November: World Diabetes Awareness Month

Diabetes Fast Facts

• Total: 30.3 million people have diabetes (9.4% of the US population)

• Diagnosed: 23.1 million people

• Undiagnosed: 7.2 million people (23.8% of people with diabetes are undiagnosed)

  • People with diabetes are 50% more likely to die in any one year than people without diabetes

  • UNMANAGED DIABETES is a leading risk factor for, heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and foot or lower leg amputations

  • WELL MANAGED DIABETES is a leading risk factor of NOTHING

• Diabetes Costs

  • $245 Billion/year in medical costs AND lost work and wages

  • Medical costs are more than DOUBLE for a person with diabetes than without diabetes

Prediabetes Fast Facts

• Total: 84.1 million adults aged 18 years or older have pre-diabetes (33.9% of the adult US population)

  • 9 out of 10 people don’t know that they have prediabetes

• 65 years or older: 23.1 million adults aged 65 years or older have prediabetes

A Person Is At Risk if They:

• Are overweight

• Are 45 years or older

• Have a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes

• Are physically active less than 3 times a week

• Have ever had gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) or given birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds

• Are African American, Hispanic/Latino American, American Indian, or Alaska Native (some Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans are also at higher risk)

What to do:

• Get screened for prediabetes/diabetes

• If you are in a high risk category, start making healthy lifestyle changes

  • Lifestyle changes: including healthy diet, physical activity, and if overweight, losing 5-7% of body weight reduce the risk of diabetes by 50%.

  • Check out healthy recipes in Cooking 101 as well as other sections of this site.

  • Make an appointment with a Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist or a Certified Diabetes Educator 
    • Develop a plan to decrease your risks for developing diabetes or for managing it if you have it.
      • Lori Brizee is both a Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist and a Certified Diabetes Educator–go to https://loribrizee.com/book-a-consultation-online-with-lori-brizee/  to book a Telehealth consultation today (if you’d rather see someone in person, Lori will help you find a person who can help you!)

• Resources on diabetes and pre-diabetes

  • The American Diabetes Association:  http://www.diabetes.org/
  • The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Diabetes Education page: https://www.eatright.org/search-results?keyword=diabetes
  • The Center for Disease Control Diabetes  “Living with Diabetes” page: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/managing/index.html

Watch for new posts on preventing and managing diabetes throughout this November!