November is Diabetes Month

by Larry D. Jones, MPH, Health Director

November 9, 2009

This November, join the American Diabetes Association in a national movement to Stop Diabetes.

November is American Diabetes Month—a time to shine a spotlight on a serious disease that leads to potentially life-threatening complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, and amputation.

This year, we need to take a bolder, more audacious approach to diabetes and the complications that arise from the disease. Consider that:

• 24 million children and adults in the United States live with diabetes
• 57 million Americans are at risk for type 2 diabetes
• 1 out of every 3 children born today will face a future with diabetes if current trends continue
• The death rate from diabetes continues to climb. Since 1987, the death rate due to diabetes has increased by 45 percent, while the death rates due to cancer, heart disease, and stroke have declined.
• About 60-70 percent of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nerve damage that could result in pain in the feet or hands, slowed digestion, sexual dysfunction, and other nerve problems.
• The rate of amputation for people with diabetes is 10 times higher than for people without diabetes.
• Two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure.
• The total national cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States is $174 billion. Direct medical costs reach $116 billion, and the average medical expenditure among people with diabetes is 2.3 times higher than those without the disease. Indirect costs amount to $58 billion (disability, work loss, premature mortality).
• The cost of caring for someone with diabetes is $1 out of every $5 in total healthcare costs.

Remember the ABCs of diabetes can help to prevent or delay the onset of these serious diabetes complications.

· Average Glucose should be checked every six months and A1C should be less that 7 percent.

· Blood pressure should be kept less than 130/80 mmHg.

· Cholesterol should be checked regularly. Your LDL (bad) cholesterol should be below 100 mg/dl, and your HDL (good) cholesterol should be above 40 mg/dl or men and 50 mg/dl for women. Triglycerides, another blood fat should be below 15 mg/dl.

For more information, visit the American Diabetes Association at www.diabetes.org or call toll free at 1-888-342-2382. In addition, you may call the Diabetes Center located in Centerpoint Medical Center at (816) 478-2366.