How Many Americans Have Type 2 Diabetes

How Many Carbs Per Meal

Some people with diabetes will find they can tolerate a moderate amount of carbs every day, while others need to keep within a tighter range in order to maintain their optimal blood sugar levels.

In general, weve found that the sweet spot is usually around 50-80g of net carbs per day, with 100g per day as the maximum. In terms of total carbs, this would probably be around 70-130 grams per day.

Of course, some people eat a ketogenic diet, which is under 50 grams, but weve found it isnt necessary to take your carbs that low, and you can still achieve the same results with more variety in your eating plan.

If you want to figure out how many carbohydrates you can consume per meal, simply take your daily carb goal in grams and divide it by the number of meals you eat in a day.

For this example, we will aim for a goal of 70g of carbs per day and assume that 3 meals and 2 snacks will be eaten throughout the day.

A total of 70g of carbs per day divided over three meals and two small snacks could look like this:

• Breakfast: 20g carbs
• Afternoon Snack: 5g carbs
• Dinner: 20g carbs

This is just an example. Of course every day and every meal may vary but you can use the model to tailor your menu to meet your personal needs and goals, but generally your carbs should be divided up throughout the day.

If you save all of your carbs until nighttime, for example, and then binge on a huge bowl of pasta, its a guarantee that youll have high blood sugar levels afterwards.

Prevalence Of Diabetes And Ethnicity

Ethnicity has a big role as diabetes is five times as likely to develop in Pakistani women, two and a half times as likely in Indian women and diabetes is four times more prevalent in Bangladeshi and Indian people as a whole.

Generally speaking diabetes prevalence is often six times higher for people of South Asian origin and three times higher for those of African origin.

It is unsure why this is the case however a many number of risk factors could be the reason. Poor economy and lifestyle are noted to lead to unhealthy dietary patterns, which is a possible cause with genetics being another potential factor.

Lifestyle Changes To Decrease Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes

There is a strong genetic component to type 2 diabetes. In other words, if type 2 diabetes runs in your family, your chances of developing the disease are greater and, because we cant do anything about the genes we inherit, we must accept this increased risk. However, because type 2 diabetes is also a disease of lifestyle , you can make changes in your lifestyle and reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes or, if you have the disease, improve your ability to control your blood sugar.

Just as obesity increases your risk for diabetes, losing weight and keeping those pounds off decreases risk and, if you have diabetes, reducing your weight will improve your ability to control your blood sugar. A strong body of research has shown that weight loss results in improved sensitivity to insulin and a correction in the balance of hormones involved in glucose control.5

Other lifestyle factors that are within your power to change and which may decrease your risk for type 2 diabetes include:5

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Additional Reports On Diabetes

• Diabetes in America, 3rd Edition provides comprehensive data on diabetes and its complications in the United States.
• National Diabetes Survey 2016 presents findings from the 2016 survey, which measures trends in diabetes awareness, knowledge, and behavior.
• Maps of Trends in Diabetes and Obesity show age-adjusted prevalence of obesity and diagnosed diabetes among adults, by county, in the United States in 2004, 2010, and 2016.
• Diabetes and African Americans provides prevalence data on diabetes and African Americans, including death rates, risk factors, and links to more information.
• Diabetes and American Indians/Alaska Natives provides prevalence data on diabetes in American Indians and Alaska Natives, including death rates, risk factors, and links to more information.
• Diabetes and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders provides prevalence data on diabetes in Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans, including death rates, risk factors, and links to more information.
• Diabetes and Hispanic Americans provides prevalence data on diabetes in Hispanics/Latinos, including death rates, risk factors, and links to more information.
• World Health Organization provides information on the global burden of diabetes, prevention, management, and capacity for prevention and control, as well as a fact sheet on diabetes.

Research Design And Methods

The BRFSS is an annual, national population-based standardized telephone interview of health status and health habits conducted in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands . Survey sampling techniques are designed to be representative of the U.S. population and include both listed and unlisted phone numbers. The median response rate for the 2001 BRFSS has been reported by others to be 51.1% .

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Type 2 Diabetes Complications

Over time, high blood sugar can damage and cause problems with your:

• Heart and blood vessels. Youâre up to five times more likely to get heart disease or have a stroke. Youâre also at high risk of blocked blood vessels and chest pain .
• Kidneys. If your kidneys are damaged or you have kidney failure, you could need dialysis or a kidney replacement.
• Eyes. High blood sugar can damage the tiny blood vessels in the backs of your eyes . If this isnât treated, it can cause blindness.
• Nerves. This can lead to trouble with digestion, the feeling in your feet, and your sexual response.
• Skin. Your blood doesnât circulate as well, so wounds heal slower and can become infected.
• Pregnancy. Women with diabetes are more likely to have a miscarriage, a stillbirth, or a baby with a birth defect.
• Sleep. You might develop sleep apnea, a condition in which your breathing stops and starts while you sleep.
• Hearing. Youâre more likely to have hearing problems, but itâs not clear why.
• Brain. High blood sugar can damage your brain and might put you at higher risk of Alzheimerâs disease.
• Depression. People with the disease are twice as likely to get depressed as people who donât have it.

The best way to avoid these complications is to manage your type 2 diabetes well.

• Take your diabetes medications or insulin on time.
• Eat right, and don’t skip meals.
• See your doctor regularly to check for early signs of trouble.

Causes Of Type 2 Diabetes

Your pancreas makes a hormone called insulin. It helps your cells turn glucose, a type of sugar, from the food you eat into energy. People with type 2 diabetes make insulin, but their cells don’t use it as well as they should.

At first, your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get glucose into your cells. But eventually, it can’t keep up, and the glucose builds up in your blood instead.

Usually, a combination of things causes type 2 diabetes. They might include:

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How Many Canadians Live With Diabetes

According to the most recent data , about 3.0 million Canadians were living with diagnosed diabetes in 20132014, representing 1 in 300 children and youth , and 1 in 10 adults . The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes generally increases with age and is higher among males than among females , both overall and in most age groups .

Figure 1: Prevalence of diagnosed diabetes , by age group and sex, Canada, 20132014

Note: The 95% confidence interval shows an estimated range of values which is likely to include the true value 19 times out of 20.Data source: Public Health Agency of Canada, using Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System data files contributed by provinces and territories, May 2017.

Sensation Problems And Amputation

Diabetes causes mild loss of sensation in the extremities in as many as 70 percent of adults who have it. Amputations of lower extremities may eventually be necessary, especially for people with blood vessel disease. More than 60 percent of all nontraumatic amputations of lower limbs occur in people with diabetes. Approximately 73,000 lower-limb amputations were performed in diabetics age 20 and older.

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What Should People Do About Prediabetes

Anyone age 35 to 70 who is overweight should have a blood test to screen for prediabetes, according to the US Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of experts that makes recommendations about preventive medical services.

For those diagnosed with prediabetes, doctors can’t yet predict whether they will progress to serious illness, so the safe approach is to take action. But many patients don’t see it that way, says Joshua Joseph, a physician scientist at the Ohio State University College of Medicine who specializes in diabetes prevention. “Some hear ‘Oh man, I’m at really high risk of diabetes,’ or they hear ‘Oh great I don’t have diabetes so I’m good,'” Joseph says. “Far too much of the time, it’s the second one.”

That’s a mistake, because acting early can make a big difference. A study of more than 3,000 prediabetic Americans found that if a person loses just 5 to 7 percent of their body weight and engages in 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, they cut their risk of diabetes by more than half. A Finnish study that sought to learn whether modest weight loss 5 percent of body weight along with 30 minutes of moderate activity per day and a diet with less fat and more fiber would reduce a person’s risk of diabetes was ended early because the evidence that it worked was so clear.

“You begin with simple lifestyle interventions, which are not costly,” Deedwania says. “And you can reverse it quite often and prevent the development of diabetes.”

Diabetes: Facts Statistics And You

Diabetes mellitus is a term for a group of disorders that cause elevated blood sugar levels in the body.

Glucose is a critical source of energy for your:

• brain
• muscles
• tissues

When you eat, your body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose. This triggers the pancreas to release a hormone called insulin, which acts as a key that allows glucose to enter the cells from the blood.

If your body doesnt produce enough insulin to effectively manage glucose, it cant function or perform properly. This leads to symptoms of diabetes.

Diabetes thats not well managed can cause serious complications by damaging blood vessels and organs. It can increase the risk of:

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Health Problems Caused By Type 1 Diabetes

If Type 1 diabetes is left untreated, it will cause major health complications and even death. Maintaining a normal blood sugar level greatly reduces health problems of Type 1 diabetes, such as these three serious conditions:

• Catastrophic kidney failure
• Severe nerve damage or loss of feeling in your limbs
• Significant disease of the heart and blood vessels

What Should A Type 2 Diabetes Meal Plan Include

Ask your healthcare provider or a nutritionist to recommend a meal plan thats right for you. In general, a Type 2 diabetes meal plans should include:

• Lean proteins: Proteins low in saturated fats include chicken, eggs and seafood. Plant-based proteins include tofu, nuts and beans.
• Minimally processed carbohydrates: Refined carbs like white bread, pasta and potatoes can cause your blood sugar to increase quickly. Choose carbs that cause a more gradual blood sugar increase such as whole grains like oatmeal, brown rice and whole-grain pasta.
• No added salt: Too much sodium, or salt, can increase your blood pressure. Lower your sodium by avoiding processed foods like those that come in cans or packages. Choose salt-free spices and use healthy oils instead of salad dressing.
• No added sugars: Avoid sugary foods and drinks, such as pies, cakes and soda. Choose water or unsweetened tea to drink.
• Non-starchy vegetables: These vegetables are lower in carbohydrates, so they dont cause blood sugar spikes. Examples include broccoli, carrots and cauliflower.

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What Are The Symptoms Of Type 2 Diabetes

Symptoms of Type 2 diabetes tend to develop slowly over time. They can include:

• Urinary tract infections and bladder infections.

Rarely, Type 2 diabetes leads to a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis . DKA is a life-threatening condition that causes your blood to become acidic. People with Type 1 diabetes are more likely to have DKA.

What Causes Type 2 Diabetes

Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas that acts like a key to let blood sugar into the cells in your body for use as energy. If you have type 2 diabetes, cells dont respond normally to insulin this is called insulin resistance. Your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond. Eventually your pancreas cant keep up, and your blood sugar rises, setting the stage for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. High blood sugar is damaging to the body and can cause other serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.

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Cdc: 13% Of Us Adults Have Diabetes With Fewer New Cases

CDC. National Diabetes Statistics Report. Available at: . Accessed Feb. 25, 2020.

Disclosures: We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact .

Approximately 34.1 million U.S. adults more than 1 in 10 have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, and 7.3 million of those adults who met laboratory criteria were unaware or did not report having the disease, according to data from the CDCs 2020 National Diabetes Statistics Report.

The report, released Tuesday by the CDCs Division of Diabetes Translation, also revealed that age-adjusted prevalence of total diabetes increased among adults between 1999 and 2016, rising from 9.5% in 1999-2002 to 12% in 2013-2016. However, new diabetes cases decreased during the past decade except among children and adolescents. The 2020 report marks the first time trends in prevalence and incidence estimates over time are included, according to the report.

Data from this report can help focus critical type 2 diabetes prevention and diabetes management efforts across the nation, the CDC states on its website.

Age-adjusted data for 2017-2018 indicated that the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes was highest among Native Americans and Alaskan Natives , Hispanic adults and black adults .

A significant decreasing trend in incidence was detected from 2008 through 2018, the report states.

Reference:

How Is Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosed

The following blood tests help your healthcare provider diagnose diabetes:

• Fasting plasma glucose test: checks your blood glucose level. This test is best done in the office in the morning after an eight hour fast .
• Random plasma glucose test: This lab test can be done any time without the need to fast.
• Glycolated hemoglobin testing measures your average blood sugar levels over three months.
• Oral glucose tolerance testing checks your blood sugar levels before and after you drink a sugary beverage. The test evaluates how your body handles glucose.

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Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis And Tests

Your doctor can test your blood for signs of type 2 diabetes. Usually, theyâll test you on 2 days to confirm the diagnosis. But if your blood glucose is very high or you have many symptoms, one test may be all you need.

• A1c. It’s like an average of your blood glucose over the past 2 or 3 months.
• Fasting plasma glucose. This is also known as a fasting blood sugar test. It measures your blood sugar on an empty stomach. You won’t be able to eat or drink anything except water for 8 hours before the test.
• Oral glucose tolerance test . This checks your blood glucose before and 2 hours after you drink something sweet to see how your body handles the sugar.

What Exactly Is Prediabetes And How Common Is It

A person with prediabetes has a blood sugar level higher than normal but not high enough to meet the criteria for diabetes. But what constitutes “normal” is open to debate.

The American Diabetes Association, the World Health Organization and a joint body called the International Expert Committee, made up of members from three diabetes organizations, have developed five definitions of prediabetes. The various definitions reflect three different ways of testing blood sugar levels and different cutoffs for diagnosis.

That means that a person could have “normal” blood sugar under the WHO definition but be diagnosed with prediabetes under the American Diabetes Association definition. “The various tests identify different people and have only moderate overlap, meaning that some people will be classified as having prediabetes by one definition but not by another,” Selvin and her colleague wrote.

The prevalence of prediabetes depends on which definition is used. The WHO and the International Expert Committee use more stringent definitions, which highlight those who are most likely to progress to diabetes. The American Diabetes Association uses lower thresholds, so it identifies a larger number of patients. Some diabetes experts have been railing against the ADA’s definition of prediabetes for many years, saying it diagnoses far too many people who may not need treatment.

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