BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS: A GLOBAL CRISIS ...
While there is no doubt an awareness among the general public that diabetes is very bad news, just how bad it is may not be fully appreciated, especially to the extent that it prompts serious and sustained attempts to avoid Type 2 disease through lifestyle changes. A study just published in The Lancet spells out the seriousness of the problem. The investigators examined the connection between elevated blood sugar levels and mortality from heart disease and stroke on a worldwide basis. They found that higher than optimum blood sugar levels were responsible worldwide for 21% of deaths from ischemic (directly due to blood clots) heart disease and for 13% of deaths from stroke, which when added to the deaths from diabetes itself, puts this condition in the top five causes of mortality, accounting for over 3 million deaths per year. The observed positive association between blood glucose and cardiovascular risk extends well below the usual glucose levels used for identifying diabetes or even prediabetic disorders. Prevention therefore involves interventions aimed at shifting the distribution of blood glucose concentrations downward for the entire population. The authors are unclear as to the how this is to be accomplished worldwide, given the diversity of populations, cultures and diets. However, non-pharmaceutical approaches would seem to be restricted to interventions associated with diet, energy intake, avoidance of obesity or even being overweight, and exercise and perhaps some supplements. In an editorial, Avendano and Mackenbach point out that this study shows that mortality attributable to higher than optimum blood glucose levels is about three times greater than that attributable to diabetes as such and suggest that the effect of elevated blood glucose levels has been seriously underestimated.
Danaei, G. et al. Global and Regional Mortality form Ischaemic Heart Disease and Stroke Attributable to Higher-Than-Optimum Blood Glucose Concentration:
Comparative Risk Assessment. Lancet, 2006, Vol. 368,
Nov. 11, pp. 1651-9/ Avendano, M and J. P. Mackenbach. Blood Glucose
Levels: Facing a Global Crisis. Lancet, 2006, Vol. 368, Nov. 11, pp. 1631-2.
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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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