Diabetes Epidemic Growing

(CBS)  The United States saw a 136 percent increase in the number of people with diabetes between 1980 and 2007. Now, nearly 24 million Americans have the disease.

Dr. Andrew Sussman, Associate Chief Medical Officer of CVS Caremark discussed the continuing epidemic with co-anchor Harry Smith on "The Early Show" Tuesday, outlining the risk factors of getting it and certain mile-markers to watch out for as you get older.

Although diabetes is avoidable, certain factors play a large role in whether a person is more likely to get it.

Family history is very important, as well as age. People 55 and older are much more susceptible to diabetes, and certain populations, such as African-Americans or Hispanic-Americans, are at greater risk.

You should always watch out for warning signs, Sussman says, incluing "frequent thirst, frequent urination, tingling in the hands and feet, blurry vision, and overall fatigue. Some patients have very mild symptoms. Some have no symptoms at all. So if you have a concern, talk to your health care provider about getting screened. Early treatment can help patients feel better and studies have shown help prevent some of the long term complications."

If you do have diabetes, it's very important to manage it properly. While it's a lifelong process, it begins with a healthy diet and regular exercise. Many times, a ten pound weight loss can make a big difference.

Managing diabetes can become expensive, but many organizations, such as CVS, are developing programs are to help keep down the cost.

For more information on diabetes and the full interview, click on links and the video below.

CVS Caremark


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[Lisa H O]

Can't believe that of all the experts you could interview, you used a CVS Caremark corporate doctor whose company can directly benefit from this coverage. And to make matters worse, the link under "As Seen on the Early Show: Diabetes Care, Prevention" goes to a CVS page where they try to sign you up for their discount card. The page even looks like you have to sign up for their card before you can get to the information. This is be unbiased coverage, and it looks like CVS Caremark bought it. I'm very disappointed at the lack of ethics here.

[ludvig1-2009]

My blood sugar jumped from 99 to 113, halfway to diabetes my doc told me. He said lose weight or get diabetes. I decided to do 1000 calories of exercise a day and limit myself for the first 20 days to 2000 calories of food. I dropped in 20 days from 260.9 to 240. I lost 20 lbs in 20 days. The only bad part of exercising is the cops don't want you outside. They want you to stay sitting on the couch. I had them take my pic for riding a bicycle down the street, put a decoy car in front of me with the driver's side door blocking the sidewalk, spy on me when I walked laps around the park convinced that I'd steal something from an open garage door and finally when they couldn't get me to steal anything dropping a bag labeled "Medical" perfectly centered on my driveway and hiding a block down the street. That's what cops think of people who exercise and I'm a retired nuclear engineer, a 13.5 gallon blood donor who has never been in trouble with the law. Bums with badges - that doesn't help people get the exercise they need.

[SunDog8259]

Ah, and in the midst of all this the gov dietary guidelines for 2010 showed little change on those high-carbohydrate recommendations. Why won't the ADA change? Well as it turns out policymakers have to choose between keeping the message consistent, and actually getting it right.

[tulipforme]

Diabetes of any type is NOT avoidable, and your health expert ought to know that. It is probably that the diabetes (beginning with insulin resistance) causes the weight gain, and not the other way around. To say otherwise is to blame the victim. Yes, some of the complications of diabetes may be delayed by weight loss and exercise, but in many cases, the diabetes will eventually win out.

Diabetes worsens with age in the same way many other conditions do. Our bodies cease to function as well as they did in our youth. Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and cancer increase in incidence as people age. Nobody dies of nothing.

[newsdog17]

Thank you for trying to alert people to a very serious health crisis.

However, Please make your reporting accurate! If a person just read the print version of this, they would see "Although diabetes is avoidable" ! What? Where did you ever think writing that what be accurate?

You SHOULD have written "Although Type II diabetes is avoidable" That would have been accurate!! Getting Type I Diabetes HAS NOTHING to do with how much sugar a person eats!

You did mention one little 5 second video sound-bite about the differences between Type I and Type II Diabetes. However, you can not use the word diabetes without ALWAYS specifying which type you are talking about each and every time.

And yes, while a Type II diabetic can become Type I, a Type I diabetic is always a Type I (without an experimental transplant).

Type I diabetes is a totally different disease than Type II. Please try to be accurate in the future to prevent people from thinking that ALL Diabetes is the same.