The Diabetes Trust is now speaking out about the diabetes crisis and Beagle shares these concerns. “The numbers are a little higher than we knew, but actually we’ve known this has been happening for some time.” According to the professor, there are too many temptations in our society, which means that we are “constantly sent in the wrong direction.” “It’s hard to resist.”
Severe damage that cannot be restored to before the damage
Resisting temptation is difficult to maintain, but it’s the key to success, Beagle says. In addition, you need to intervene early to prevent “irreversible damage” from type 2 diabetes. “But if you have diabetes, you can also do something about it,” Beagle says. “The disease can cause irreparable damage.” “But it takes years and you can do nothing about it for a very long time.”
Community organizing
Is it necessary to conduct population-based research on prediabetes? According to Beagle, this leads to the same result as the research conducted by Maastricht University. “If you can prevent yourself from developing diabetes, it makes sense to conduct such research,” the professor said. What helps? “We need to educate people, healthy food must become cheaper, and children must learn how to take care of themselves. But the question is: If we do not organize society differently, can we overcome the temptations we face?”
Care
General practitioner Edwin de Waal also doesn’t see much in population studies. “It’s easier for general practitioners to see their patients more often,” says de Waal. That’s why there has to be a “bigger plan.” “It’s basically the lifestyle that needs to be modified,” says de Waal. “This is very difficult and you have to keep repeating it. In terms of DNA, we are simply willing to accept temptations.” “If you put it on the government, people find it condescending. I think we have to look for it ourselves.”
Health costs
Health economist Xander Coleman points out that prediabetes now costs society one and a half billion euros annually. “We’re still missing a lot of people with diabetes, but we don’t know anything about it.” Coleman believes politicians don’t dare take action because it creates resistance. “We can achieve health benefits here.”
Temptation Island
Pijl wants to emphasize that it is not just the person himself. “Being overweight means eating too much with your genes. It’s not that people of normal weight have the willpower to resist the temptations around them, and that’s an oversimplification.” Listener Angela De Rooij, a type 2 diabetic, knows this. “I’ve been living for 25 years Temptation Island. This makes people laugh, but that’s all. Looking is permissible, but eating is not permissible. It takes a lot of driving. You don’t just do it on the side.”
