Diabetes: Wrestling with a Twenty-First Century Monster

A fatal crash killed two cyclists (one from Quebec and one from BC) on a cross-country fund raising tour and sent two teenagers (children of the Quebec man) to hospital. “…The family left Vancouver on June 14 on the trip, dubbed the "Ride of a Lifetime," with a goal of reaching St. John's, N.F., on Aug. 12. They had hoped to raise $500,000 for the (Juvenile Diabetes Research) foundation on their journey, according to the website."

This news is not just news of another accident: this news is also about juvenile diabetes. “Half of world’s population at risk of diabetes by end of next decade.� But this news tore my heart for two reasons: first, the tragedy itself; second, the fact that these men lost their life on a fund raising tour for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (http://www.jdrf.ca).

The spread of diabetes among the young is exactly why I became active in the fight against diabetes and co-founded the Diabetes Avoidance Society (http://www.diabetesavoidance.org). It is alarming at the way with which this disorder is encroaching on the traditional confines of age, ethnicity, and geography. This is indicative of a deeper disconnect: the connection between diabetic disorder and disorder in our life.

Here is the irony. It is often said that our bodies are wiser than ourselves. Of course, that makes sense. Our body is part of nature. And, like any other element of nature, animals, plants or flowers, it wants to choose the best course for its growth. Its wisdom resides in each of its cells. Anyone who has ever thrown up due to food poisoning can testify to the body’s wisdom. On the other hand, our mind can be a clever despot who may have its own reasons for interfering with the democratized intelligence of the body. Our mind is not solely a biological entity. It is also a product of society and works within the realm of meta-biology. On the one hand it interacts with the body that nourishes it as an organ, and on the other it finds itself in constant transaction with society that sustains it as psyche. In this dual role, our mind may help the body stay on its best course by good governance, or it may trip the body’s natural equilibrium and send it on a path of ill-health.

I am not saying that all our health problems are related to our attitudes and our life style choices. No doubt, there are genetic and other reasons for health issues too. But, many of our health problems are related to our choices. Some are more obvious. For example, it is known that there is a link between cigarette smoking and diabetes, cancer or lung disease. And, excess fat consumption and heart attacks relate. But it is less known that there is a link between grain consumption and diabetes. Further, consider the health problems triggered by environmental issues. We know that polluted air causes respiratory problems. But do we consider that our unbridled economic activities also may contribute to metabolic disease and diabetes?

Diabetes is a complex of disorders that originates from the body’s inability to convert food into energy, the energy that is needed for trillions of cells to perform their daily duties. How does the body lose this ability? In simple terms, it is no different than a constantly overloaded mechanical system that ultimately loses its ability to do its job. Take a car engine for example. If the engine oil we use is too dirty to provide the required lubrication, the engine eventually will cease. Or consider the structure of a building. Buildings are designed to endure material fatigue over the span of their lifetime. Subject them to more stress than they can endure and they will simply collapse.

Similarly, when our body is carrying all that silt from our dietary intake, or when our body is fatigued by excessive carbohydrates, its energy conversion mechanism becomes overloaded. Like any other mechanism, the food to energy conversion mechanism is built to do its job within certain confines. When we eat too many carbohydrates and fail to help our body convert them into energy (not enough physical activity) our energy conversion mechanism becomes fatigued and starts misfiring or failing. This leads to a complex of disorders with complications such as blindness, kidney and heart failure, nervous-disorders and amputations, even early death. A car will not run when its engine has ceased.

Consider the following facts. The rate of diabetes is increasing in children. According to the American Diabetes Association, “Under 20 years of age: 176,500 or 0.22 percentage of all people in this age group have diabetes.� And, “Two (2) million adolescents aged 12-19 have pre-diabetes.� This is just in the USA. Similar patterns are detectable all over the world. The ADA report also states that “Clinically-based reports and regional studies suggest that type 2 diabetes, although still rare, is being diagnosed more frequently in children and adolescents.� Diabetes statistics based on aging are similarly revealing.

It is shown that the prevalence of known and diagnosed diabetes in the age group of 20 to 39 years is about 5 percent, in the age group of 40 to 59 years about 10 percent, and in the age group above that roughly 23 percent. Moreover, the progression in prevalence of diabetes with every passing year increases at an alarming rate. It is not difficult to figure out the common denominator in all these trends: Our lifestyle choices.

The modern age that has given us million more choices also has taken from us the ability to make good choices.
There are pressures, various temptations and outright misinformation. An ordinary citizen going through the daily grinds of survival is hard-pressed to analyze everything; yet, that is what he or she must do. In our daily struggles we are mired down with the details of immediate concerns and we cannot find time to look at the big picture; the big picture being that everything runs on a fine balance.

Avoiding diabetes is a matter of finding that fine balance in our lifestyle choices and sticking to it. It is a matter of life and death for half of humanity and we can no longer hide behind excuses. As an “endangered species,� the quicker we realize this, the better our chances to slay this threatening monster: Diabetes!