Type 2 diabetes - are you at risk?

摘要

Diabetes is Australia's fastest growing chronic disease and the sixth leading cause of death in Australia. For every person with diabetes it is estimated another person remains undiagnosed. By 2015 the number of people diagnosed with diabetes is expected to reach about 4.6 million. Fortunately up to 60 per cent of type 2 diabetes can be prevented. More than three million, or one in four, Australian adults over the age of 25 years have either diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes) and the prevalence is increasing. There are three main types of diabetes — type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes. Type 2 is the most common, affecting 85-90% of all diabete sufferers. More common in people over the age of 50, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is rising in adults over the age of 30 and, overweight teenagers and children with a family history of diabetes. Hereditary, the condition can also be triggered by a combination of genetics and environmental factors, such as high blood pressure, being overweight or obese, insufficient physical activity, poor diet and having an 'apple shape' body where extra weight is carried around the waist.