The Impact of Lifestyle on Diabetes Risk Among Women Aged 45-65, Research Paper Example

Introduction

According to the CDC (2014), over 9 percent of the U.S. population suffers from diabetes, one of the most common chronic diseases of the western civilization. Diabetes is a burden on the health care budget of the United States, and it is preventable. The majority of people suffering from Type 2 Diabetes are aged 45-65 (CDC, 2014), and this illness increases the risk of other chronic diseases, as well, such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, eyesight problems, and kidney disease, among others. According to a recent WHO report (2015), the prevention of chronic diseases is one of the best health care investments, as it costs less than long term medical treatment. Based on the statistics published by the WHO (2015),  in the United States alone, the cost of treating obesity-related diseases makes up 5.3 percent of the entire health care budget. Foulds (2012, p. 1), “obesity is thought to contribute to the insulin resistance syndrome, and as such is often linked to the development of diabetes”. The number of patients with Type 2 diabetes is increasing in both the developing and developed world (Foulds, 2012), and BMI is thought to be linked to individual risks for developing Type 2 Diabetes.

According to the CDC (2015), as a nation, the United States spends 86% of healthcare dollars on treating chronic diseases. The Affordable Care Act has included specific language to address illness prevention, health promotion, and wellness for public health (HHS, n.d).

Based on the CDC fact sheet (2014), an estimated number of 8.1 million Americans suffer from diabetes, and are not yet diagnosed. The estimated cost of diabetes in the United States in 2012 was $245 billion. Prevention costs less than treatment, therefore, programs among women in at-risk groups should be targeted with health education programs to prevent Type 2 diabetes. A  recent study by Saito et al. (2011) found that intensive lifestyle modification significantly reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes among patients who have glucose intolerance. Therefore, it is evident that health promotion programs focusing on patients’ lifestyle and weight management, created by health care professionals would reduce the risks for patients to develop Type 2 diabetes, while lightening the health care budget’s burden related to long term care of patients with the above described chronic condition.

The recent WHO research study (2015) concludes that chronic diseases can be controlled and prevented using evidence-based prevention methods. Community-based health promotion methods can “address the causes rather than the consequences of chronic diseases” (WHO, 2015, p. 90), and improve the quality of life for many people who are currently at risk. The main focus of intervention programs should be reducing risk factors. In the case of Type 2 diabetes, a high BMI can be determined as one of the main risk factors. However, there are other lifestyle-associated characteristics of populations that are positively related to increased risk. Among women aged 45-65, the main risk factors of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to Joseph (2010) are: unfavorable blood lipids, higher than 25 BMI (body-mass-index), hypertension, smoking, physical inactivity, low education level, certain dietary patterns, such as a high proportion of food intake made up of higher dietary glycemic index meals), and genetic factors. Among the above factors, some can be targeted through effective health education, such as the lack of exercise, high BMI, and dietary patterns. Therefore, future programs related to changing health related behaviors should focus on healthy diet and exercise patterns (US Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.) among women aged 45-65.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). National diabetes statistics report: estimates of diabetes and its burden in the United States, 2014.  Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human services.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Chronic disease prevention and health promotion. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/fmo/topic/Budget%20Information/FY-2015-Fact-Sheets/Chronic-Disease-Prevention-and-Health-Promotion.pdf

Foulds, H., Bredin, S., & Warburton, D. (2012) The relationship between Diabetes and Obesity across different ethnicities. Diabetes Metabolism Journal. 2012. 3:9

Joseph, J., Svartberg, J., Njølstad, I., & Schirmer, H. (2010). Incidence of and risk factors for type-2 diabetes in a general population: The Tromsø Study.Scandinavian journal of public health, 38(7), 768-775.

US Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.) Read the law. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/pdf/four-domains-factsheet-2015.pdf

Saito, T, Watanabe, M, Nishida, J et al. Lifestyle modification and prevention of type 2 diabetes in overweight Japanese with impaired fasting glucose levels: a randomized controlled trial. Archives in InternationalMedicine. 2011; 171: 1352–1360

World Health Organization. (2005). Preventing chronic diseases: a vital investment: WHO global report.