![]() People often turned to food in times of stress-all of that combined.” The way we responded to stressors was a lot different. “I hear stories all the time that things were stable, then 2020 hit and ‘I gained 50 pounds after that,’” Narang says. In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, derailing the normal exercise plans of active Americans and ushering the nation into a mental health crisis. The situation was bleak-and about to get worse. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention But because obesity so often begets pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, the nation is struggling with-or virtually ignoring-a cardiometabolic health crisis as well. is grappling with an epidemic of obesity is no surprise to experts Fortune spoke with. They’re walking around “like ticking time bombs,” Patel says. And nearly a quarter of those who have diabetes are also unaware. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 80% of those who have prediabetes aren’t aware of it, according to the U.S. Countless Americans have pre-diabetes or diabetes and, like Blue was, are oblivious. Pre-diabetes and diabetes are a major risk factor for conditions like fatty liver disease, metabolic associated cyanotic liver disease, and other chronic conditions-many of which, like diabetes, can also be fatal.ĭiagnosed or not, diabetes can cause complications, like the eye problems Blue experienced, and his neuropathy, which persists despite his improved glycemic control. ![]() While not unexpected, the figures are “incredibly concerning,” Patel says-not just because of diabetes’ potential to wreak havoc on the body, but because of the other diseases that may eventually accompany it. And around half of all Americans will be obese by 2030, researchers predict. Obesity is a leading risk factor for metabolic diseases like pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes-and statistics on Americans with obesity nearly mirror those on people with diabetes. “If anybody dropped the ball, it was me, because I was constantly told to do these things” like lose weight and get my blood pressure under control, “and I just ignored them until it got worse,” Blue says. And they were apparently never alarming enough to warrant a diagnosis before 2017, when his blood glucose level spiked into the 700s-roughly seven times a safe, normal level. But his labs were never explained to him. Everything feels like I’m running my hand through a cheese grater sometimes.”īlue’s doctors had warned him that his weight and high blood pressure, coupled with his family history of type 2 diabetes, could mean the condition was in his future. “My grip strength is gone, being able to feel surfaces is gone. “I can’t even feel the zipper on my kids’ clothes when I’m trying to get them dressed, struggling to tie their shoes,” he says. While his since vision recovered, his neuropathy-or nerve damage, a common diabetic complication-appears to be permanent. ![]() But keeping all three in check is a daily battle, he admits. With the help of an endocrinologist, insulin, other medications, diet, exercise, and a continuous glucose monitor, he now has better control of his blood sugar, blood pressure level, and weight. That morning he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a condition in which cells don’t respond normally to insulin.
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