November is National Diabetes Month and World Diabetes Day is happening this Saturday, November 14th. We thought it would be a good idea to provide you with facts and statistics. Understanding this condition is a must, whether you, a family member, or friend have been diagnosed. It will give you some insight into what 34.2 million US adults with diabetes are going through. This includes the 1 in 5 of them who don’t know they have it. [1]
What is
Diabetes?
Diabetes
is a long-lasting health condition that affects how your body turns
food into energy. Most of the food you eat is broken down into sugar (glucose)
and released into your bloodstream. When your blood sugar goes up, it signals the
pancreas to release insulin. Insulin acts like a key to let the blood sugar
into the body’s cells for use as energy.
If you have diabetes, it means that your body either doesn’t make
enough insulin or can’t use the insulin it creates. When there isn’t enough
insulin or cells stop responding to insulin, too much blood sugar stays in your
bloodstream. 
Basic Understanding of Types: This chronic condition can be classified into four types; prediabetes, Type I, Type II and gestational diabetes. In the last 20 years, the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes has more than doubled.[1]
Prediabetes: A condition in which blood sugar is high, but not high enough to be type 2 diabetes. This can diagnosis can be prevented from progressing to Type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes: A chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. Type 1 Diabetes is not preventable. Type 1 account for approximately 5-10% of diabetes diagnosis.
Type 2 diabetes: A chronic condition that affects the way the body
processes blood sugar (glucose). This
can be prevented. Type 2 accounts for
approximately 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes
Gestational diabetes: A form of high blood sugar affecting pregnant women. This is not always possible to prevent.
If not controlled, what could happen?
Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to serious complications such as:
- Heart Disease
- Kidney Disease
- Dental and Oral Issues
- Mental Health Issues
- Vision and Hearing Loss
- Skin Conditions
- Stroke
- Nerve Damage
- Amputation
Diabetes Symptoms: All symptoms can vary depending on how much your blood sugar is elevated. These symptoms are reflective of Type 1 and Type 2. Women with gestational diabetes don’t usually have symptoms. Most find out that they have it during a routine screening.
Increased thirst
Frequent urination
Extreme hunger
Unexplained weight loss
Presence of ketones in the urine (ketones are a byproduct of the breakdown of muscle and fat that happens when there's not enough available insulin)
Fatigue
Irritability
Blurred vision
Slow-healing sores
Frequent infections, such as gums or skin infections and vaginal infections
Treatments for all types of diabetes: Healthy eating and physical exercise are the best types of treatments to target when managing a diabetes diagnosis.
Treatment for Type 1 and Type 2:
Monitoring your blood sugar- Depending on your treatment plan, you may check and record your blood sugar as many as four or more times a day or more. You may need to get a blood glucose monitor or in some cases a continuous glucose monitor to observe your glucose levels.
Diabetes medications and insulin therapy-While some individuals can control levels with diet and exercise, some may not be able to. These individuals will require diabetes medications or insulin therapy.
Bariatric
surgery- If you have type 2 diabetes and your body mass index (BMI) is
greater than 35; you may be a candidate for weight-loss surgery. Dramatic
improvements in blood sugar levels are often seen.
The Facts:
At a cost of $327 billion, diabetes has become the most expensive chronic disease in the U.S., according to the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA)[2]
34.2 million Americans—just over 1 in 10—have diabetes. [3]
88 million American adults—approximately 1 in 3—have prediabetes. [3]
One of every four health care dollars is incurred by someone with diabetes, and that one of every seven health care dollars is spent directly treating diabetes and its complications. [2]
Every 21 seconds, another individual is diagnosed with diabetes in America. [2]
According to the report, the population with diabetes is older and sicker and have 2.3 times higher annual medical expenditures ($16,752 vs. $7,151) than a similarly matched population with no diabetes. [2]
[1] Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[2] © 2018 by the American Diabetes Association. http://www.diabetesjournals.org/content/license Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered. More information is available at http://www.diabetesjournals.org/content/license.
[3] © 2020 by the CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pdfs/data/statistics/national-diabetes-statistics-report.pdf Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered.
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