With 1.3 million people diagnosed every year, diabetes has become one of the fastest growing diseases in America, and an increasing concern with college students.
According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 18 million Americans, or about 6 percent of the population, have diabetes, with African Americans 1.6 times more likely to develop the disease than whites. About 95 percent are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 is hereditary and occurs mainly in children as a result of the pancreas’s inability to create insulin. Type 2 diabetes usually strikes people with high blood pressure and cholesterol, obesity and those who are physically inactive or a family history of diabetes.
Diabetes results in cells’ inability to use insulin properly, causing a greater need for insulin, putting stress on the pancreas and eventually causing the pancreas to lose its ability to create insulin.
A recent study conducted by the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research has found the disease to be affecting more young people.
The study points out that a 70 percent increase in obesity of people between 18 and 29 has contributed to the rise in diabetes.
The study also shows that Type 2 diabetes is more aggressive in the 18 to 44 age group.
Terry Compton, nurse in the endocrinology department at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans, said the increase in diabetes can be blamed on people’s lifestyles.
“We are seeing a greater influx in Type 2 diabetes, and a lot of that has to do with a person’s lack of activity and fast food,” Compton said.
She believes college students are susceptible to Type 2 diabetes because of unhealthy eating habits, improper weight control, alcohol use and not exercising.
Medications are available to aid Type 2 diabetics, but Compton stresses physical activity as the best solution.
“The proper way to do prevent diabetes is exercise and lose weight,” Compton said.
She also advocated participation in organized physical activities, such as the exercise programs at the LSU Recreational Center.
“Many of the symptoms associated with Type 2 diabetes can go undetected for long periods of time,” Compton said. “A lot of it is stuff they don’t even feel.”
According to the ADA, if left untreated, diabetes can result in heart disease, kidney failure, dental diseases and blindness.
The study compared people with Type 2 diabetes to healthy people. It found that people 18 to 44 diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes are about 14 times more likely to have a heart attack and 30 times more likely to have a stroke than their healthy peers.