That my friends is a harsh statement to read, much less live through.  Many of us experience life and death of close friends and family member each year.   The explosion of prediabetes and Type II diabetes is an epidemic that is almost unheralded.  Just in the past few weeks Paula Deen and Alec Baldwin have announced they either now suffer from diabetes or are prediabetic.

Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death based on U.S. death certificates in 2007. This ranking is based on the 71,382 death certificates in 2007 in which diabetes was the underlying cause of death. Diabetes was a contributing cause of death in an additional 160,022 death certificates for a total of 231,404 certificates in 2007 in which diabetes appeared as any-listed cause of death. people due to the debilitating results of obesity and the resulting diabetes and cardiac disease. 1  Overall, the risk for death among people with diabetes is about twice that of people of similar age but without diabetes.2

Type 2 diabetes was thrust into the limelight recently when Paula Deen announced that she has the condition. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by high blood glucose levels that can permanently damage heart, eye, kidney, nerve and other tissues.

A whopping 79 million Americans over the age of 20 have prediabetes, according to estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That statistic is scary because prediabetes is nearly always a red flag for type 2 diabetes.

To make matters worse, prediabetes is dangerous in its own right.  “Prediabetes alone can double your risk for cardiovascular disease,” says Domenica Rubino, MD, a diabetes expert who practices at the Washington Center for Weight Management & Research in Arlington, Va.

Take Charge of Your Health

Do everything in your power to lower blood glucose levels and keep them within a normal range.  A combination of excess body fat, inactivity and family history is largely to blame for prediabetes. While you can’t change your genes, making small modifications in diet and exercise can yield big results.

Studies show that overweight people who shed seven percent of their body weight (about 15 pounds for a 200-pound person, for example) through healthy eating and getting 150 minutes of exercise a week were able to return their blood glucose levels to a normal range.

Paula Deen’s situation has raised awareness about type 2 diabetes, and that’s positive. However, in her case, the horse is out of the barn. Tackling prediabetes before it plays havoc with your body is easier than trying to manage the bigger health problems that are sure to come with type 2 diabetes.

If you have prediabetes, seek help from a registered dietitian to learn about healthier habits that fit your lifestyle. If you don’t have prediabetes, do what you can to keep it that way.

It takes a strong will and dedication to make the decision to go it alone on a journey of a healthy lifestyle and not fall ‘victim’ to a gimmicky diet but a lifestyle overhaul. However it can be done.  When you inspire other people, it motivates you to keep going!

Let us hear how you have changed your lifestyle to become healthier.

1 http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/DM/PUBS/statistics/#Deaths

2 Ibid