Diabetes Awareness Month
November is Diabetes Awareness Month
Every 23 seconds, someone in America is diagnosed with diabetes. This November, people all over the country are spreading awareness of one of the most common health afflictions affecting American citizens. The American Diabetes Association ® (ADA) continues its efforts to research and help the growing number of people who suffer from the disease.
Twenty million people in the US suffer from diabetes. About 8 million people with diabetes are undiagnosed, making up 23% of the total number of people who have it. The amount of people with diabetes is increasing as there are 1.4 million diagnoses every year. Not only does 9% of the US population suffer from diabetes, but 86 million people live with a disease called prediabetes. Prediabetes is a condition in which one has higher levels of glucose in the blood but it is not enough to classify as diabetes. Most of these people have a more likely chance at getting type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. In the year 2010, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death.
What is the difference between type 1 and type 2? Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes, is the body’s insufficiency in insulin in result of the pancreas either not producing enough on its own or more likely not producing insulin at all. When one’s body does not produce enough insulin or resists it, he or she has type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes affects the way the body processes glucose. It can develop at any age and is usually found in adults, but the number of children developing type 2 diabetes is growing. Although diabetes can be treated, it is incurable. Some forms of treatment for type 1 diabetes include monitoring blood sugar levels regularly, insulin therapy, diet, and exercise. Type 2 diabetes generally requires treatments such as insulin therapy, diet, exercise, and medication.
Why November? November was established the official month for diabetes awareness by the ADA in the year 1997. World Diabetes Day takes place on November 14th, in commemoration of the day that insulin was discovered in 1921 by Dr. Frederick Banting. 2015 was the first year of the ADA’s newest addition to Diabetes Awareness Month: National Healthy Lunch Day, a day made for people across the US to eat healthily and encourage each other to make better food choices. The mission of the American Diabetes Association is “to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.” Spread the word about Diabetes Awareness Month and go to the ADA’s website for more information on how to get involved!
Read more:
https://www.gstatic.com/healthricherkp/pdf/type_1_diabetes.pdf
https://www.gstatic.com/healthricherkp/pdf/type_2_diabetes.pdf
http://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/diabetes-awareness-month-2015
