You know, it’s not everyday a fellow like me gets to announce a major paradigm shift, much less concerning diabetes …or any other medical condition.
Back in the 1960’s, Thomas Kuhn wrote a famous book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. In it, he destroyed the common misconception so many of us have about science.
We tend to think scientific progress is ushered in by a slow, line upon line, piece by piece development of thought over time.
Thomas Kuhn showed that, historically, scientific progress occurs in leaps …and is always confronted by a struggle with an “old guard.” The old scientific theorists hold tenaciously to their (usually tenured or profitable) positions and array themselves against the new discovery, attempting to drive it away.
But, the new guard – the new discoverers, inventors, explorers– takes the new discoveries and advances it over the thinking of the old establishment. Rarely is the old guard converted to the new patterns of thinking (new discovery). They just die off. The new position wins by attrition …truth…and perseverance.
Diabetes: The $132 billion dollar pandemic
Diabetes is on the front edge of such a paradigm shift.
Diabetes afflicts over 18 million Americans. That is double the number of people with diabetes just since 1991 alone.
According to the CDC, one in every three Americans will develop diabetes in their life*time. Let that sink in…one in every three Americans will develop diabetes in their life*time.
It is estimated over 40 million Americans can be classified as “pre-diabetes” meaning they have blood sugar levels higher than normal but still below the type 2 diagnosis level which helps to define diabetes.
By anyone’s standard that is pandemic (goes far beyond epidemic proportions). The cost for this carnage is over $132 BILLION DOLLARS. So much expense, grief and sorrow…and unnecessary.
Diabetes: A reflection of our culture.
