Diabetes
Diabetes (Type 2) has dramatically increased in the last several decades. In the US, an estimated 98 million (CDC estimate) people have prediabetes or insulin resistance. The American Heart Association estimates 115.9 million in 2024. Even though this is one of the most common health conditions, there seems to be no clear understanding of why. There is a lack of public health awareness as to why the numbers are rising and what to do about it. There is an association with genetics, however, many people believe there is nothing they can do, which is inaccurate.
Genes vs Lifestyle
In the last 50 years, our genes have not changed much. Some calculations estimate a 0.000175% change in the last 2,000 years. However, as you can see in the graph above, there is a large increase in diagnosed cases of diabetes. The population approximately doubled from 180 million (in 1960) to 333 million (in 2024), but the cases of diabetes has gone from around 2 or 3 million to 38 million (diagnosed + undiagnosed) – an increase of over 10X. We have already surpassed the projected estimates for 2050. In the last several decades, our DNA remains very similar, but our environment and lifestyle have changed a lot. The truth is, environmental and lifestyle factors affect the risk of developing insulin resistance or diabetes. Around 90-95% of type 2 diabetes is lifestyle related. The good news is your lifestyle can be changed. You just have to know what changes to make and have the discipline to make the changes day after day.
Many Causes + Many Effects
A number of environmental and lifestyle factors can cause insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome. Also, insulin resistance can cause a number of additional health problems. High blood sugar causes inflammation and oxidative stress which can lead to cardiovascular disease, increased risk of stroke, accelerated aging, kidney damage – to name a few. In other words, the causes can be numerous and the health effects are numerous. This is a complicated model of health care, but it’s how our physiology actually works. The important step is to identify triggers and work to improve insulin sensitivity, and decrease the potential widespread negative health effects in the current and upcoming years of life. The earlier the interventions, the better the outcome as less inflammation and damage will be done.
Research shows many cases of diabetes (Type 2) are due to lifestyle factors. Lab testing can identify contributing factors. Specific lifestyle intervention protocols like diet and exercise can work to improve the factors causing insulin resistance.