The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has declared November as American Diabetes Month. This is an annual event, a time to become informed about diabetes and the importance of diabetes prevention and control.
As illustrated in the ADA poster at right, this year’s theme for American Diabetes Month is, “I Raise My Hand to Stop Diabetes®.”
The ADA is asking all Americans to go to go to ADA’s Facebook page to take a pledge to Stop Diabetes.
During American Diabetes Month, the ADA urges Americans take action by:
● Visiting facebook.com/AmericanDiabetesAssociation to take the pledge to Stop Diabetes!
● Visiting stopdiabetes.com, or calling 1-800-DIABETES, to learn all the ways you can take action during American Diabetes Month; and
● Texting JOIN to 69866 (standard data and message rates apply), to support the American Diabetes Association and its campaign to Stop Diabetes.
About Diabetes
Here are some facts about Diabetes from a Fact Sheet published by the ADA:
- Nearly 26 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes.
- Another 79 million Americans have prediabetes and are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
- Recent estimates project that as many as 1 in 3 American adults will have diabetes in 2050 unless we take steps to Stop Diabetes.
- Two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke.
- Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure.
- Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults.
- The rate of amputation for people with diabetes is 10 times higher than for people without diabetes.
- About 60-70% 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 American Diabetes Association estimates that 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).
- Further published studies suggest that when additional costs for gestational diabetes, prediabetes, and undiagnosed diabetes are included, the total diabetes-related costs in the U.S. could exceed $218 billion.
- The cost of caring for someone with diabetes is $1 out of every $5 in total healthcare costs.
More Information
For more information about Diabetes, see Diabetes Basics on the American Diabetes Association’s website.
For more information about American Diabetes Month, see the American Diabetes Association’s website page on American Diabetes Month.
See also the HelpingYouCare™ resource pages on Diabetes, including
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