Fifty Percent of Americans Suffer From This Silent Killer

[Gert van der Hoek]

Mark Hyman, MD Practicing physician

Fifty Percent of Americans Suffer From This Silent Killer

Posted: 11/15/11

One of every two of you have a deadly disease that's making you sick and will kill you, and 90 percent of you don't even know you have it.

What's worse is your doctor is not trained how to find it, and they are not even looking for it.

This problem will cost us $3.5 trillion over the next 10 years. It is bankrupting our economy. In 30 years 100 percent of our federal budget will be needed to pay for Medicare and Medicaid, leaving nothing for education, defense, agriculture, roads or even social security.

So what am I talking about? I'm talking about diabesity -- the number one cause of obesity, heart disease, cancer, dementia and of course type 2 diabetes.

You might hear many terms used to describe this one basic phenomenon -- a new epidemic of disordered biology and disease. It is the continuum of abnormal biology that ranges from mild insulin resistance to full-blown diabetes. We call it by many names. See if you recognize any of them:

• Insulin resistance

• Pre-diabetes

• Metabolic syndrome

• Obesity

• Syndrome X

• Adult-onset diabetes

• Type 2 diabetes.

In truth, these are ALL essentially one problem with varying degrees of severity. The diagnosis and treatment of the underlying causes that drive all these conditions are actually the same.

That is why I use a more comprehensive term to describe these conditions -- diabesity. Diabesity describes a continuum of disease, from optimal blood sugar balance to insulin sensitivity to full-blown diabetes. This biological imbalance is our modern plague. It affects 1 in 2 Americans and is the leading cause of most chronic disease in this country, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, dementia and cancer, not to mention its leading role in weight gain and obesity.

Despite this fact, there are no national recommendations from the government or key organizations to advise screening and treatment of it, and most doctors don't know how to properly diagnose it. The result is that 90 percent of the people who suffer from diabesity are left undiagnosed and untreated.

The instances of diabesity are increasing at an astonishing rate. Twenty years ago when I started practicing medicine, not a single state in the nation had an obesity rate over 20 percent. Today, not a single state in the nation has an obesity rate under 20 percent. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes has tripled in since the 1980s. There are now 27 million diabetics in the country.

The question is, "Why?" Why are we facing a diabesity pandemic? Why are our current treatment approaches failing so miserably? And why is conventional medicine floundering when it comes to diagnosing the biggest health threat of our time?

Read more - Huffingtonpost

Thanks to IW for the link

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Fifty Percent of Americans Suffer From This Silent Killer

Congress Blocks New Rules on School Lunches

By RON NIXON

Published: November 15, 2011


WASHINGTON ? A slice of pizza still counts as a vegetable.

In a victory for the makers of frozen pizzas, tomato paste and French fries, Congress on Monday blocked rules proposed by the Agriculture Department that would have overhauled the nation?s school lunch program.

The proposed changes ? the first in 15 years to the $11 billion school lunch program ? were meant to reduce childhood obesity by adding more fruits and green vegetables to lunch menus, Agriculture Department officials said.

The rules, proposed last January, would have cut the amount of potatoes served and would have changed the way schools received credit for serving vegetables by continuing to count tomato paste on a slice of pizza only if more than a quarter-cup of it was used. The rules would have also halved the amount of sodium in school meals over the next 10 years.

But late Monday, lawmakers drafting a House and Senate compromise for the agriculture spending bill blocked the department from using money to carry out any of the proposed rules.

In a statement, the Agriculture Department expressed its disappointment with the decision.

?While it is unfortunate that some in Congress chose to bow to special interests, U.S.D.A. remains committed to practical, science-based standards for school meals that improve the health of our children,? the department said in the statement.

Read more - NYT