RED, WHI TE, AND FLU
Flu moves in waves across the country, peaking
first in Nevada and working its way east. It
takes four weeks to spread nationwide.
New Research
From diets to meds—we bust big
myths (and help you lower your risk)
You Can Beat
Diabetes
If you’re at high
risk for diabetes, you’re
going to get the disease.
The Diabetes Prevention Program—which
followed more than 3,000
overweight, prediabetic
men and women at 27
research centers—found
that those who lost even a
little weight and exercised
consistently (a goal of 30
minutes five days a week)
reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58
percent. (People 60 and up
cut their risk by a whopping 71 percent.) “If you’re
overweight, try to reduce
your daily intake by 500
calories,” says Christine
Tobin of the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
Diabetics
need a special diet.
Not long ago diabetics were urged to forgo
sweets and drastically limit
their intake of carbohydrates. But a slew of new
research suggests that
diabetics are best served by
following the same healthy
guidelines everyone else
does: plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean
meat and dairy products,
and sparing amounts of
heart-healthy fats.
There’s a
cure for diabetes.
Halle Berry’s claims
to the contrary—in 2007
she announced she had
been cured of her type 1
Sitting for long periods of time
raises your risk of dying—no
matter what your physical-
activity level is. New American
Cancer Society research found
that women who sat for six
hours a day were 37 percent more likely to die during the 14-
year study period than those who sat less than three hours a
day (for men, the risk was 18 percent higher). Study author Alpa
Patel, Ph. D., says we can forestall the deleterious effects of
sitting by getting up hourly. —Gabrielle de Groot Redford
GET UP, ALREADY!
diabetes—there is no cure
for either type 1 or type 2
diabetes, says Sue Kirkman,
M.D., senior vice president
at the ADA. According to a
study published last year in
the Annals of Internal Medicine, however, 56 percent
of type 2 diabetics who
followed a Mediterranean-style diet could control
their blood sugar without
medication.
Being overweight causes diabetes.
Just because you’re
heavy doesn’t mean you’ll
automatically get diabetes.
In fact, 34 percent of adults
20 and older are obese, but
just 10. 7 percent have dia-
betes. Still, experts agree
that being obese, especially
combined with a genetic
predisposition for diabetes,
can trigger the disease.
Research in The Journal of
the American Medical Asso-
ciation showed that those
who were obese at age 50
and gained 20 pounds were
five times likelier to develop
diabetes than those who
weren’t obese at 50.
An insulin pill is
right around the corner.
An insulin pill is not
imminent, says the ADA’s
Tobin. There are alternatives to injections, though.
One of the latest is the
Finesse insulin patch-pen,
expected to be available in
late 2011. The patch-pen is
disposable—and cheaper
than an insulin pump.
—Holly St. Lifer
For reprints of this article call
866-888-3723.
TO LEARN MORE
ABOUT DIABETES
Check out our comprehensive new online health
encyclopedia! Go to aarp.org/diabetes.
