On type II diabetes mellitus

Doctors struggle to convey risks of diabetes

The medical community wants you to be scared of diabetes — but not too scared.

An estimated 16 million people are on the verge of developing diabetes, a serious condition that can lead to blindness, limb loss, kidney failure and early death. Yet new research shows that more than half of new diabetes cases can be prevented with some fairly simple lifestyle changes, such as losing a few pounds.

After years of reassuring diabetics that the disease is one they can live with and manage, doctors and health workers are struggling with how to also send the message that diabetes is a deadly, terrible disease — so that more people will be motivated to take steps to prevent it.

This month, many patients may begin seeing pamphlets and brochures in their doctor’s office distributed by the American Diabetes Association as part of its “Weight Loss Matters” campaign, which is trying to spread the word that people have to lose only a little weight to dramatically lower their risk for diabetes.

I can easily argue that for internists, diabetes prevention should become a major focus of adult care. Clearly prevention should work better than treatment. However, prevention generally requires more than a pill. It requires lifestyle change. And few people seem to succeed with major lifestyle changes. And we get frustrated. And patients still develop diabetes mellitus type II.