Type-2 diabetes used to be a disease of the elderly. But in 1997, the American Diabetes Association decided to do away with the term "adult-onset diabetes," as it increasingly appeared in middle-aged patients, young adults and teens.
The disease now appears in obese children and affects nearly 10 percent of the American population.
If current trends continue, one in every three American adults will have diabetes by 2050. This disease is largely preventable. So why are we dealing with such a widespread epidemic?
Dr. Francine Kaufman, MD, is the Chief Medical Officer and VP of Global Clinical, Medical and Health affairs at Medtronic Diabetes. She is also the author of the book, Diabesity, which takes you to the front lines against this deadly disease.
The book explains how excess weight destroys your body’s ability to process sugar properly–with life-threatening consequences.
Dr. Kaufman provides tools for change at every level; from families to school systems to government, as well as an action plan for winning this battle.
Selected Podcast
Diabesity: How to Stop the Obesity-Diabetes Epidemic
Featuring:
Francine Ratner Kaufman, M.D., was director of the Comprehensive Childhood Diabetes Center, and head of the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles until 2009 when she stepped down to become Chief Medical Officer and VP of Global Clinical, Medical and Health affairs at Medtronic Diabetes (Northridge, CA). Dr. Kaufman is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Pediatrics and Communications at the Keck School of Medicine and the Annenberg School of Communications of the University of Southern California, and an attending physician at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
Dr. Kaufman has published more than 220 peer-reviewed and invited publications. She is the author of more than 40 books or book chapters. In 2012, she authored the Insulin Pump and Glucose Sensor Book for the ADA and edited the 6th edition of the ADA’s Medical Management of Type-1 Diabetes. In 2005 her book, Diabesity, was published by Bantam. Dr. Kaufman was chair of the National Institutes of Health funded Studies to Treat (the TODAY Trial) and Prevent (the HEALTHY Trial) Type-2 Diabetes in Youth (STOPP-T2). She was a principal investigator of TrialNet, a multinational consortium evaluating ways to prevent type-1 diabetes, funded by the NIH. She was instrumental in banning sodas from Los Angeles Unified School District in 2003.
Francine Kaufman, MD
Francine Ratner Kaufman, M.D., was director of the Comprehensive Childhood Diabetes Center, and head of the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles until 2009 when she stepped down to become Chief Medical Officer and VP of Global Clinical, Medical and Health affairs at Medtronic Diabetes (Northridge, CA). Dr. Kaufman is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Pediatrics and Communications at the Keck School of Medicine and the Annenberg School of Communications of the University of Southern California, and an attending physician at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Kaufman has published more than 220 peer-reviewed and invited publications. She is the author of more than 40 books or book chapters. In 2012, she authored the Insulin Pump and Glucose Sensor Book for the ADA and edited the 6th edition of the ADA’s Medical Management of Type-1 Diabetes. In 2005 her book, Diabesity, was published by Bantam. Dr. Kaufman was chair of the National Institutes of Health funded Studies to Treat (the TODAY Trial) and Prevent (the HEALTHY Trial) Type-2 Diabetes in Youth (STOPP-T2). She was a principal investigator of TrialNet, a multinational consortium evaluating ways to prevent type-1 diabetes, funded by the NIH. She was instrumental in banning sodas from Los Angeles Unified School District in 2003.