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This post blows my mind. Now gastric bypass surgery is being been done on our children! But with the rise of childhood obesity, I guess it was only a matter of time that this would be considered. Wow! Our society has to wake up and stop the madness.
Researchers say type 2 diabetes has traditionally been considered an adult disease. But with the rise of childhood obesity, the rate of type 2 diabetes among children has increased more than tenfold in the last two decades, from 3% to nearly half of all new pediatric diabetes cases.
A small new study shows Roux-en-Y gastric bypass weight loss surgery halted the use of medications for type 2 diabetes in 10 out of 11 obese adolescents treated with the procedure. And the surgery reduced their risk factors for heart disease.
Previous studies have shown that weight loss surgery can prompt the remission of type 2 diabetes in adults, but this is the first study to show that the treatment may have the same effect in adolescents.
In the study, researchers examined the effects of the gastric bypass surgery on 11 extremely obese adolescents with type 2 diabetes and numerous heart disease risk factors.
A year after the weight loss surgery, researchers found evidence of remission of type 2 diabetes in all but one of the patients.
Specifically, the average BMI (body mass index, a measure of obesity) was reduced by 34% and fasting blood glucose and insulin concentrations decreased by 41% and 81%, respectively. Improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol levels, two major risk factors for heart disease, were also observed.

A study performed by researchers in Edinburgh Scotland suggests that as little as three minutes of high-intensity exercise every other day may help sedentary people ward off diabetes. The first thought that comes to my mind is check with your doctor first before doing intensive exercises.
The results of a small clinical study suggested that a supervised exercise regimen of very brief, high-intensity workouts improved a variety of laboratory measures related to diabetes (Note that the study involved a small number of healthy young men). Two weeks of brief episodes of high-intensity training led to significant improvement in multiple parameters of blood glucose and insulin action in healthy volunteers. The six training sessions lasted a total of 15 minutes. Each session consisted of four to six 30-second sprints on a stationary bicycle.
The risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes can be reduced by regular physical activity. However, no consensus exists as to the optimal amount or intensity of activity required to improve the risk profile, the authors noted.
In the past recommendations for improved glycemic control typically emphasized several hours of moderate or vigorous exercise each week, a goal ignored by the general population because of lack of time and motivation. Recently, low-volume, high-intensity interval training has been suggested as a time-efficient exercise protocol to improve aerobic fitness.
The authors concluded, “Our findings warrant further studies investigating the effectiveness of high-intensity interval training in improving glycemic control in healthy middle-aged individuals at risk of developing type 2 diabetes and in patients with type 2 diabetes”.
Well, it’s a first step and a novel one at that. I do hope that a much wider study can be done, one with subjects having diabetes so that the results would have more credibility.

In the United States, nearly 13 percent of adults age 20 and older have diabetes, but 40 percent of them have not been diagnosed, according to epidemiologists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whose study includes newly available data from an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).
An additional 30 percent of adults have pre-diabetes, a condition marked by elevated blood sugar that is not yet in the diabetic range. Researchers report these findings in the February 2009 issue of Diabetes Care.
The study compared the results of two national surveys that included a fasting blood glucose (FBG) test and 2-hour glucose reading from an OGTT. The OGTT gives more information about blood glucose abnormalities than the FBG test, which measures blood glucose after an overnight fast. The FBG test is easier and less costly than the OGTT, but the 2-hour test is more sensitive in identifying diabetes and pre-diabetes, especially in older people. Two-hour glucose readings that are high but not yet diabetic indicate a greater risk of cardiovascular disease and of developing diabetes than a high, but not yet diabetic, fasting glucose level.
“We’re facing a diabetes epidemic that shows no signs of abating, judging from the number of individuals with pre-diabetes,” said lead author Catherine Cowie, Ph.D., of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), a part of the NIH. “For years, diabetes prevalence estimates have been based mainly on data that included a fasting glucose test but not an OGTT.
Diabetes is rising as a serious health problem in United States and much of the developed world. Obesity, heart disease, and diabetes are all interrelated. In its final stages diabetes can cause a person to become blind and loose leg(s).
Diabetes can be prevented by exercising, watching what you eat, and eating less (portion control). Fatty, sugary foods should be avoided or at least eaten less. Today even children are developing this disease. Unfortunately, obese children are seen more and more. And with the popularity of fast food and video games, they have the perfect opportunity to increase their girth and not get the exercise that the children before them did.

Recent headlines about cinnamon are the result of an accidental finding in a Maryland USDA research center. Incredibly, the catalyst was as American as good old apple pie, flavored with — what else — cinnamon. Scientists were testing the effects of various foods on blood sugar (glucose) levels. They expected the classic pie to have an adverse effect, but instead they found it actually helped lower blood glucose levels!
Next came a study in Pakistan made up of 60 people with Type 2 diabetes who were divided into 6 groups of 10. Three groups received cinnamon in the form of capsules totaling 1, 3 or 6 grams of cinnamon a day. The other three groups received placebo capsules. The capsules were taken three times a day, after meals. All three levels of cinnamon showed results, leading researchers to believe that as little as 1 gram a day of cinnamon may benefit people who have Type 2.
The fact that studies so far have involved a small amount of people and have not yet explored the long term benefits of cinnamon, would lead to the conclusion that there may not be enough evidence gathered yet, to support cinnamon as a major player against Type 2. But adding more cinnamon to already healthy lifestyle changes probably wouldn’t hurt either.
Cinnamon…
* can have favorable effects on brain function and memory
* soothes the stomach, and may help prevent ulcers
* reduces cholesterol levels – in particular, lowering bad cholesterol while leaving
good cholesterol the same
Of particular interest is cinnamon’s ability to reduce blood sugar, and increase insulin levels, results which were documented in a respected diabetes journal.
It is cinnamon’s effect on blood sugar that makes it a potential help in the war against obesity, insulin resistance, sometimes known as “prediabetes,” and the “Metabolic Syndrome.”
In addition to ground cinnamon consumed directly, one can also make a cinnamon tea and let the solids settle to the bottom or use cinnamon sticks, which make for a nice clear tea. Cinnamon can also be added to orange juice, oatmeal, coffee before brewing, salads, meats etc. It is interesting to note that the active components are not destroyed by heat.

Nationally, the rate of new cases climbed from about 5 per 1,000 persons in the mid 1990’s to 9 per 1000 in 2005. About 90 percent of the cases is Type 2 diabetes the form linked to obesity.
In Type 2 diabetics the cells are resistant to accepting insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar to energy by the cells. Sugar builds up in the blood, leading to complications such as heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and poor circulation.
Diabetes was the seventh-leading cause of death in 2006, according to the CDC. More than 23 million Americans suffer with diabetes. The number is rapidly growing – 1.6 million new cases were diagnosed among adults last year.
Obesity and lack of exercise contribute to the increases in the number of persons diagnosed with diabetes. It’s be easy to control Type 2 diabetes: practice portion control (eat less) and exercise more.

As its name implies, pre-diabetes is essentially a precursor to diabetes. People with pre-diabetes have blood glucose levels above those considered normal but not yet high enough to qualify as diabetic. This can be considered a gray zone between sickness and health.
Millions of Americans fall into the pre-diabetes category. And people with pre-diabetes already have a 50% higher risk of heart disease and stroke than those with normal blood glucose levels.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 57 million Americans 21 and older have the condition, roughly twice as many as have diabetes itself. Pre-diabetes is not only more common but also more treatable. If it’s diagnosed early, its ill effects can often be averted. In some cases, the condition can be cured.

Mild elevations in glucose levels cause no obvious symptoms but carry significant consequences: A persistent buildup of glucose in the body damages blood vessels and other tissues throughout the body.
Pre-diabetics are also far more likely to go on to develop full-blown diabetes. If left untreated, about 25% of individuals with pre-diabetes progress to diabetes within three to five years, and many more will develop the disease within a decade.

With appropriate treatment, however, individuals with pre-diabetes can prevent — or at least delay — their condition from worsening. Studies suggest that simple lifestyle changes are often enough to overcome insulin resistance and return blood glucose levels to normal.
Diabetes experts speculate that increasing activity levels and losing weight improve the body’s ability to respond to insulin and handle glucose. Just losing 5% to 7% of body weight appears to be sufficient. For a 220-pound man, that amounts to roughly 11 to 15 pounds; for a 160-pound woman, it’s eight to 11 pounds.

In a similar fashion increasing physical activity to 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise such as walking and biking will help to get one out of the gray zone of pre-diabetes.

In some cases medications might be needed, but natural solutions of dieting and exercise work for many pre-diabetics and keep them away from diabetes and the need to take insulin injections daily.