Diabetes And Cancer: Two Preventable Killers

Americans, on one hand, are enjoying some of the best health ever experienced by any group of people on history.  The average life span is the highest it’s ever been, getting close to 80 years for women, and just a few years less than that for men.  This is large part due to the wonderful advances in medicine that have been made in the last century, and our improved living condition.  Sadly, though, experts now predict that the average life span will soon begin reversing.  Why?  Because of the increasing rates of two killer diseases – diabetes and cancer.

This nation is undergoing an epidemic of diabetes, and it shows no sign of slowing down.   In fact, in some hospitals, diabetes patients are the biggest group, which would have been unthinkable just a few years back.  Diabetes is no mere inconvenience, as some people seem to think.  It’s a horrible disease which can rob people of their eyesight, and lead to removal of limbs and kidneys.  And no one needs to be told just how terrible cancer is.  It’s an awful way to die, and even with the advances in treatment, most cancer patients don’t live very many years after diagnosis.  What’s even more tragic about diabetes and cancer is that in many cases they could have been prevented.

Yes, it’s sad but true.  Health experts state flatly that a significant number of cases of cancer are lifestlye related, and almost all cases of adult onset diabetes are caused by unhealthy lifestyles.  And in many cases, diabetes and cancer are caused by the same things, such as overeating, lack of exercise, too much sugar, too much fast food, etc.  Many foods or habits that are considered carcinogenic are also precursors to diabetes.  It’s a tragedy that these two diseases, which in many cases could have been prevented, are raging uncontrolled in America.