366 Million Diabetics in the World

From the LA Times, September 11, 2011 Worldwide diabetes cases reach 366 million ------------ Diabetes cases are at 366 million worldwide; some experts say obesity and an aging population are to blame. (Zbigniew Bzdak / MCT)

• Also
• Weight loss: Weight Watchers outperforms the doctor's office
• Weight-loss programs might save Medicare billions

By Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog

September 14, 2011, 10:07 a.m.

Diabetes isn't just a problem in the U.S.--about 366 million people worldwide have the disease, says the International Diabetes Federation.

In addition, 4.6 million deaths are attributed to diabetes, and healthcare spending has grown to a staggering $465 billion.

The figures were released Tuesday in Lisbon, Portugal, at a meeting of the Assn. for the Study of Diabetes, in advance of the United Nations Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases Monday and Tuesday in New York. The IDF, an umbrella group of more than 200 national diabetes associations in over 160 countries, will release its Global Diabetes plan this weekend, outlining steps to combat the diabetes epidemic. The entire Diabetes Atlas, which includes breakdowns by region, will be available in November.

"IDF's latest atlas data are proof indeed that diabetes is a massive challenge the world can no longer afford to ignore," said IDF President Jean Claude Mbanya in a news release. Mbanya, professor of medicine and endocrinology at the University of Yaounde I in Cameroon, added: "In 2011, one person is dying from diabetes every seven seconds. The clock is ticking for the world's leaders -- we expect action from their high-level meeting next week at the United Nations that will halt diabetes' relentlessly upwards trajectory."

There is reason to be concerned. Last month the journal the Lancet released a study that used past obesity trends in the U.S. and the U.K. to predict what could happen if rates continue to climb. By 2030 there could be more than 8 million cases of diabetes in the U.S., along with a 50% obesity rate.

Another 2011 Lancet study reported that the rates of Type 2 diabetes have more than doubled worldwide since 1980, going from about 153 million cases to about 347 million in 2008. Researchers attributed about 70% of the growth to population aging, and the other 30% to the increase in obesity.                                    

Television and Deadly Diseases

Bent out of shape over viewer-health analysis and fitness projects

Photo by Marie Theresa Hernandez

Washington Post

"For every additional two hours that people spend glued to their television sets on a typical day, their risk of developing type-2 diabetes increases by a whopping 20 percent, and their risk of heart disease rises by 15 percent.That’s according to an analysis of eight studies on the subject published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association and brought to our attention by Health.com."

Too Much TV Linked to Earlier Death - from Health.com

"Each additional hour spent in front of the TV increased the risk of dying from heart disease by 18% and the overall risk of death by 11%, according to the study, which was published today on the website of Circulation, an American Heart Association journal. (The study will appear in the Jan. 26 print edition.)

The pattern held even after the researchers took into account the education level and overall health of the participants—their age, whether they smoked, and their cholesterol and blood pressure,"

1 in 3 people will be diabetic by the year 2050 - will you be one of those?

http://www.kidney.org/news/ekidney/january11/DiabetesCKD_January11.cfm

The Top 5 Questions about Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease

Recent reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that one in three people in the United States will have diabetes by the year 2050. The number stands now at one in ten. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, responsible for nearly half of the new cases last year. Yet proper management and treatment of diabetes can help prevent the onset of kidney disease. This month, the National Kidney Foundation answers the top 5 questions about diabetes and chronic kidney disease.


1. What is diabetes and who’s at risk?
Diabetes is a serious disease. It occurs when your body does not make enough insulin or cannot use the insulin it makes. Insulin is a hormone that controls the level of sugar (called glucose) in your blood. A high blood sugar level can cause problems in many parts of your body.


There are two types of diabetes. In Type 1 diabetes your body does not make insulin. It usually starts when you are a child or young adult, but it can occur at any age. It is treated by taking daily insulin shots or using an insulin pump and by following a special meal plan. About 5 to 10 percent of cases of diabetes are type 1.


In type 2 diabetes your body makes some insulin but cannot use it properly. Type 2 is partially preventable and is typically brought on by poor diet and lack of exercise. Very often heredity plays a part, as well. The disease usually occurs in people over 40, although it is becoming more common in younger people, and is particularly prevalent among African Americans, American Indians, Latin Americans and Asian Americans.
2. How can diabetes damage the kidneys?


The filtering units of the kidney are filled with tiny blood vessels. Over time, high sugar levels in the blood can cause these vessels to become scarred and clogged. Without enough blood, the kidneys become damaged and albumin (a type of protein) passes through these filters and ends up in the urine where it should not be.
Diabetes can also cause damage to the nerves in your body. Nerves carry messages between your brain and all other parts of your body, including your bladder. They let your brain know when your bladder is full. But if the nerves of the bladder are damaged, you may not be able to feel when your bladder is full. The pressure from a full bladder can damage your kidneys. If urine stays in your bladder for a long time, you may get a urinary tract infection (http://www.kidney.org/kidneyDisease/uti/index.html) through the buildup of bacteria.


3. What can diabetics do to prevent or delay chronic kidney disease (CKD)?
The best way protect the kidneys from being damaged is by controlling blood sugar. This is usually done with diet, exercise, and, if needed, insulin shots or hypoglycemic pills. Daily monitoring of your blood sugar should be done at home, as well as regular A1C tests performed by your doctor which tell you average blood sugar levels over 6 to 8 weeks. Diabetics should also monitor their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.


4. What are the signs of diabetic kidney disease?
Often kidney disease develops without noticeable symptoms, however it can be diagnosed with 3 simple tests blood pressure, urinalysis and GFR. You can receive these tests at your doctor’s office or at a National Kidney Foundation KEEP Screening .


Some symptoms that may occur include weight gain, ankle swelling, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, weakness, fatigue, itching and muscle cramps. You may also find you need less insulin because diseased kidneys cause less breakdown of insulin.


5. What is kidney failure and how is it treated?
Kidney failure means your kidneys have stopped working well enough to keep you alive. Harmful wastes and fluid begin to build up in your body, blood pressure may rise and your body cannot make enough red blood cells.


When this happens, you need treatment to replace the work of your failed kidneys. There is no cure for kidney failure. A person with kidney failure needs treatment to live. Three types of treatment can be used if your kidneys have failed: hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis or kidney transplantation .


Your health care team will help you choose the best treatment for you based on your general health, lifestyle and treatment preference. Your decision does not need to be a final decision. Many people have used each one of these treatments at different times.

The Poor Turkey - and the Poor Fat Diabetic American

There are two pictures of Turkey's in this post.  The first was painted before mass market farming and antibiotics, and cages where Turkey's are fattened up so much they can't walk.  There is a story in this, as the Turkey's get fatter and UN-healthier, so do people.....

Before Mass Market Farming and Antibiotics

Did you know that Turkey's have feelings?  They develop attachments to people.  They also enjoy things like dancing.


My daughter was telling me a few days ago that she does not celebrate Thanksgiving, that is a "white" holiday anyway. While I have memories of many big Thanksgiving dinners at my Mexican American home in the 50s-60s-70s - she (born in the 1980s) feels differently.

Fat Turkey - 2010

But then again, people of Mexican descent and other Latinos generally (like most Americans) can't imagine a meal without lots of meat.  That is why we are dying like flies from Diabetes.  But then, as my cousins say, "I will never give up meat!"  even it it kills them...

Diabetes and your brain

The UK considers itself in a diabetes epidemic.  The U.S. is already there, but by looking at all fast food places around, you would think we don't care.

Just remember, if you are a guy, you can become impotent, and now it seems they have found that not controlling your diabetes can lead to lower brain functioning...

How do we prevent diabetes?  eat better - less meat (or no meat), fewer dairy products, fewer sweets, more exercise -  

--

Failure to control type 2 diabetes may have a long-term impact on the brain, research has suggested.

BBC World News -  April 11, 2009

Severe hypoglycaemic episodes - hypos - occur when blood sugar levels drop dangerously low.

A University of Edinburgh team found they may lead to poorer memory and diminished brain power.

The study, based on 1,066 people with type 2 diabetes aged between 60 and 75, was presented at a conference of the charity Diabetes UK.

HYPOGLYCAEMIA

Hypoglycaemia is caused by a lack of sugar (glucose) reaching the brain, which uses it as fuel

Symptoms can include sweating, fatigue, hunger, feeling dizzy, feeling weak, a higher heart rate than usual and blurred vision

More severe episodes can led to temporary loss of consciousness, convulsions and coma

The volunteers completed seven tests assessing mental abilities such as memory, logic and concentration.

The 113 people who had previously experienced severe hypos scored lower than the rest of the group.

They performed poorly in tests of their general mental ability, and vocabulary...link to complete article

Diabetes Epidemic: You Could Be Next

From Vegetarian Diet and Diabetes:  "Studies show that vegetarian diet which emphasis on low fat, high carbohydrate and high fibre foods has a beneficial effect on carbohydrate metabolism, lowering blood sugar levels. Therefore can substantially lower risk of type II diabetes and other health problems like obesity, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and some forms of cancer than non-vegetarians."

--

NHS resources threatened as diabetes cases soar 70 per cent

British rise in disease linked to obesity and bad diet exceeds Europe and US

By Steve Connor, Science Editor
London Independent
Tuesday, 24 February 2009

A dramatic increase in the number of people diagnosed with diabetes in middle age has been documented by a study exposing the scale of the epidemic that threatens to overwhelm the NHS in the coming decades.

New cases of diabetes in Britain soared by 74 per cent between 1997 and 2003, according to the study, suggesting that poor diet and rising levels of obesity are behind the increase in the hormonal illness, which almost doubles the risk of premature death.

Latest figures suggest that the number of people in Britain developing obesity-related diabetes is rising at a faster rate than in America, where the disease has become one of the biggest killers.

The findings from the study, published last night, support figures published last year suggesting that the number of people newly diagnosed with diabetes has more than doubled from 83,000 in 2006 to 167,000 in 2008. There are now more than 2.2 million people in Britain suffering from the type-2 version of the disease, which is related to sedentary lifestyles and the explosive growth in obesity.

An analysis of figures based on new diagnoses of type-1 and type-2 diabetes found that the type-2 version accounts for almost all of the observed increase in diabetes over the past decade. Type-1 disease is commonly diagnosed in childhood, and is caused by the loss of cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, the hormone that controls levels of sugar in the bloodstream. Type 2, or late-onset diabetes is mainly caused by a growing insensitivity to insulin, and is linked to obesity.

Type-2 disease is usually diagnosed in people over the age of 40, although there are increasing reports of it being diagnosed in younger patients.

In the latest study, scientists analysed the records of a representative group of nearly 93,000 people with diabetes. Nearly 50,000 of the patients already had diabetes, and 42,600 were newly diagnosed with it between 1996 and 2005. Over the 10-year period of the study, there was a 69 per cent increase in the number of cases of type-2 diabetes, with a 74 per cent increase between 1997 and 2003, the scientists said.

Elvira Masso Gonzalez of the Spanish Centre for Pharmacoepidemiological Research in Madrid, who led the study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, said that Britain has one of the fastest-growing diabetes epidemics in the world. “Our results suggest that, although the incidence of diabetes remains lower in the UK than in the United States or Canada, it appears to be increasing at a faster pace. I think that the UK is one of the countries where diabetes is increasing faster in comparison to other countries in Europe,” she said.

In 1996, 38 per cent of people newly diagnosed with type-2 diabetes were overweight, and 46 per cent were obese. In 2005, the corresponding figures were 32 per cent and 56 per cent respectively.

Luis Alberto Garcia Rodriguez, one of the co-authors of the Madrid study, said: “Our study confirms that the prevalence and incidence of diabetes have increased in the UK over the past decade. This can be mainly explained by the increase in type-2 diabetes and its probable association with obesity.”

Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of the charity Diabetes UK, said: “This research is a sad indictment of the state of the UK’s health. Sadly, the statistics are not surprising as we know that the soaring rates of type-2 diabetes are strongly linked to the country’s expanding waistline.

“Research shows that losing weight can reduce the risk of developing type-2 diabetes by 58 per cent. It is imperative that we raise awareness of the importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet and doing at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day if we want to make any headway in defusing the diabetes time-bomb.”

Long-term complications of diabetes include foot and leg ulcers, stroke, blindness, kidney problems, heart disease and damage to the peripheral blood vessels. The disease is treated by changes to lifestyle, medication to lower sugar levels in the blood, or by insulin injections in extreme cases.
link to Independent article

Our own obesity will create a "Horror Show" - no kidding

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/oliver-warns-of-obesity-horror-show-993498.html

Oliver warns of obesity 'horror show'

By Tim Moynihan, Andrew Woodcock and Dan Bentley, PA
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Jamie Oliver at the Fifteen Melbourne restaurant launch in Melbourne, Australia

Britain will face an obesity "horror show" unless action is taken to tackle it over the next 10 years, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver warned today.

He said: "The obesity problem is an epidemic, it's a massive problem. If we don't deal with it in the next 10 years, it's going to be 10 times harder to fix, and it will be a horror show."

He was speaking at a news conference after addressing a parliamentary inquiry into health inequalities at which he warned Britain was facing a "new kind of poverty" where many parents were unable to nourish their families - not through lack of money but lack of knowledge.

He demanded to know why there was not a "minister for food", someone from the private sector who was all over the problem "like a rash" and could drive the response for the next 10 years.

"We are not in a great place, but we are in a place from which it can be fixed," he told the committee.

"If we leave it, it will be like America, where it is almost not worth it, because it's so ingrained."

At the news conference he said he would turn down any invitation to be "minister for food", because he could do more "on the outside", but he would be happy to find someone fit for the job.

His wide-ranging evidence to the committee included an attack on the EU over labelling of food, criticism of the detail of plans for teaching children how to cook in schools, and a suggestion that women used to hold knowledge about nutrition which was now missing since they went to work.

He also said he agreed with legislation in California to cap the number of fast food outlets in an area.

link to article

Diabetes is eating us alive: Part III

This article is a few years old, but even more relevant today. Did you know that Fenway Park was rebuilt because the seats are too small for today's heavier set baseball fans?

"Over the last decade, diabetes rates rose 60% in the U.S. (Over half of diabetes cases are due to overweight, poor diet and physical inactivity."

from commondreams.org

WASHINGTON - July 31 - Many experts agree that obesity is one of the most pressing health problems facing the country. Over the last twenty years, obesity rates have doubled in adults and children and tripled in teens. Two-thirds of Americans are now overweight or obese. Yet some food industry groups question whether obesity rates are increasing and instead, claim that the rising rates are due to a change in the definition for obesity (Body Mass Index). For anyone else who is skeptical, here are some other signs that obesity rates are going up.

1• Because of safety concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration has instructed airlines to add ten pounds to approved passenger weights.

2• When administering vaccines and drawing blood, doctors now need longer needles to penetrate thicker layers of fat on Americans’ bodies

3• Almost 25% of women in their 50's are too large to have their body fat measured with a traditional skinfold caliper, an instrument developed in the 1950’s

.4• Liposuction is the most commonly performed cosmetic surgical procedure in the U.S., increasing 118% between 1997 and 2001.

5• Over the last decade, diabetes rates rose 60% in the U.S.5 (Over half of diabetes cases are due to overweight, poor diet and physical inactivity.

6• Today’s size 10 was sold as a women’s size 14 in the 1940's

.7• The Gap, Limited Too and Target are selling plus-sized clothes for youth

.8• Plus-size boutique Lane Bryant is expected to increase its number of stores from 650 to 1,000 over five years. Catherine's Plus Sizes is projected to increase from 470 to 700 stores. The plus-size clothing market generates $23 billion in sales a year, accounting for a quarter of women’s clothing sales

9• Nike changed the size scale for its women’s fitness apparel. A small sports bra use to fit a woman with a 33-inch to 35-inch bust. Now it fits a 35- to 37-inch bust.

10• One of the reasons that the Boston Red Sox decided to rebuild the legendary Fenway Park was that the seats were too narrow for today’s baseball fans. The seats in the new ballpark are four inches wider

11• More benches and bigger seats have been installed in Seattle’s Puget Sound ferries to accommodate wider riders.

12• Despite the rising obesity rates and the tremendous impact they are having on Americans’ health and health-care costs, federal and state governments still are doing little to address the problem. To reduce obesity, federal, state and local governments need to mount campaigns to promote healthy eating and physical activity, require calorie labeling in fast food and other chain restaurants, decrease the availability of junk food in schools, make walking and biking safer and more convenient by building bike lanes, sidewalks and trails, increase physical education in schools, restrict junk-food advertising and marketing aimed at children, and put into place other policies and programs that help to make it easier for Americans to eat better and be more physically active.

For more information on what local, state and federal governments can do to promote healthy eating and physical activity, visit www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy.

Sources

1 Phillips D. “Airlines Told to Adjust for Heavier Passengers: FAA Raises Weight Estimates for Safety.” Washington Post, May 13, 2003, p. A4.

2. Nagourney E. “Bigger Needles for Better Vaccinations.” New York Times, November 28, 2000, p. F9.

3. Grady D. “The State of Weight: Many Are Too Fat for the Calipers.” New York Times, January 9, 2001, p. D7.

4. American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Accessed at on July 1, 2002.

5. Mokdad AH, et al. “Prevalence of Obesity, Diabetes, and Obesity-Related Health Risk Factors, 2001.” Journal of the American Medical Association, 2003, vol. 289, pp. 76-79.

6. McGinnis JM, Foege WH. “Actual Causes of Death in the United States.” Journal of the American Medical Association, 1993, vol. 270, pp. 2207-2212. Hu F, et al. “Diet, Lifestyle, and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Women.” The New England Journal of Medicine, 2001, vol. 345, pp. 790-797.

7. Nifong C. “The Incredible Shrinking Woman.” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), January 5, 1999, p. E1.

8. Boccella K. “Plus Sizes for Kids Make Way into Stores.” Providence Journal, March 24, 2002.

9.Van Allen P. “Chains to Grow with Plus-Sizes.” Philadelphia Business Journal, September 27, 2002.

10. Givhan R. “As Its Market Expands, Nike Elects to Super-Size.” Washington Post,May 3, 2002, p. C2.

11. Patton P. “America's Ever-Bigger Bottoms Bedeviling Seating Planners.” Miami Herald, September 23, 1999.

12. Sanchez R. “A Fitting Problem for Prosperous Century’s End.” Washington Post, April 15, 1999, p. A1.

Diabetes is eating us alive, Part I

How you can be affected by diabetes

image from Australian Gov't Dept of Veterans Affairs







Several of us that work on the DREAMACTTEXAS blog have been deeply affected by diabetes. Donajih just lost her father, and as I am writing this my 47 year old brother is in the hospital and was just told that his kidneys are failing.

Epidemiologists say that Blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans have the market cornered on diabetes. I think it is much more complicated than that. And even though some of us may have a genetic predisposition towards diabetes, that does not exonerate western society from all the things it promotes that lead to a diagnosis of diabetes.

Maybe it's the age of McDonalds. When the fast food places started growing like an epidemic throughout the U.S. countryside, many of us didn't think that the food could be dangerous. We all took part. I remember many midnight trips to Jack in the Box when I was in my early 20s.

It could also be like Alzheimer's - we are noticing it more because people are living longer. But then what is to explain the numerous kids in elementary school that are clearly showing signs of impending diabetes (the ominous black mark on the child's back of the neck)? This symptom is called "Acanthosis nigricans" - and " is often associated with conditions that increase your insulin level, such as type 2 diabetes or being overweight. If your insulin level is too high, the extra insulin may trigger activity in your skin cells. This may cause the characteristic skin changes." (from Mayo Clinic webpage ) Acanthosis is considered a precursor to developing diabetes.

Diabetes is eating us alive, Part II

detail of image from the New York Times





continued

One culprit that is increasing the incidence of diabetes is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). This concoction is a cheap sweetener, much less expensive than regular sugar. Food processors everywhere are using it. It is in regular bread, hot dog buns, hamburger buns, crackers, breakfast cereal, cookies, catsup, soft drinks, juice, and any number of food products. A few days ago I bought some vegetarian sushi and found it also contained high fructose corn syrup! This concoction does something strange to our system and fools our bodies into becoming insulin resistant.

A team of noted scientists, headed by Chi-Tang Ho* found that soft drinks sweetened with HFCS are up to 10 times richer in harmful carbonyl compounds, such as methylglyoxal, than a diet soft drink control. Carbonyl compounds are elevated in people with diabetes and are blamed for causing diabetic complications such as foot ulcers and eye and nerve damage."

"Other foods that contain High Fructose Corn Syrup: Coke, Pepsi and Snapple iced tea to Dannon yogurt and Chips Ahoy cookies. It also lurks in unexpected places, like Ritz crackers, Wonder bread, Wishbone ranch dressing and Campbell's tomato soup."(from NYT)





*Chi-Tang Ho (Chinese: 何其儻; born 1944) is a Chinese-born American food scientist. He received his PhD in organic chemistry in 1974 and immediately started working professionally as a researcher and professor in the food science department at Rutgers University. He is now director of the food science graduate program at Rutgers.

A seldom considered consequence of immigration

In memory of Mario Sotelo


How many Oreos can you eat?

The New York Times published an article "Does this goo make you groan" on July 2, 2006 in which it quotes a Harvard scientist:
''There's no substantial evidence to support the idea that high-fructose corn syrup is somehow responsible for obesity,'' said Dr. Walter Willett, the chairman of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health"

maybe the title of the NYT article should be "Does this misinformation make you groan?"


We often think of how our lives (those of us who are not immigrants) have changed because of immigration. Yes, our cities and schools have changed. There are bilingual signs everywhere. Salsa is now more popular than catsup.

Even so, we rarely think of what happens to people who immigrate to the United States. While we were at the funeral of yet another Latino who died of complications of diabetes - Juli mentioned to me that she never heard of diabetes when she lived in Mexico.


Diabetes is an AMERICAN disease. It seems strikingly perverse when health professionals point out that Latinos and African Americans are disproportionately diagnosed with diabetes. They say this without explanation. Is it fair for to be labeled with an illness that is actually more white American than apple pie?

There is a term thrown around by health researches called the "Hispanic Paradox" -- I don't know why people would be surprised that when people from Mexico first immigrate here they are healthier (yes, in better shape) than our middle class white American. Just the fact that it is called a "paradox" explains that immigrants who lived in poverty in their home country could actually be healthier. How is this possible without Centrum, meat everyday, nutritionally balanced diets, and the best health care service in the world?

The answer is simple: when immigrants still lived in Mexico, they rarely, if ever ate at a McDonalds (I recommend the film "Super-Sized Me" for those who doubt) or a Burger King, or a Jack in the Box. The beans and tortillas they made at home did not have high fructose corn syrup, one of the big culprits in the development of diabetes.

While Latino immigrants surprise researchers with their health and great physical condition, they again surprise them when long term studies are done, and it is found that immigrants quickly take on the eating habits and therefore diseases of our average American.

It is the food. This wonderful country that offers everything, where a person (if documented) can go from rags to riches, get a great education, and complain about the president without going to jail - is killing us with food, specifically American food - hamburgers, fries, box cereals, 100% fruit juice full of high fructose corn syrup, Jack in the Box Tacos, Dominoes Pizza, Oreo cookies, Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Fanta Orange, and many more of the wonderful things we eat everyday.

Diabetes is ravaging the Latino community in the United States.


photo: http://www.eskimo.com/~nanook/blog/uploaded_images/highfructosecornsyrup-740920.jpg

High Fructose Corn Syrup is Killing You

London Daily Mail:
"Often it [the sweetner we crave] is disguised as 'high fructose corn syrup' a maize-derived sugar product that is not included as part of conventional sugar consumption figures but which has a similar effect on the body."

Daily Mail (London)

October 25, 2007 Thursday

IS SUGAR KILLING YOU?;
We're obsessed with the dangers of everything from salt to smoking. But the real menace is a poison we're genetically programmed to crave ...

BYLINE: Lois Rogers

SECTION: 1ST; Pg. 66


AS THE ban on smoking in public places takes hold, and the final smoke rings are blown away from the bars, offices and homes of Britain, an equally deadly scourge is taking the place of tobacco.

Like cigarettes, it is leading to a national health crisis. Like cigarettes, it is readily available on every high street. Like cigarettes, experts believe it is highly addictive. And like the tobacco firms of old, the manufacturers are using slick tactics to increase consumption of their products while obscuring public awareness about the dangers they present.

And the name of this dangerous commodity? Sugar. Yes, that delicious sweet substance we all consume with scarcely a second thought is, say experts, behind a new health crisis.

Last week's headlines said it all: 'Obesity: now deadlier than smoking.' That was the conclusion of a report by 250 leading scientists who say that while smoking reduces life expectancy by an average of ten years, being seriously overweight can cut it by as much as 13 years.

The scale of the problem is certainly immense.

The report claimed that if current trends continue, by 2050, 60 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women will be clinically obese, placing an intolerable strain on the health service as rates of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and weight-related cancer spiral.

But the report did not examine the role that sugar is playing in this public health scandal.

Until now, scientists have had difficulty explaining how so many of us have managed to put on so much weight. But new research by a group of experts at Cambridge University suggests that our spiralling consumption of sugar may be to blame.

They have proved for the first time that many people are actually consuming far greater quantities of sugar than they realise, eating almost half a pound of it a day more than four times the recommended healthy daily limit even when they believe their intake is much lower.

This is not just a case of ignorance and greed: it is because the sugar industry is stealthily shovelling its product into as many foods as possible.

For sugar is not just used to make sweets and biscuits, it is present in ever-growing quantities in everything we eat, from pizza and cooked meat to tinned vegetables, 'healthy' fruit juices and even diet foods like Ryvita and Slim Fast.

Often it is disguised as 'high fructose corn syrup' a maize-derived sugar product that is not included as part of conventional sugar consumption figures but which has a similar effect on the body.

What makes this trend even more insidious is that the more sugar we consume, the more we want to consume.

OUR CRAVING for sugar is primeval: when our hunter-gatherer ancestors lived by foraging for food, they quickly learned that naturally sweet foods were seldom toxic. The result is that we are genetically programmed to like the taste.

The trouble is, the more sweet food we eat, the more we are likely to reject food that is not sweet even if it is meat or vegetables.

Of course, sugar is not poisonous, like the tar in tobacco, but what is very disturbing is the way the food conglomerates are using many of the same tactics once employed by tobacco firms to obscure the health risks that excessive sugar consumption presents.

For a start, efforts by the Government to present consumers with clear evidence of the harmful effects of a poor diet have been repeatedly blocked. A so-called 'traffic light' food labelling system to warn consumers if food presented a potential health risk was first proposed 20 years ago. But it is not even close to acceptance by the food industry and retailers.

Britain's biggest supermarket, Tesco, refuses to sign up to the scheme, preferring to use its own, more complex system. It says this gives consumers even more information to help them choose healthy products. But cynics say such systems deliberately confuse shoppers, making it harder for them to know what they are buying, and thus ensuring that sales of junk food products remain buoyant.

There is plenty of evidence the public does not know what is healthy food, and what isn't. A survey last month of more than 2,000 people by the government's Food Standards Agency showed nearly half did not know that foods with a high sugar content could be bad for you, and one in five thought they could somehow wipe out the calorie gain from sugary processed foods by eating extra fruit to compensate.

Tony Cameron, 47, and a father of two, was typical of the obesity crisis in Britain. He used to weigh 19 stone, and is diabetic, as a result of years of eating junk food. But thanks to attending a food management course run by his local council in South London, which taught him how to read food labels properly, he has got his weight down to 15 stone.

He now knows that all ingredients ending in '...ose' such as maltose, dextrose, glucose and so on are forms of sugar.

'All the ingredients are disguised,' he says. 'You have to be an expert chemist to get through it, and without understanding labels you wouldn't know how many foods contain sugar. It's outrageous.

'Now everyone is off the cigarettes, they are stitching us up with extra sugar instead.' Although there is no universally agreed recommendation for an individual's daily sugar intake, the Food Standards Agency and the World Health Organisation say that no more than ten per cent or 200-250 calories should come from processed sugar, including sugar found in fruit juice.

But even eating a bowl of cereal means you may well have had a quarter of your daily sugar allowance, while a single can of Coca-Cola contains eight teaspoons of sugar more than half the total daily allowance.

This excessive intake leads to weight gain, and all its associated health problems, including a higher risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes an illness which in turn can lead to blindness, limb amputation and premature death.

BUT JUST as the tobacco manufacturers for years denied the link between smoking and cancer, so the Sugar Bureau Britain's sugar industry trade association continues to deny a link between sugar and obesity.

'Many people still mistakenly believe that sugar is fattening,' the Bureau says on its website.

'Sugar is a carbohydrate. Eating plenty of carbohydrates and taking part in regular physical activity is the healthiest way to maintain a desirable body weight.' Last week its spokesman said: 'The balance of evidence available at present does not support any particular role for sugar in the causation of obesity.' But that directly contradicts new research by Professor Sheila Bingham of Cambridge University, who has developed a way to test total sugar intake, and has conducted a study involving 800 people aged 45 to 75 which has shown a causal link between excessive weight and high sugar consumption.

The trouble is, in the same way as the tobacco industry sought to infiltrate mainstream science and distort the agenda, the food industry and by extension the sugar manufacturers are doing the same.

The confusing message they seek to promote is that there is no such thing as 'bad food', only 'bad diet'.

For example, the much-discussed

Guideline Daily Allowances for different food groups are set not by independent nutritionists, but by the food industry itself.

The reason for this, according to health campaigners, is the intense lobbying of politicians by aggressive manufacturers who are anxious to protect their market.

One such lobby group is the independent-sounding British Nutrition Foundation, an organisation which claims to promote 'the well-being of society through the impartial interpretation and effective dissemination of scientifically-based knowledge and advice on the relationship between diet, physical activity and health'.

But how pleased would healthconscious parents be to know that this 'impartial' organisation was in

Picture: ABPL fact funded by Britain's suppliers of sugary products, including British Sugar, Cadbury Schweppes, Coca- Cola and Tate & Lyle? Nor is the connection between the tactics of the sugar lobby and the tobacco industry entirely coincidental: Altria, the industrial conglomerate that produces Marlboro cigarettes, is also the parent company of Kraft Foods, makers of sugar-rich foods such as Toblerone, and Terry's Chocolate Orange.

Similarly, the manufacturer of Camel cigarettes, Reynolds American Inc, was for many years the owner of the snack and biscuit giant, Nabisco (Nabisco's brands have now also been integrated into the Altria stable).

No wonder the marketing techniques for processed food and cigarettes seem so similar.

What remains more contentious is whether sugar really is addictive, in the same way as tobacco.

Four years ago, researchers at Princeton University in America claimed they had proved that it is.

They conducted an experiment whereby laboratory rats were offered a healthy grain-based meal alongside a sugary drink solution.

Within a month, the rats had doubled their intake of the sugary drink, and cut down on their intake of calories from food which contained the nutrients they needed.

DIETARY experts say humans behave in the the same way. 'You can say the urge to get a sugar rush is intensely habit-forming,' said Aubrey Sheiham, emeritus professor of dental public health at University College London, who has studied the effect of sugar on the body.

'Added sugar is not the same as natural sugar in an apple, for example, which you metabolise slowly.

Added sugar is metabolised fast and goes straight into your bloodstream.

In some people you get "rebound hypoglycaemia" which means their blood sugar dips abnormally low when the effect wears off, and they then want more sugar.' It's no surprise, then, that our appetite for sugar has increased.

'We have a big problem with a population that now expects all its food to taste sweet,' said Professor Philip James, a senior government nutrition adviser and chairman of the International Obesity Task Force.

'Although I would also say eating too much sugar is more of a deeply entrenched habit than an addiction, we have an industry which uses all the tactics of the tobacco trade to fight for their market.

'The obesity epidemic among children is out of control.' Last week the Department of Health said it was keeping all the evidence on obesity trends 'under review,' while the Food Standards Agency said it is at the early stages of planning a campaign to persuade food processors to use less sugar, in the same way it has tried to persuade them to use less salt.

A spokesman admitted, however, that while the salt campaign was proving hard enough, an anti-sugar campaign would be even harder.

Professor James said: 'We won't get anywhere until the Government realises that this is not just a health issue, it is a serious economic and social problem.

'There should be a minister tackling the obesity epidemic in the Cabinet, not tucked away as some adjunct to the Department of Health. We are facing a crisis.'

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