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(NaturalNews) The obesity epidemic in the United States affects an estimated 20.8 million members of the population, and has become so widespread, doctors are now seeing patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes; a phenomena dubbed "double diabetes."

The condition, also known as "hybrid diabetes," is usually brought on when people with type 1 diabetes -- their bodies are unable to produce the carbohydrate metabolism regulator insulin -- become overweight or obese, said Dr. Stewart Weiss, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine. This opens them up to type 2 diabetes, which is diagnosed when the body becomes resistant to insulin. Usually, the type 2 is diagnosed first, because the weight of the patient is an obvious sign, but subsequent blood tests reveal the presence of type 1 as well.

Recent studies show that as many as 30 percent of newly diagnosed diabetes cases among children are double diabetes cases, and the hybrid disease is more difficult to treat than either type is alone. Type 1 diabetics are usually prescribed daily insulin injections and type 2 diabetics get their own, different medication to regulate blood sugar.

"We have all sorts of medications that address different problems for different types of diabetes," Weiss said. "The question with double diabetes becomes, when can we use the different types of medications and what would be appropriate for different patients?"

Weiss thinks that patients may be simply taking their insulin shots and not making lifestyle changes to deal with the subsequent weight gain.

"One of the consequences of proper insulin use is weight gain," he said. "Often, patients who have not had a good understanding of how to eat are taking the insulin to cover what they normally eat."

Despite public education campaigns to improve American diets and steer them away from the disorder, former American Diabetes Association President and current head of the Children's Hospital Los Angeles' Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism Dr. Francine Kaufman, feels that the continuing trend against such advice is a major factor in this phenomenon.

"It's mirroring the obesity epidemic," Kaufman said, referring to the ever-increasing number of type 2 diabetics being diagnosed in the United States.

"Following a healthy diet is imperative for overcoming type 2 diabetes," said Mike Adams, nutritionist and author of "How to Halt Diabetes in 25 Days." "You simply cannot gorge on refined sugar drinks and bleached flour pastries and expect to keep a healthy weight, let alone process insulin."

It would seem the complications of diabetes would be deterrent enough. Sufferers are at risk of heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, nervous system disorders, limb amputations, dental diseases, pregnancy complications and even death. Luckily, some studies -- including a recent one reported by the American Diabetes Association -- show that people on the verge of type 2 diabetes can prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes, and the aforementioned related consequences, through changes in diet and increased levels of exercise.

According to the federal Diabetes Prevention Program, diet changes and increased exercise -- a 5 to 10 percent reduction in body weight and 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise -- actually outperformed some medications when it came to delaying onset of diabetes, reducing it by as much as 58 percent. Weiss recommends people increase their intake of vegetables, lean meat and fish, and reduce their intake of starches. He also said that people could benefit from just reducing their food intake altogether.

"The problem really is overeating in general," he said. "The portion size put before us is very large, so portion control is the single most important thing. You've got to know when to say when."

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