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A major upsurge
November marks National Diabetes Awareness Month, an important time for sufferers and their loved ones. This invisible disease affects 1 in 3 Canadians and about 1 in 2 young adults will develop diabetes in their lifetime. In Quebec alone, diabetes affects close to 1.2 million people. It is therefore essential to know the few definitions of diabetes.
The most important resurgence is that of type 2 diabetes. And obesity is the main cause of this increase.
“Obesity and diabetes are strongly associated with each other. What is less clear is whether one is a consequence of the other, or whether they are two manifestations of the same problem,” explains Dr. Yves Robitaille, founder of the Cbetween Metabolic Medicine of Lanaudière.
The one who also set up the Le Gardeur Hospital Diabetes Center in 1996 explains that there is a very strong correlation between the prevalence of obesity and the prevalence of diabetes. “Knowing that more than 29% of Canadians are obese, according to Statistics Canada, the resurgence of diabetes will necessarily continue to progress,” laments Dr. Robitaille.
Extra pounds increase the body’s resistance to insulin – forcing it to produce more of this hormone to compensate. If your beta cells cannot produce enough, you will be unable to regulate your blood sugar; this is the definition of type 2 diabetes.
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Diabetes statistics in Canada
Diabetes is a big public health problem. Compared to the rest of the population, diabetics are three times more likely to be hospitalized for heart disease, 12 times more likely for end-stage kidney disease, and 20 times more likely to require a lower limb amputation without having been victims of an accident, can we read in a document d’information produced in January 2021 by Diabetes Canada.
As with other illnesses, prevention, physical activity and a balanced diet remain the best weapons. Dr. Robitaille points out that it doesn’t take huge weight loss to help improve blood sugar levels quickly.
Other preventative measures include eating whole grains, reducing or eliminating alcohol intake, and quitting smoking. No need to make strenuous efforts to reduce your risk of developing diabetes, just take care of yourself on a daily basis!
From 1999 to 2015, the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative (ADI) was a key component of Health Canada’s Canadian Diabetes Strategy. Several First Nations communities – where the rate of diabetes is three to five times higher than the rest of the Canadian population – benefited from this program since Health Canada expects diabetes rates to increase significantly among Inuit due to “obesity, physical inactivity and poor dietary habits”.