Guess what percentage of the United States population has diabetes? Seriously, take a guess.
According to the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet, created by the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, the American Diabetes Association and a few other organizations, we're at 8.3%, which amounts to almost 26 million people. 90-95% of those cases are Type 2 diabetes, where the body's blood glucose levels are too high because of insulin resistance and a lack of insulin.
A few of those 26 million people are those most close to me including my mom, my dad, my grandmother - - - and of course also the person on whom my annual Super Bowl dreams rest, my quarterback, Jay Cutler. At first I thought that diabetes wasn't that big of a deal - but the list of complications are terrifying. If diabetes isn't well controlled with a special diet, exercise, and medication, then it can lead to limb amputation, blindness, heart disease, kidney failure, and stroke, all of which pretty much kill your quality of life, if they don't kill you outright. My family has struggled at times to control their blood sugar, and when it gets too low (because of mis-timed insulin injections, or not eating) it makes them feel truly awful, sick to their stomach and dizzy, and exhausted for the rest of the day.
The really sucky and depressing part is that Type 2 diabetes does not have to be this prevalent: it is often preventable and at least delay-able - while it is party caused by genetic factors (that we have no control over, of course), lifestyle plays a significant part in the development of the disease. Too many of us keep our blood sugar on a roller coaster ride all day long when we drink sugary drinks and eat simple carbs like white bread or doughnuts or pasta - and then have ice cream for dessert. Then we gain weight, and if we're not being physically active, the door is wide open for Type 2 diabetes to develop. I've been in that lifestyle and some days I'm still in that lifestyle - I mean, just today I drank a Coke, ate a box of candy, had non-whole wheat pasta for dinner, and enjoyed a huge Epic burger and fries for lunch - if I don't weigh more tomorrow than today, it will only be for the fluid loss from the Hustle Up the Hancock race. The one thing I get right most of the time is fitness, rather than food. But the real asset I have is knowledge about diabetes - I am aware of my risk factors, and I know lots of specifics on how to live the best lifestyle to delay or prevent the disease. I got this knowledge from educating myself about diabetes, and for that, the American Diabetes Association has been a great resource.
The American Diabetes Association focuses their work on educating people about diabetes. For healthy folks, they have information on prevention, they're a resource about delay of onset for people with pre-diabetes, and for those already diagnosed they have a wealth of knowledge on living well with diabetes in order to minimize occurrence of the awful complications. The Association does advocacy work related to access to healthcare and the greater incidence of the disease in minority populations. They also have a research foundation that funds scientific and medical inquiry about diabetes: you can read about some of the most recent studies here.
If you'd like to donate to the American Diabetes Association, just click on the Donate tab above and follow the directions!
Eat healthy and keep active, folks, so you can have your best shot at a long, healthy and happy life!
If you'd like to donate to the American Diabetes Association, just click on the Donate tab above and follow the directions!
Eat healthy and keep active, folks, so you can have your best shot at a long, healthy and happy life!
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