Incidence of type 2 diabetes doubled in last 30 years
FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS. The incidence of type 2 diabetes, or rate of new cases over a time period, is less clearly understood than its prevalence (how widespread it is). Researchers from the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute took data from the Framingham Heart Study covering the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. A group of 3,104 men and women without diabetes, aged 44 to 55 years (mean 47 years), were examined and then followed for eight years. A diagnosis of diabetes was made if fasting plasma glucose was 7.0 mmol per liter (125 mg/dL) or insulin treatment was given.
The researchers found that the overall 8-year risk of developing diabetes nearly doubled between the 1970s and 1990s. For women, it was 2.0 per cent in the 1970s, 3.0 per cent in the 1980s, and 3.7 per cent in the 1990s. For men, the figures were 2.7 per cent, 3.6 per cent, and 5.8 per cent. Obesity is driving the so-called "epidemic" of diabetes, explain the researchers. Significantly more cases of diabetes developed among those with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above, than any other category.
However, analysis indicated that BMI did not fully account for the rise in diabetes incidence.
The researchers believe that lifestyle changes over recent decades also play a role. They highlight a recent review of cardiovascular risk factors which found a rise in all the measured risk factors over the last 40 years. Physical activity has declined over time, and changes in dietary composition may be important, they write, pointing to corn syrup and sugar-sweetened drinks in particular as potentially harmful. The authors conclude that the study shows a doubling in the incidence of type 2 diabetes over the last 30 years, and call for careful monitoring of future trends in the incidence of diabetes, a disease which can produce complications such as heart disease, blindness, and damage to the nerves and kidneys.
Fox, C. S. et al. Trends in the Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus From the 1970s to the 1990s The Framingham Heart Study. Circulation, Vol. 113, June 27.
It's not a coincidence that the 1970's started this epidemic...Read below...
Why the Current US Dietary Guidelines Are Making Americans Fat
By Mary G. Enig, PhD
The McGovern Committee Senate Hearings, held in the 1970s, grew out of the ideas for developing nutrition policy that were put forth at the 1969 White House Conference on Foods and Nutrition. Some of the recommendations that came out of the White House conference were orchestrated by lawyers and lobbyists from the food industry. The McGovern Committee originally planned to hold hearings on heart disease and diet, but evidently changed to hearings on all the "killer diseases" and their nutritional causes, although the major emphasis still came from the National Heart and Lung Institute (as it was called at that time) and the American Heart Association, with much testimony orchestrated by the American Health Foundation. Behind the scenes, the edible oil industry and the Grocery Manufacturers of America played a major role in lobbying efforts.
The McGovern Select Committee heard erroneous testimony from various research "scientists," most of whom had particular biases against animal fat and meat. For example, Dr. Gio B. Gori from the National Cancer Institute and Dr. David M. Hegsted from Harvard School of Public Health testified that there was "a direct relationship between dietary intake and forms of cancer and that it was their recommendation that Americans should cut down on the amount of food they eat, and specifically, eat less meat and fats" (Congressional Record 9/16/76 p S15993-4). The animal fat and cancer connection was first introduced by Dr. Ernst Wynder from the American Health Foundation using processed vegetable fat data mistakenly labeled animal fat. Colon cancer was also tied to beef in an erroneous interpretation of the National Cancer Institute Japanese-Hawaiian study which actually showed macaroni, green beans and peas to have higher risk associated with colon cancer than beef or lamb.1
Committee members ignored testimony debunking the anti-animal fat agenda even though the testimony defending meat and animal fat was supported by science and came from highly qualified researchers. The meat and dairy lobbies were very ineffective in defending their products.
The Select Committee produced a report that called for the decrease in consumption of animal fat, dairy fat and eggs. If you decrease the amount of fat in the diet, something has to increase to take its place and that something was to be the carbohydrates.
Once mandated, no government employee or government-funded researcher could contradict the US Dietary Goals. All the research from that point on had to be geared to creating educational material to match the US Dietary Goals and to produce a science to support them. If a researcher wanted another grant, the results he or she came up with would have to fit the guidelines.
Even though these goals/guidelines originally had no science to back them up, and still have no clear science to support them, they have become the law of the land.
Thus the Senate, with the help of the food industry and the complicity of a major part of the nutrition community, came up with a low-fat, high-carbohydrate Rx that produced profound changes in the way Americans ate. Vegetable oil and carbohydrate (mostly refined carbohydrate) calories replaced animal fat calories resulting in massive obesity in the populace. The US government is now proposing more of the same to combat. . . the massive obesity epidemic among Americans!
About the AuthorMary G. Enig, PhD is the author of Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol, Bethesda Press, May 2000. Order your copy here: www.enig.com/trans.html.
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
Christopher Wiechert's Healthblogger is for educational or informational purposes only, and is not intended to diagnose or provide treatment for any condition. If you have any concerns about your own health, you should always consult with a healthcare professional. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
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