TYPE 2 Diabetes: The silent catastrophe on slow motion.

A random blood sugar level of 11.1 millimoles per liter (mmol/L) — or higher suggests diabetes.

Diabetes Mellitus is one of the four major non-communicable diseases (NCDs) comprising - cardiovascular diseases, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases jointly contributing to 63% of NCD deaths worldwide.

From 1980 to 2014 the number of people living with diabetes globally increased from 108 million to 400 million.

In 2019, the estimated figure has risen to approximately 415 million people around the world and the majority are in low and middle-income countries.

Deaths from diabetes occurred every 8 seconds in 2017 estimated at 4 million among 20–79-year-olds.

If the current diabetes trends continue unchanged, both the number of people living with diabetes and the deaths from diabetes are expected to increase.

Low-income countries like Kenya are expected to experience the highest increase in diabetes prevalence (92%) followed by lower-middle-income countries (57%), upper-middle-income countries (46%) and higher-income countries (25%).

Kenya’s pre-diabetes prevalence is 3.1% while diabetes prevalence stands at 2.4% which is much higher than that of Uganda with a prevalence of 1.4%.

However, these figures could be higher because, in Kenya, only 4 out of 10 people are aware of their blood glucose, at least they have tested their blood for serum glucose.

The rising incidence of Diabetes

The Diabetes epidemic is not an individual problem. It’s a societal and a systems problem. It is the result of broken systems that just aren’t being fixed.

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by high levels of sugar in the blood. Type 2 diabetes used to start almost always in the middle- and late adulthood. However, more and more children and teens are developing this metabolic syndrome.

Our food system is now filled with added sugar, added salt, artificial ingredients, and ultra-processed foods. Our transportation systems are dominated by automobiles and highways, with a lack of adequate public transit and ways to facilitate biking and walking.

Sugar and sugary drinks are risk factors for Diabetes

Our social and economic systems are discouraging physical activity. Our environmental systems are full of pollutants and chemicals that may be affecting our metabolism.

Our health system is failing to provide enough preventive and treatment measures for Type 2 Diabetes.

In any disease, success depends upon identifying and treating the underlying cause, not the symptoms. The root cause of Type 2 Diabetes is high insulin levels in the blood, and the symptom is high blood glucose.

Type 2 diabetes, and indeed all the manifestations of the metabolic syndrome are diseases caused by too much insulin. Yet our current treatment paradigm focuses on lowering the blood glucose, which is only the symptom of the disease, but not the disease itself.

Instead of treating the high levels of Insulin, the system is treating high blood glucose. These treatments do not cure the disease and only treat the symptoms. All these therapies are directed towards lowering blood sugar, but not the underlying high insulin levels in the blood. In fact, all of these treatments raise insulin.

People with type 2 diabetes can successfully restore their blood sugar levels to normal just by eating a healthy diet, regularly exercising, and losing weight.

Can type 2 diabetes be reversed?

Yes.

Type 2 diabetes reversal begins with weight reduction through diet and intensive workouts.

High-Intensity workouts are a proven strategy for weight loss

A 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) global report on diabetes acknowledged that diabetes reversal can be achieved through weight loss and calorie restriction. Additional evidence has become available in recent years suggesting that diabetes reversal is a possible alternative to consider in place of traditional diabetes treatment and management.