This just in. According to the International Diabetes Federation and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), an estimated 366 million people are living with diabetes (Type 1 and 2). Think that number is staggering, how about 4.6 million people die every year (about 1 person every 7 mins) and health care spending for diabetes treatment has rose to almost half a trillion dollars a year. This epidemic (as the two aforementioned institutions are calling it) has spurred the United Nations to hold the Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases. This is only the second time this summit has been held on a health-related issue, the first being the HIV/AIDS crisis in 2001.
As we discussed the other day in class, Type 2 diabetes can often times be avoided or "treated" through lifestyle reformation that consists of a healthy diet, proper and constant exercise, and weight loss. With our country and the world in a state of economic turmoil (and poverty levels reaching an recent 18 year high of 15.1% or 46.2 million people), healthy food, gym memberships, and the time to exercise and lose weight is becoming an expense that people cant afford to make. My question is what is it about fast-food that is so bad or more specifically, as one of our recent review article eludes to, what is it in fast food that leads to leptin resistance? As you may or may not recall, leptin is an adipokine that plays a key role in regulating energy intake (aka appetite) and metabolism. If there is a connection between the composition of fast food and increased leptin resistance perhaps we could be one step closer to certainty that obesity and Type 2 diabetes truly go hand in hand. I'm sure the 46.2 million people in poverty (more than 10% of the world population with diabetes) would love to know! Here is a good site to check out: http://atvb.ahajournals.org/content/25/12/2451.full. Enjoy!!
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