The Diabetes Risk Factor !

One of the side affects of this virus pandemic is a sharp dropoff in the number of patients seeing their GP.  Probably a combination of not wishing to sit in a waiting room with other patients who might have the virus or the belief that doctors will be unusually busy and their routine medical needs can wait until the crisis is over.

Research from Melbourne's Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute suggests that people with type 2 diabetes are more likely to be diagnosed with  some of the most deadly types of cancers and are sixty percent more likely to go on to develop dementia.

This finding comes as referrals to Australia's leading oncology centres have plummeted by up to thirty percent and diabetes testing has dropped by a third.  There is concern that many seriously ill people are going un-diagnosed.   Pathology and radiology tests have also declined by more than seventy percent as thousands of Australians avoid seeing their doctor amid fears of contracting  coronavirus or not wanting to burden health services.

This survey examined the health outcomes of more than two million people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.  It found that people living with this potentially deadly disease were up to three times more likely to develop pancreatic cancer and twice as likely to develop liver or endometrial cancer. They also had a fifty percent chance of being diagnosed with  bowel cancer and a twenty percent greater risk of breast cancer.

Experts are seeking to determine why there are these higher risks but it seems likely to be tied to the role of insulin , the body's key  hormone in regulating blood sugar levels, fuelling cancer growth.
Cancer cells lover sugar so there is the suggestion that increased sugar levels mean there is plenty around for cancer to grow more quickly.

It seems clear that the disruption to normal medical testing levels caused by the coronavirus will have an aftermath that will show in following years.  Dementia and Alzheimer's are the leading cause of death among Australian women and heart failure is the leading cause of mortality associated with type 2 diabetes.

It is vitally important that people get tested and receive treatment for diabetes.  It is becoming abundantly clear that untreated diabetes is the entry point for a whole lot of other diseases that are life ending.   If we are not very careful our ever extending lifetime in years will come to an end and go into reverse.

If diabetes is the gateway to cancer and dementia, it is a gate we can quickly close simply by making regular visits to our GP for testing.