The Real Diabetes Link

    I am referring to type 2 diabetes which is by far the most common type and the one for which we have the most information on cause and risk.
    I am writing about this today because I am disturbed by the attention processed foods are getting from certain sources, like news paper journalists.  I provide information from vetted sources, researchers and endocrinologists as well as other medical specialists.  The information I share is available from reputable websites like the NIH, CDC, AHA and ADA.

Here is what you need to know:
    The link between diabetes and processed foods is not direct. It is not processed foods = diabetes.  The link has to do with a common feature of processed foods - high levels of saturated fats and added sugar.
   Consumption of saturated fats and added sugar is also not the direct link.  But it gets us closer.
   Processed foods, because they are higher in saturated fats and added sugar, make it easy if not likely, that persons will over consume calories.
   Too many calories = weight gain.  Overweight and obesity - and the above factors that led to them are all modifiable.  We can change these parts.
   Now - Overweight and Obesity ARE directly linked to metabolic dysfunction which leads to insulin resistance and if untreated >>> to diabetes.
   There are two other parts to the diabetes picture.  The next one, by order of importance, is physical inactivity.  We have learned that sitting too long and too often also contributes to metabolic dysfunction.
   Lastly, there is a link to genetic susceptibility - if people in your family have diabetes you may be more at risk than someone who does not have family members with diabetes.  This is the smallest cause and also the one you cannot change. (it is not modifiable)
   The thing you need to know about 'susceptibility' is this. I explain with an example,  I am providing imaginary numbers.  Let us say that being overweight or obese increases the risk of diabetes by 40%, and that being inactive increases it by 30%.  Instead of everyone starting with a 0% risk, 'susceptible' people start with 5%.  That means that it is even MORE important for those people to have a normal weight and to exercise and move a lot.  Not less important, MORE important.

bottom line - processed foods are not the cause of diabetes - but eating a lot of them is a bad idea.
 

A Billion Dollar Disease

   A couple of weeks ago, I read a post by Cris Frangold.  Cris pronounces a love for investing and writing about it.  I would consider him or her a financial blogger, with a  focus on medical services and the health sector.
   The piece that I read in Seeking Alpha regarded the value of Merck and purchasing its stock.  One reason offered to invest in the company was its drug Januvia.  Januvia is meant to treat the symptoms of type 2 diabetes.  Cris noted that 2012 Q2 sales of the drug were over 1billion dollars. Then he or she said:

Januvia has a potential to be a real moneymaker because the American Diabetes Association estimates that 25.8 Americans, or 8.3% of the population have Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes - the majority are Type 2.

   Type 2 diabetes in adults and children is related to diet - diet as it produces obesity.  It appears that excess body fat leads to metabolic dysfunction or disregulation so that blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol irregularities follow.   Our diabetes rates have doubled in the past 30 years in tandem with our increase in obesity.  The 30 year trend of rising weights has been attributed to an increase in availability and consumption of high calorie, nutrient poor foods and beverages.
   Sure we can make billions on treatment and millions investing in those treatment options, but isn't there a better response?  I suggest that there is.  Investing in a diabetes drug means counting on a disease to continue, needing it to continue in order to enhance a portfolio or fund a retirement account.  That seems to be a good example of maleficence.    
   What of the better good?  I say the noble thing to do is invest in the food environment so that meals and drinks contain reasonable amounts of sat fat, sugar and calories.  And yes - sometimes that takes a mandate.

 American Diabetic Association
National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse.  Program of the National Institutes of Health