(As of 2011, 25. 8 million people, 8. 3 percent of the U. S. population, are affected by diabetes. ) Sadly out of 25. 8 million people, 7 million people don’t even know that they have diabetes (http://ndep. nih. gov/diabetes-facts/). As of 2012, nearly 4 percent of Americans are morbidly obese. As we can see, diabetes and obesity are two chronic diseases that sadly effect people’s lives across the world. While some cases are hereditary, sadly 80 percent of people diagnosed with diabetes are because of unhealthy living. Obesity and diabetes effect people in many ways. Both diseases affect our health, our lifestyles, and our everyday life.
While diabetes and obesity are two life changing diseases; both are leading causes for the same life changing and life altering diseases. Unfortunately diabetes and obesity are leading causes to cancer. While there are several types of cancer, diabetes and obesity can both lead to liver cancer. Diabetes is one of the causes for liver cancer. Liver cancer from this disease is caused by the high levels of insulin in people that are diabetic. (www. cancerresearch. org). The truth is people with diabetes are at a higher risk of liver cancer than people that aren’t diabetic.
People with type II diabetes has a high risk of liver cancer, thought to be because of the fatty build up in the liver. Not only is diabetes a leading cause of cancer, Obesity as well is a leading cause for liver cancer. (People that suffer from obesity are at a 4. 5 times greater risk of liver cancer than people that are not obese). www. livercancerconnect. org. Fortunately people that suffer from obesity and diabetes are able to lower their chances of liver cancer by eating healthier, and maintaining a healthy weight. Obesity and diabetes also lead to kidney cancer.
Diabetes is a leading cause to kidney cancer. A common symptom of this disease is high blood pressure. High blood pressure is hard of the kidneys which can lead to kidney cancer. Obesity is also a cause of kidney cancer. According to www. naturalnews. com (people that are obese increase their risk of kidney cancer by more than 4 percent). From the same site, out of 1,640 participants for body mass and kidney cancer research, 67 percent which were obese, had kidney cancer compared to 57 percent which were not obese. As we can see diabetes and obesity are leading causes to this life changing disease of cancer.
“About 30% of cancer deaths are due to the five leading behavioral and dietary risks: high body mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake, lack of physical activity, tobacco use, alcohol use. ”(http://www. who. int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/). As we can see three out of the five risks contribute to obesity, high body mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake, and lack of physical activity. These risks can be prevented if we would care more about health and wellness. Outside of cancer, diabetes and obesity are also leading causes to cardio-vascular disease.
In fact, the number one cause of diabetes related deaths is caused by a form of cardio-vascular disease. Diabetes has been proven to damage blood vessels, and nerves. By damaging the blood vessels and nerves, a diabetic can have a heart attack without feeling it. How does diabetes damage the blood vessels? Over time the blood vessels and the arteries that lead to the heart produces what is known as plaque. The plaque lines the wall of the arteries and veins. The plaque builds up and prevents enough blood from reaching the heart, causing heart attacks; and the brain causing strokes. As we know, heart attacks do cause death.
“Each year, about 1. 2 million people in the United States have heart attacks, and many of them die. CHD, which often results in heart attacks, is the leading killer of both men and women in the United States” (www. nhlbi. nih. gov/health/health-topics/topics/heartattack/). Because of the blood vessels and nerves becoming damaged from diabetes, diabetics that do have heart attacks do not know that they have had one because there is no chest pain (www. world-heart-federation. org). According to the same site, people that are diabetic are 3 to 4 times greater to have heart disease than someone that doesn’t have this disease.
Obesity as well can lead to cardio-vascular disease. People that are obese can form what is known as metabolic syndrome, which leads to cardio-vascular disease. “Metabolic syndrome is a combination of medical disorders that, when occurring together, increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. ” (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Metabolic_syndrome). Metabolic syndrome is caused by a group of risk factors. A risk factor for metabolic syndrome is insulin resistance. People that suffer from obesity are at high risk of insulin resistance because being obese makes it harder for the cells in the body to respond to insulin.
Other risk factors for metabolic syndrome are excessive blood clotting. According to (http://www. nhlbi. nih. gov/health/health-topics/topics/ms/causes. html) people that suffer from obesity are at higher risks of having blood clots. Because of the excessive blood clotting, this causes obese people to have metabolic syndrome. Not only do obesity and diabetes lead to cancer and cardiovascular disease, they also lead to other health issues. Diabetes and obesity are also leading cause to other diseases such as eye problems. Diabetes is the leading cause of diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is a common diabetic eye disease.
It is also the leading cause of blindness in most adult diabetics. Diabetic retinopathy causes a change in the blood vessels to the retina. In some cases diabetics with retinopathy, have experienced swelling of the blood vessels that cause the vessels to leak fluid. (http://www. nei. nih. gov/health/diabetic/retinopathy. asp). Unfortunately once diabetic retinopathy is evident, over time it will take effect in both eyes. Obesity as well causes eye problems known as cataracts. Cataracts are cloudy areas in the lens in the eye. Cataracts cause blurry vision, which can make it harder to read, and drive at night.
A source of treating cataracts is having them surgically removed. A human’s eye sight is very important. Sadly the eye sight is affected in a negative way. As we have seen diabetes and obesity are two life changing diseases. As well, both are leading causes for the same types of life altering and changing diseases. Both lead to cancer, cardio-vascular disease, and eye problems. Our health is very important, and how we take care of it even with a chronic disease will determine if we live a longer life, or if we live a shorter life for not taking care of ourselves.
Even if diabetes and obesity are present in our life, we can limit our chances of other diseases by taking care of ourselves. This is our life and how we live it is up to us.
References (http://ndep. nih. gov/diabetes-facts/ www. cancerresearch. org www. livercancerconnect. org. www. naturalnews. com www. world-heart-federation. org http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Metabolic_syndrome http://www. nhlbi. nih. gov/health/health-topics/topics/ms/causes. html http://www. nei. nih. gov/health/diabetic/retinopathy. asp http://www. who. int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/.