Posted on 08/16/2021 5:33:37 PM PDT by bitt
How the pandemic laid bare America’s diabetes crisis
COVID-19 has torn a particularly lethal path through the 1 in 10 Americans with diabetes, including many who never caught the virus. That's because when the pandemic hit, people with the chronic disease were already in worse shape than in years.
It took the deadly disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic to expose a deeper, more intractable U.S. public-health crisis: For more than a decade, the world’s richest nation has been losing the battle against diabetes.
Long before the pandemic, Kate Herrin was among the millions of Americans struggling to control their diabetes.
Her problems often stemmed from her government-subsidized medical insurance. Doctors routinely rejected her Medicaid plan, and she repeatedly ran out of the test strips she needed to manage her daily insulin injections. She cycled in and out of emergency rooms with dangerously high blood-sugar levels, or hyperglycemia.
Then COVID-19 hit. Herrin – poor and living alone – rarely left her apartment, ordering fast-food delivery instead of risking the grocery store. She stopped going in for regular lab tests. She had a harder time than ever securing medical supplies. Her health deteriorated further.
On Dec. 15, Herrin and Elicia Heaston, her best friend, were swapping messages on Facebook midday when Herrin abruptly dropped off the conversation. Heaston called Herrin’s phone and got no answer. When a few more hours passed without any word, Heaston and her husband drove from their home in rural West Alexandria, Ohio, to Herrin’s apartment nearby and pounded on the door. No lights were on, but they could hear the television.
Heaston called 911. When firefighters arrived, they found the 42-year-old dead on the bathroom floor. Herrin’s rescue dogs, Honey and Sugar, were lying quietly next to her.
The coroner attributed the heart attack that killed
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Her “friend” Elicia Heaston should have called local authorities for welfare check immediately instead of waiting HOURS.
Liquid Seed Oils, like canola and soybean oil, cause obesity.
Yes. Consuming omega 6 fats is the main cause of obesity. Seed oils were introduced in the 20th century. The percentage of fats that is omega 6 fats in people’s bodies keeps increasing.
Excess stored iron causes diabetes.
If you can process sugar, consuming as much as you can is good for you.
Very true
Bkmk.
“ I was right on the edge my last blood test. Lost 50lbs, cut out 95% of sugars and 85% of my carbs (now under 50g/day) and walk 4-5 miles.
A1C is 5.0 last checked”
I just hit 5.1 last month yearly checkup = prediabetic range.
Only need to lose 10 pounds and changed my diet which needed to happen any plus excise more which is fun in this heat.
It will end up being a good thing forcing me to take better care.
Type 1 diabetics aren’t always obese...not by a long shot. A friend of mine died at 54...she weighed in the neighborhood of 115-120 her entire life...nothing about her appearance signaled ‘diabetic’.
“A1C is 5.0 last checked.”
Boring eye exams in your future!!! Fantastic number!
Had diabetes each time when I was pregnant. Cuttin carbs for 6 months was easy, life style change another story.
Good for you. And your loved ones.
As long as we can afford to not treat diabetes properly, then it is NOT a national health problem.
...and it does seem like the supply of money to treat it improperly is ENDLESS.
As long as we can afford to not treat diabetes properly, then it is NOT a national health problem.
Those who get paid to treat diabetes don’t get paid for preventing it.
They don’t try to prevent it and don’t know how.
I buy my insulin at $25 per vial at Walmart. No script, no insurance.
Correction I hit 5.7
This is 100% you making up something I never said. And then coming after me for not saying it.
This is called a strawman argument.
Did I say all diabetics are fat and obese? Where did I say that?
The facts are Americans are the heaviest they have ever been. We have every demographic you can measure heavier than ever. We consume sugar and carbs more than ever. Compounding it a majority of people now work jobs that are sedentary, non physical jobs. Its very evident to see how weight factors into people developing diabetes. Most diabetics are not genetic or juvenile. Most of the american cases are type 2, and those form largely from diet and exercise issues.
I really believe you need to stop reading things into statements that are not there. Unless you just like throwing strawman arguments out there.
How many doses in a vial? My father-in-law is a diabetic.
The food pyramid began when I was in 2nd grade and from then till my senior year in high school I was bombarded with the idea that 6-11 servings of grains per day was essential for good health. Even being told things like eating a giant bowl of pasta was healthier than eating 6oz of steak. Further the most meat that could be on a school lunch was 3oz or about the size of a deck of cards.
I am more concerned about “High Fructose corn syrup”
—
Indeed. This garbage sugar is in almost all cookies and snack cakes. The worst of the worst.
Type 1 is pretty much dependent on genetics. Very, very insulin dependent. Starts at a early age.
I know a young lady who developed Type 1 at the age of 5. In the 4 grade she beat up a guy in her class who kept teasing her. Her mom said “What do expect from a kid that has a needle stuck into her 3 times a day! This kid is now a Doc.
Type 2 is dependent on genetics, weight and also pregnancy makes you more vulnerable. More dependent on diet and exercise. Starts at a later age.
” In part, that’s because, since the 1970s, more and more Americans are growing up and living in “obesogenic” environments where they get less exercise, eat more processed foods high in carbohydrates and fat, and gain excessive weight at an earlier age.”
YEA!! Kind of. They got the “C”-word in finally - Carbohydrates (the cause of high blood sugar), but had to add in fat, of which there is ZERO EVIDENCE that it’s a problem with blood sugar (hint, it does affect blood sugar).
“Now, Adebayo said, he tries to wake up earlier and eat a better diet. He counts the carbohydrates in his food so he can correctly dose his meal-time insulin injections. “
Counting is a start, but if he gets much over 20 grams, he’s not doing his body any favors. You can ‘think’ you’re offsetting those carbs with insulin, but you’re actually destroying your body at the same as if you didn’t even take insulin.
“I have called endocrinologists in the Metroplex and beyond,” she wrote in 2017, referring to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “None take Medicaid.”...Low reimbursements are a big reason only 68% of family doctors, who treat most type 2 patients, are willing to accept new Medicaid patients, according to a 2019 federal report.”
Well, if 68% of family doctors, who treat diabetes, take Medicaid, perhaps she should have considered calling one of them. But I do agree with the premise - Medicaid does suck.
YEA!! Kind of. They got the “C”-word in finally - Carbohydrates (the cause of high blood sugar), but had to add in fat, of which there is ZERO EVIDENCE that it’s a problem with blood sugar (hint, it does affect blood sugar).⁷
There is a great number of publications that show that consuming omega 6 fats reduce the ability to process sugar and causes diabetes.
“Yes it could be the problem (fast food),
but I am more concerned about “High Fructose corn syrup””
While I don’t dispute that, my only meal now at McDonald’s is 2 double quarter pounders with cheese...thereupon I immediately throw out the (admittingly-delicious) buns. Not cheap...about $13 for the meal, but it’s tough to think of a better way to spend money, and it’s still far cheaper than eating out.
Absolutely agree on HFCS...you can’t even find it in Third World countries - but it’s everywhere here!
“Herrin’s rescue dogs, Honey and Sugar...”
Riiiight...
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