Tag Archives: Diabetes

Teens: Double the Diabetes, Increasing Later Cancer Risk

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Almost a quarter of teens are now at risk of or currently have diabetes, suggests a new government study. Although these findings need to be confirmed, increasing numbers of type 2 diabetes means more teens face serious health problems, including increased risk of cancer, years in the future. The study by the Centers for Disease Control found that teen at risk of prediabetes or diabetes has risen sharply from 9 to 23 percent over the past decade.

The study, published today in the journal Pediatrics, also found that the percent of teens at risk for heart disease remained relatively constant but high over the past decade. Almost half of overweight teens had at least one risk factor for heart disease.

The study pulled data from almost 3,400 teens (ages 12 to 19) who were part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The national survey regularly collects data on diet, activity and health measures.

Researchers compared NHANES data from 1999 to 2008, also looking at data every two years in between. The measured risk factors for heart disease included high blood pressure and high LDL cholesterol. LDL – low-density lipoprotein – is the cholesterol commonly linked to heart disease. Continue reading →

Don’t Just Sit There: The Case Against Sitting Gets (Even) Stronger

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A new study adds to the mounting evidence that the kind of prolonged sitting most of us do every day is killing us. That’s the bad news.

The good news — which this new study in the journal Diabetes Care also demonstrates — is that simply breaking up those long hours of sitting with a little walking can help.

Last November, at AICR’s Research Conference, we highlighted exciting research that measured several common indicators of cancer risk (like insulin resistance, waist circumference and inflammation) and found that adding even brief activity breaks decreased these indicators in ways linked to lower cancer risk. Continue reading →

Diabetes (Belt) Woes

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If you’re a regular AICR reader, you likely know there’s now a strong body of research linking diabetes to cancer risk. (A review of the evidence last year found that people with diabetes are approximately twice as likely to get cancers of the liver, pancreas and endometrium.)

But the research showing the dangers of diabetes keeps emerging. One of those studies is highlighted in today’s issue of Cancer Research Update. The study found that people with type 2 diabetes were at increased risk of premature death from cancer, but they were also more likely to have a mental disease, along with many other health disorders. Kidney disease, pneumonia, and nervous-system disorders were a few of the other ills cited.

A 50-year-old with diabetes died, on average, six years earlier than his/her counterpart without the disorder.

And although the incidence of diabetes keeps growing throughout the United States, another study has identified a group of southern states and a handful of its neighbors as the diabetes belt of our country. This belt includes portions of the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well as the entire state of Mississippi.

The study was published in the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Obesity and sedentary lifestyle were two factors greater in the diabetes belt compared to the rest of the country. And these factors are modifiable.

For tips on eating healthy and moving more, visit our Reduce Your Risk.