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01/11/2017 11:01 PMYou’ve probably heard the news that for the first time in four decades Americans’ life spans have decreased. The death rate in the U.S. rose 1.2 percent in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) due to eight of the top 10 leading causes that include disease, drug overdose, and suicide—and only declined (thankfully) for cancer.
So what’s to blame for this backward health trend?
Researchers agree that the biggest reason is the obesity epidemic, which amped up in the 1980s, driving up rates of hypertension, diabetes, and other heart-related problems.
And although old age mortality hasn’t changed much, there’s been marked decreases in life expectancy in the middle ages—hence something to pay particular attention to if you’re a Baby Boomer or Gen-Xer.
This is particularly noteworthy as we herald in 2017, since New Year’s resolutions so often revolve around decreasing calories and increasing exercise.
I asked Reza Yavari, MD, an endocrinologist on the clinical faculty at Yale School of Medicine, to weigh in on this disturbing news. Yavari is founder of Beyond Care, a holistic lifestyle change program aimed at diabetes prevention and weight loss, located in Madison, where he lives with his family. He has 20 years of experience working in this field, has trained medical healthcare professional throughout the U.S., and is the author of the self-care book It Must Be My Metabolism.
“We’re facing an epidemic of obesity overall,” Yavari says, “but where it really has an impact is on people’s mobility and longevity because obesity is the main cause of diabetes—insulin resistance—which leads to full blown diabetes.
“It’s important to point out, Yavari stresses, “that although the rate of Type 1 (juvenile diabetes) isn’t changing much, the obesity epidemic is causing a dramatic increase in Type 2 (adult-onset diabetes). When I was in training, Type 2 diabetes was a disease of the elderly, but over the last two to three decades, the average age of onset is in the mid-40s and 50s as opposed to 60s and 70s, and you lose 10 years of your life span if you’re diagnosed in your 40s or 50s.”
I became perplexed reading about The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), an initiative of the CDC and CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) based on a study showing that modest weight loss with a healthy diet and regular exercise prevented more than half of high-risk patients from developing diabetes. It sounds so easy! So why are obesity rates still at epidemic proportions in the U.S.?
Yavari explains that although the DPP study is well designed it costs money to implement and there is a shortage of healthcare providers to offer medically supervised diabetes prevention programs.
“We didn’t have evidence diabetes could be prevented 20 years ago,” Yavari says. “Now we do and we’re doing the best we can with various innovative solutions in the pipeline, but without the resources nothing has had enough impact on quality of life years.”
Yavari acknowledges that our society has become very sedentary.
“We move less and spend more time in front of computers and TV sets,” he says. “With this combination one could make the argument that this isn’t an individual problem, it’s a societal problem. The point I always make, regardless of the cases that affect an individual or a community, weight loss still has to happen. A lot of healthcare professionals look to blame something, but ultimately we need to find practical solutions opposed to dwelling on reasons for obesity.”
Yavari cites some disturbing statistics:
“In less than 10 years, in 2025, one out of every two non-Caucasian American adults, and one out of every three Caucasians, will have diabetes
“The number of seniors (over 65) with diabetes will be 20 million and seniors with pre-diabetes or undiagnosed diabetes will reach 40 million. Sixty million baby boomers will either have full-blown diabetes or pre-diabetes.”
As a result, Yavari says, the cost of diabetes alone over the next few decades will exceed the total healthcare expenditure budget, which is currently $3 trillion and therefore will deplete all of our healthcare dollars unless something is done.
And that leads to another problem, he points out, which is lack of training and education of healthcare professionals.
“Nutrition and obesity management and exercise physiology for the most part are not taught to medical students,” he says. “For the longest time, obesity was considered to be a lifestyle choice and not a medical condition. It should be considered a medical condition.”
Yavari surmises that one of the reasons Gen Xers—(people now in their 30s and 40s) are at higher risk for diabetes than ever before is that a lot of Baby Boomers didn’t teach their kids their way around a kitchen.
“Baby Boomers didn’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and were basically winging it when it came to feeding their kids,” he says, “who never really learned what it was to sit down and eat a healthy meal with their families. I have a lot of patients in their 30s and 40s who have never used their oven and don’t know how to use it. They only know how to use the stovetop and microwave. It’s not the case for Millenials. They’re interested in food and cooking. They go to farmer’s markets. They’re very knowledgeable,” he says.
Although there is a lot we need to do as a nation to tackle the obesity epidemic, there is lot people can do on their own to help themselves. Here’s what Yavari recommends:
1. Find out if you’re pre-diabetic or have diabetes. Diabetes doesn’t hurt—that’s why it’s called the silent killer. People don’t realize they have it. We now have very effective medications for diabetes and weight loss. Ask your doctor what your options are.
2. Make incremental changes in your lifestyle. People often have the misconception that they have to get a personal trainer, dietician, see a psychologist to change their lifestyles, but simple measures go a long way. These include cutting out fast food, soda, candy, and moving as much as you can by increasing your daily activities, whether it’s walking or gardening or actually going to a gym—memberships have become very affordable.
3. Try to reduce stress and sleep better. Look for the support of others dealing with similar issues. Free support groups are often available in our local communities.
4. Use locally grown, and preferably fresh, foods and learn to prepare them at home. That’s key.
Amy J. Barry is a Baby Boomer, who lives in Stony Creek with her husband and assorted pets. She writes features and reviews for Shore Publishing newspapers and is an expressive arts educator. Contact her at www.aimwritect.net.