that can severely limit your quality of life. For instance, elevated blood sugar levels over time can damage your eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Poorly controlled diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults, with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (a severe form of diabetic eye disease) alone causing tens of thousands of these new cases in addition to those caused by glaucoma, cataracts, and neuropathy of the optic or eye muscle nerves. Poorly managed diabetes is also the leading cause of kidney disease treated by dialysis and ultimately kidney transplants. Nerve damage can cause numbness in feet or hands, gastroparesis (slowing of the digestion of food), carpal tunnel syndrome, and severe dizziness when standing up, and can lead to toe, foot, and leg amputations. If you’re pregnant and have diabetes, your baby can get too big and have a higher risk of birth defects unless you effectively control your blood sugar.
Scared? Good, you should be! So, get up off the couch and do something about it while you still can, and take your Latinos amigos with you! Get out and spread the word on World Diabetes Day, and get your exercise at the same time. You can live a long and healthy life with diabetes or prediabetes by means within your control, like your diet, physical activity, and stress management. The good news is that it’s possible for you to start gaining health benefits today—and you need to realize this yourself and let everyone else know. Diabetes is a killer and a debilitator, but it doesn’t have to affect you, your friends, your family, or even the world. Taking control of your diabetes is important for you and your whole family and what better time to start spreading the word than on the upcoming World Diabetes Day!
Sheri R. Colberg, PhD, is an exercise physiologist and professor of exercise science at Old Dominion University and adjunct professor of internal medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. A respected researcher and lecturer, she has authored more than 150 research and educational articles on exercise, diabetes and health, as well as numerous diabetes books, including Diabetes? No Problema!: A Latino’s Guide to Living Well with Diabetes. More information can be accessed at www.shericolberg.com.
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How come health insurance companies are allowed to discriminate against people with disabilities?