November is American Diabetes Month. INTEGRIS Health encourages everyone to know their risk factors.
November is American Diabetes Month
INTEGRIS Health encourages everyone to know their risk factors
American Diabetes Month is an annual event sponsored by the American Diabetes Association. This year’s theme – “Today’s Diabetes Hits Different” – aims to raise public awareness about risk factors and how the disease’s complications have changed due to the pandemic.
“The risk of severe symptoms or a serious complication from COVID is higher for diabetic patients,” explains Jeff Cruzan, M.D., the president of INTEGRIS Health Medical Group. “When their diabetes is in good control, the risk of a serious complication is lowered.”
Diabetes is the word used to describe the three types of diabetes: type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes (occurs during pregnancy). This chronic disease is all about how our body makes and/or uses insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas. Without insulin, the body’s cells would be starved, causing dehydration and the destruction of body tissue.
In the United States, approximately one in ten Americans have diabetes. Of those, 95 percent have type 2 diabetes. About 12 percent of adults in Oklahoma have diagnosed diabetes; an additional 93,000 have diabetes but don’t know it yet, greatly increasing their health risk. Another 35 percent of Oklahoma adults have prediabetes, with blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.
At INTEGRIS Health, we fully support American Diabetes Awareness Month and encourage everyone to know their risk factors. Non-modifiable risk factors such as family history, race or ethnic background, age and gestational diabetes cannot be changed. Modifiable risk factors, however, can be managed. These include obesity, smoking, lack of physical activity, high blood pressure, stress and poor diet.
“Patients who take charge of their diabetes and manage their modifiable risk factors feel healthier and have less long term disease burden than those who do not exercise, do not maintain a low carbohydrate diet or do not lose weight,” says Cruzan.
By making healthy lifestyle choices, you can take control of your modifiable risk factors. Taking proactive steps now can prevent or delay the development of diabetes and improve your quality of life. Find more tools and resources for managing diabetes and reducing your risk Know Diabetes by Heart™ | Managing Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Risks.
