Diabetes is a worldwide disease, spreading like an uncontrollable wildfire. Lifestyle, economics, environment, country – all these seem to make no difference when it comes to diabetes striking, both Type 1 and Type 2.
It is known that Type 1 diabetes usually strikes the young and is a result of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas dying off. Exactly why this happens is unknown, although many lean toward the body’s own abnormal reaction to the cells in the pancreas. An autoimmune virus or some other type virus has been thought to be the cause. What exactly triggers the onset of this virus, or reaction to any type virus, that affects the pancreas is still unknown. A person with Type 1 diabetes has to receive insulin through injections or through a pump in order to live from one day to the next and has severe complications (kidney failure, blindness, amputations, heart disease) are likely as the years pass.
Type 2 diabetes is usually associated with aging, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. With this diagnosis, a person can take oral medications, in most instances, and only uses injectable insulin when changes made through diet and exercise and the addition of oral medication do not control their blood sugar levels.
In the US the diagnosis of diabetes is growing and growing. The countries with the highest number of people living with diabetes is China, India, the US, Russia and Brazil. More heavily populated countries have more patients with diabetes.
The United Kingdom (comprised of Britain, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), being a smaller country in size, has smaller diagnosed numbers, but the numbers are still alarming. In the adult category in the UK, approximately 10 percent of the people have Type 1 insulin-dependent diabetes, and about 90 percent of the people have Type 2 diabetes. Approximately 27,000 children and young people have Type 1 diabetes, with about 600 having Type 2. The UK has a national health care plan for insurance, along with other insurance companies. Like the rest of the world, the UK works diligently toward solving the mysteries surrounding Type 1 diabetes and the prevention of the diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes through lifestyle intervention.
The US has a much larger population (313.9 million) and a higher rate of diabetes diagnoses (26 million children and adults). The USA has no national insurance plan in place at this time, so most patients purchase personal insurance coverage through their employment or independently with an insurance company, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield.
The projected number of patients diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes grows more and more each year throughout the world. It is hoped that through education involving a change in eating habits and movement of the body rather than sitting can make a difference in the numbers projected for those who will be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. For the projected patients who will be diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in the future, there is much research that needs to be undertaken to determine exactly what causes the cells in the pancreas to stop producing insulin so that the diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes will be a thing of the past and not a thing of the future.
