Waist
Size Signals Diabetes Risk
Many studies
are now proving that having a large waist is an important early warning sign
for diabetes, one that in some cases may be just as significant as body mass
index (BMI), Waist size, which provides a rough
measure of a person's body type, may be especially useful for identifying
high-risk people who are overweight but not obese. Obesity is a clear-cut risk
factor for diabetes, but doctors generally have a harder time determining which
overweight people are most vulnerable to the condition. Waist circumference is
very helpful in people who are obese, but exceptionally helpful in people who
are overweight.
One study done in the UK , measured
the waist size and BMI of about 30,000 middle-aged Europeans and followed them
for up to 17 years. People who at the start of the study were merely overweight
but also had a large waist - defined as 40 inches for a man and 35 inches for a
woman - were more likely than obese people with normal or moderately large
waists to develop type 2 diabetes. At the 10-year mark, 7% and
4.4% of overweight men and women with large waists had developed diabetes,
respectively. By contrast, the corresponding figures among obese men and women
with moderately large waists were just 4.9% and 2.7%. Among women, in fact, waist
size appeared to be even more useful than BMI for predicting diabetes. When the
researchers analyzed the three-way links between diabetes, waist size, and BMI,
they found that diabetes risk was more closely associated with waist size than
with BMI.
BMI, a ratio of height to
weight, has come under scrutiny of late because it fails to distinguish body
fat from muscle, or where fat is located on the body. (People are considered
overweight and obese if they have a BMI above 25 and 30, respectively.) Waist circumference, on the
other hand, measures belly fat and indicates how fat is distributed across the
body. This is important information, since people who tend to accumulate fat
around their belly (as opposed to their hips and legs) are more likely to
develop not only diabetes but also heart disease, a common complication of
diabetes.
This does make a lot of sense
seeing as that visceral fat that surrounding the organs and intestines in the
abdomen produces a lot of hormones, which have implications for making the body
resistant to insulin and can contribute to inflammation, Therefore if doctors
looked at waist size more closely, they could refer more high-risk individuals
to weight-loss and diabetes-prevention programs.
Please don’t read into this
that I have anything against the BMI, it is a great gauge in determining whether
an individual is overweight or obese. I am saying that waist size needs to be factored
in with BMI as the best predictor of diabetes risk, waist circumference might
be most useful if it's simply added to the mix, It's another indicator
physicians can rely on to raise red flags about the possibility of diabetes.
This subject is very important to share with all the
people that you truly care about, heck, even the ones your just kind of fond of,
because diabetes affects 24 million people in the U.S., but only 18 million
know they have it. About 90% of those people have type 2 diabetes. In diabetes,
rising blood sugar acts like a poison. Diabetes is often called the silent
killer because of its easy-to-miss symptoms. The best way to pick up on it is to have a blood sugar tested. But if you have one
of these symptoms, see your doctor.
Increased urination, excessive thirst
If you need to urinate frequently particularly
if you often have to get up at night to use the bathroom it could be a symptom
of diabetes. The kidneys kick into high gear to get rid of all that extra
glucose in the blood, hence the urge to relieve yourself, sometimes several
times during the night. The excessive thirst means your body is trying to
replenish those lost fluids. These two symptoms go hand in hand and are some of
your body's ways of trying to manage high blood sugar.
Weight loss
Overly high blood sugar levels can
also cause rapid weight loss, say 10 to 20 pounds over two or three months but
this is not a healthy weight loss. Because the insulin hormone isn't getting
glucose into the cells, where it can be used as energy, the body thinks it's
starving and starts breaking down protein from the muscles as an alternate source
of fuel. The kidneys are also working overtime to eliminate the excess sugar,
and this leads to a loss of calories (and can harm the kidneys). These are
processes that require a lot of energy.
Hunger
Excessive pangs of hunger, another
sign of diabetes, can come from sharp peaks and lows in blood sugar levels. When
blood sugar levels plummet, the body thinks it hasn't been fed and craves more
of the glucose that cells need to function.
Skin problems
Itchy skin, perhaps the result of
dry skin or poor circulation, can often be a warning sign of diabetes, as are
other skin conditions, such as acanthosis-nigricans. This is a darkening of the
skin around the neck or armpit area. People who have this already have an insulin
resistance process occurring even though their blood sugar might not be high.
When they see this, they should have their doctor check their blood sugar.
Slow healing
Infections, cuts, and bruises that
don't heal quickly are another classic sign of diabetes. This usually happens
because the blood vessels are being damaged by the excessive amounts of glucose
traveling the veins and arteries. This makes it hard for blood needed to
facilitate healing to reach different areas of the body.
Yeast infections
If you have diabetes your body is considered to be in an
immunosuppressed state, that means heightened susceptibility to a variety of
infections, although the most common are yeast (candida) and other fungal
infections. Fungi and bacteria both thrive in sugar-rich environments. Women,
in particular, need to watch out for vaginal candida infections.
Fatigue and irritability
When people have high blood sugar
levels, depending on how long it's been, they can get used to chronically not
feeling well. Getting up to go to the bathroom several times during the night
will make anyone tired, as will the extra effort your body is expending to
compensate for its glucose deficiency. And being tired will make you irritable.
Many people whose blood sugar has been really high, when they bring their blood
sugar down, it's not uncommon for them to not even realize how bad felt.
Blurry vision
Having distorted vision and seeing
floaters or occasional flashes of light are a direct result of high blood sugar
levels. Blurry vision is a refraction problem. When the glucose in the blood is
high, it changes the shape of the lens and the eye. The good news is that this
symptom is reversible once blood sugar levels are returned to normal or near
normal. But let your blood sugar go unchecked for long periods and the glucose
will cause permanent damage, possibly even blindness. And that's not
reversible.
Tingling or numbness
Tingling and numbness in the hands
and feet, along with burning pain or swelling, are signs that nerves are being
damaged by diabetes. If the symptoms are recent, it's more likely to be reversible.
Even so, as with vision, if blood sugar levels are allowed to run rampant for
too long, neuropathy (nerve damage) will be permanent. This is why it is
important to control blood sugar as quickly and as well as possible.
If you or any one you know shows signs of any of these
symptoms, it is so worth it to have a Doctor test for Diabetes. If for no other
reason than to get the peace of mind of knowing it’s not. If you found this post informative, it would
mean a lot to me if you could take a second to leave me a comment down below. Even
if it’s to say I’m full of hot air. Thanks so much for your interest in my
site.
Thank you.
John Cardinal
Copyright Healthy Weight Loss for Life 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment