Type 2 Diabetes - Breast Cancer and Diabetes

By Beverleigh H Piepers  

Photo: inform.kz
 
Catching Type 2 diabetes early is key to controlling the condition and preventing complications. Investigators at Women's College Hospital and Women's College Research Institute in Toronto, Canada, looked at Type 2 diabetes in women treated for breast cancer in order to discover whether they were at high risk for developing diabetes.
Their study, reported in the December 2012 issue of the journal Diabetologia, included:

• a total of 24,976 breast cancer survivors aged 55 or over, and
• 124,880 women without breast cancer.

Over a period of 5.8 years, 9.7 per cent developed Type 2 diabetes. After 10 years, patients treated for breast cancer had a 21 per cent higher risk of diabetes than women without breast cancer.
From this information, it was concluded women treated for breast cancer might need to be screened for diabetes as well.
Screening for Type 2 diabetes can consist of:

• fasting blood sugar,
• random blood sugar, or
• HbA1c percentages.

Fasting blood sugar levels are drawn after an overnight fast...

• 2 fasting blood sugar levels of 126 mg/dL (7 mmol/L) or higher define diabetes.
• levels between 100 and 125 mg/dL (5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L) are considered prediabetic.
• random blood sugar levels of 200 mg/dL (11 mmol/L) or over, suggest the possibility of diabetes.

Diabetes can be diagnosed by two separate HbA1c measurements of 6.5 percent or higher.
In April of 2010 the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommended screening for Type 2 diabetes beginning between the ages of 30 and 45. A study published in the journal Lancet found screening every 3 to 5 years would reduce the number of heart attacks and death due to this form of diabetes by allowing for early treatment.
In 2002 the ADA recommended screening for Type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents at risk for the condition. Children with a body mass index at the 85th per centile for age or weight of 120 per cent of ideal for height with any two of a number of other risk factors, should be screened. Other risk factors include:

• family members with Type 2 diabetes,
• being American Indian, African-American, Hispanic, or an Asian/South Pacific Islander, or
• having acanthosis nigricans,
• high blood pressure,
• unusual blood fats, or
• polycystic ovaries.

The ADA also recommends screening in individuals with:

• high cholesterol,
• a history of having delivered of a baby more than 9 pounds,
• a history of gestational diabetes, or a
• sedentary lifestyle.

Screening for diabetes can be life saving if it prevents serious complications such as heart and blood vessel disease.
If you or a family member has survived breast cancer or has any of the other risk factors listed, discuss screening for Type 2 diabetes with your doctor.

Type 2 diabetes is no longer a condition you must just live with. It need not slowly and inevitably get worse. You can take control of the disease... and take back your health.
For nearly 25 years Beverleigh Piepers has searched for and found a number of secrets to help you build a healthy body.
The answer isn't in the endless volumes of available information but in yourself.

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