YOUR HEALTH and JUST DO THE MATH

Diabetes Type 2 Mania

In a recent article on the Healthier School program in the United States, proponent Michelle Obama is quoted by Time magazine (June 16, 2014, p. 14) as saying:

“The stakes couldn’t be higher on this issue” noting that 1 in 3 U.S. children will develop Type 2 diabetes. [My bold, enlarghed font.]

The Type 2 diabetes ‘scare’ has clearly reached panic mode with such an outrageous and ridiculous statistic.

No disease on the planet affects 1 in 3 humans – not cancer or heart disease or alcoholism.

According to Wikipedia (“Diabetes mellitus type 2”) and other sources, Type 2 diabetes accounts for some 90% of diabetes and occurs when the pancreas produces too much insulin or the body’s blood cells no longer efficiently absorb insulin.  Either way, blood sugar levels rise.

The primary symptoms are excessive thirst, frequent urination, constant feeling of hunger and, surprisingly,  weight loss.  It is common among people who are obese but can, it is believed, be controlled by regular exercise and diet changes to lower blood sugar levels.  Mediation – such as insulin – can also be prescribed if exercise and diet changes are not enough.

Type 2 diabetes can lead to heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, limb amputation and dementia.

Conventional wisdom advises against saturated fat (see my blog trashing this theory) and excessive sugar.

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Type 2 diabetes is claimed to affect 24,000,000 Americans (http://www.activebeat.co/your-health/10-indicative-symptoms-of-type-2-diabetes/?utm_source=google&utm_campaign=adwords&utm_medium=cpc&utm_keyword=type%202%20diabetes&gclid=CLeuypH_kL8CFa4WMgodtxYAZQ)

Since the U.S. population is today just over 318, 300,000, (http://www.census.gov/popclock/),  then, mathematically, Type 2 diabetes affects just 7.5% of the population.  That is far, far, far from the ridiculous 1 in 3 listed above.

Michelle Obama or her information source clearly needs a reality check and a lesson in basic math.  So does Time magazine for mindlessly allowing that 1-in-3 figure to go unchallenged.

The actual Type 2 diabetes figure for America at 7.5% translates as 1 in 13.333:  the correct ratio based on the population data.

Someone simply dropped the 1 in front of the 3.33 and suddenly we end up with an ‘epidemic’ and ‘end-of-the-world’ panic.