History of Diabetes, and Modern Trends

[Grateful]

Continuing our world tour, I was looking at the situation in South Asia (and for those of South Asian origin in the UK and elsewhere).

"The likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes is reported to be as much as 6 times higher in South Asians than in Europeans, with a number of factors - mostly linked with lifestye - believed to be behind this increased risk." (Full article here: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/south-asian/.)

There is a good overview of the issues in a paper here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3715105/. Here is an excerpt from the conclusions:

"Current evidence suggests that the prevalence of T2DM in South Asians is high and rising both in South Asian countries, as well as in the diaspora. These increases are due, in part, to higher T2DM incidence rates in South Asians compared with Caucasians, which suggests an increased propensity for South Asians to develop the disease. This notion is highlighted by evidence indicating that South Asians (1) are more insulin resistant than Caucasians even at similar levels of BMI and total body fat percent, (2) demonstrate early impairments in β-cell function, (3) exhibit greater tendencies toward visceral fat deposition, even as neonates, and (4) have lower levels of circulating plasma adiponectin and higher levels of plasma leptin.

"In addition to possible innate predisposition, South Asians are currently experiencing changes in lifestyle behaviors due to migration or nutritional transitions, resulting in physical inactivity and a shift away from traditional dietary habits to those that include greater overall carbohydrates, saturated, and trans fats and lower amounts of dietary fiber. Coupled with an increased propensity for T2DM, the recent shifts in lifestyle behaviors only serve to exacerbate the risk for disease."

 

[HICHAM_T2]

Thank you sir for this golden information
And if you allow me to say my humble opinion it is

I think the disease is getting worse as the state provides welfare

It is no secret to you what brings luxury to trouble
(Stomach disease home)

 

[Grateful]

I think the disease is getting worse as the state provides welfare.

I disagree, but that's not surprising since I come from four generations of socialists.

I am having trouble finding the forum rules (although I did read them when I joined in September). There is a "terms and rules" at the bottom of this forum page but this seems to concern the entire website, not the forum.

Some Internet fora restrict discussions of politics (or allow it only in a special sub-forum). Personally I find this wise because although we all have diabetes and therefore have many common things to talk about, we also probably have a very large range of political opinions here. I might say: "Some of my best friends are Tories!"

Of course, there is a political undercurrent to a lot of the discussions here, including the current thread obviously. Also, all those threads where the quality of care provided by the UK National Health Service is discussed often have a political context to consider!

Does that make sense?

 

[Grateful]

The case of France.

A new study by the "Santé publique France" agency, quoted today in Le Figaro, notes that in recent years the number of diabetics in that country has been increasing at an annual rate of 2.1%. As of 2015, 6% of French men and 4% of women were diabetic. More than 1 in 5 men aged between 70 and 84 were diabetic. The total number of diabetics in France was 3.3 million (no breakdown of T1 vs. T2 provided, but the article quotes a specialist doctor as saying 92% of the diabetics are T2).

The main factors cited are the aging of the population, better detection of the disease, and an increase in people being overweight or obese. The prevalence is higher in poorer parts of the country. The rate is especially high in overseas French territories and departments: 10% of people in Réunion were diabetic, 9% in Guadeloupe and 8% in French Guyana.

The study also says that those living in poorer regions or from poorer families have fewer chances of playing sports (affecting children in particular) and that poverty is also "seldom compatible" with a healthy diet.

The Figaro article (in French) is here: http://sante.lefigaro.fr/article/avec-le-surpoids-et-l-obesite-le-diabete-progresse-en-france/.

 

[kokhongw]

You may want to take a look at the South pacific islanders...they are being decimated by T2D...

 

[Grateful]

"She Took on Colombia's Soda Industry. Then She Was Silenced."

"[Her] group had raised money, rallied allies to the cause and produced a provocative television ad that warned consumers how sugar-laden beverages can lead to obesity and diet-related illnesses like diabetes.[my boldface; snip]

"The battle over taxing sugar-sweetened beverages is becoming one of the world’s most ferocious policy brawls — a clash of science, politics and money in dozens of countries and cities. [snip]

"The experience in Colombia may be the most extreme, but a juggernaut of industry opposition has killed or stalled soda tax proposals around the globe, including in Russia, Germany, Israel and New Zealand."

Full article in today's New York Times. There is a paywall, but you can read five articles per month for free. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/...o-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

 

[Oldvatr]

The Ancient Greeks (and the Romans) leave me cold. I am interested, though, in Banting and his story. A modern man with the willingness to research in what must have been a time when every obstacle overcome must have proved painstakingly slow compared to the wealth of information at our fingertips today.
Perhaps I shall take time out from my learning of Diabetes to read on he who started the ball rolling.

There are two Bantings to research. One discovered insulin (Frederick), and one (William) gave his name to the diet that we now recognise as Low Carb. I believe these two are not related, but both made significant advances to modern diabetes care.

 

[Oldvatr]

William Banting, the British undertaker.

Nope Its the other one = Frederick.

 

[Guzzler]

Nope Its the other one = Frederick.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

[Fairygodmother]

The case of France.

A new study by the "Santé publique France" agency, quoted today in Le Figaro, notes that in recent years the number of diabetics in that country has been increasing at an annual rate of 2.1%. As of 2015, 6% of French men and 4% of women were diabetic. More than 1 in 5 men aged between 70 and 84 were diabetic. The total number of diabetics in France was 3.3 million (no breakdown of T1 vs. T2 provided, but the article quotes a specialist doctor as saying 92% of the diabetics are T2).

The main factors cited are the aging of the population, better detection of the disease, and an increase in people being overweight or obese. The prevalence is higher in poorer parts of the country. The rate is especially high in overseas French territories and departments: 10% of people in Réunion were diabetic, 9% in Guadeloupe and 8% in French Guyana.

The study also says that those living in poorer regions or from poorer families have fewer chances of playing sports (affecting children in particular) and that poverty is also "seldom compatible" with a healthy diet.

The Figaro article (in French) is here: http://sante.lefigaro.fr/article/avec-le-surpoids-et-l-obesite-le-diabete-progresse-en-france/.

I find this one interesting too, it suggests that it’s not just how much is eaten but what is eaten. A bit long, and as I don’t have a science degree I may have jumped to conclusions, but worth a look for T2 (I’m T1 so not got personal experience).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5486011/

I also remember reading about the way changes in diet in Asia and the Pacific Islands impacted on a population whose digestive biology had evolved to meet a different kind of nutrition.

 

[AloeSvea]

I find this one interesting too, it suggests that it’s not just how much is eaten but what is eaten. A bit long, and as I don’t have a science degree I may have jumped to conclusions, but worth a look for T2 (I’m T1 so not got personal experience).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5486011/

I also remember reading about the way changes in diet in Asia and the Pacific Islands impacted on a population whose digestive biology had evolved to meet a different kind of nutrition.

Well - yes! Of course. It's not digestive biology per se, for different ethnic groups. It's human biology!

My understanding of evolutionary biology, and concerning these evolutionary 'mis-match diseases' - of which T2D absolutely is, and perhaps T1D as an autoimmune disease - oh let's just say diabetes - is that the 'de fault' setting for our species is adaptation to low-carb, ie very little fructose and sucrose, just from fruit and honey if you could get it. The actual adaptation is to dairy, wheat (especially high levels of it, considering 'the sandwich' as a key cuisine item), ie higher carbs, more insulin sensitivity with higher levels of carbs, is from the areas in the world that are not having decimated populations. ie western Europe. (And there are other pockets with a lower rate of T2D.) (Just lower mind! Not absent, not by a long shot.)

If you want to read up more on this a very accessible writer on the topic is Daniel E Liebeman, I think there are youtube talks too. 'The Story of Human Biology: Evolution, Health, and Disease'.

The idea of excess, and T2 diabetics 'not moving enough' and 'eating too much' fits very nicely into our current culture, economy and worldviews, with food corporations being bigger than oil, apparently.. ie it's blame the victim stuff and is nonsense, in the true sense of the word.

High carbs, huge amounts of sugar in just about everything, and hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils are very new in our diets. As is populations being decimated by T2D. We live in interesting times.

 

[Indy51]

@Grateful
@George_Henderson has published an comprehensive history of diabetes treatment that you mind find interesing:

https://www.omicsonline.org/open-ac...-for-diabetes-2155-6156-1000696.php?aid=78354

 

[Grateful]

@Grateful
@George_Henderson has published an comprehensive history of diabetes treatment that you mind find interesing:

https://www.omicsonline.org/open-ac...-for-diabetes-2155-6156-1000696.php?aid=78354

Thank you, that is absolutely fascinating.

They had figured out LCHF in considerable detail. They had the same controversy that we do today about the supposed harm of "high fat" but when they tried the low-carb, low-fat treatment some patients died of malnutrition or -- as they said in those days -- "inanition."

There is this, which has been bothering me for a while: "Dr Newburgh ... once remarked to us that the discovery of insulin was a severe setback to the advancement of the science and art of nutrition. How prophetic he was."

And the conclusion: "[T]he researches of Newburgh et al. are the most scientifically advanced, conscientiously performed, and intelligently analyzed clinical investigations we will ever have into the effects of diet on a population suffering from decompensated diabetes in a world without insulin. Нis experiment can never be recreated and modern research into the same question shows how well its results have withstood the passage of time and the improvement of scientific techniques; it would be, in our opinion, a tragic mistake to regard this research as obsolete or irrelevant to modern questions around diabetes and diet."

The mortality rate in those days was clearly very high, even among those being "treated" for diabetes, not just because injectable insulin was not available but also because they still couldn't distinguish between Type 1 and Type 2.

 

[Grateful]

"Diabetes is now Mexico’s top killer" -- an unexpected effect of Nafta trade deal was the spreading of the Standard American Diet to Mexico, with deadly consequences. Details today in The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/health/obesity-mexico-nafta.html.