Power to Control - Slide 2

What is Diabetes?

• Diabetes means that blood glucose (sugar) is too high – too much glucose in a person’s blood isn’t healthy

• Diabetes can lead to serious health problems and premature death

• About 24 million Americans have diabetes

NIDDK, National Diabetes Statistics fact sheet. HHS, NIH, 2007.

Note:

• Diabetes is a serious disease. It means that blood glucose (often called blood sugar) is too high. Glucose comes from food and is needed to fuel the body. Glucose is also stored in the liver and muscles. Blood always has some glucose in it because the body needs glucose for energy. But too much glucose in a person’s blood is not healthy. The key to taking care of diabetes is to keep blood glucose as close to normal as possible.

• Diabetes can lead to serious problems and complications, such as heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, lower-limb amputations, and premature death.

• The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing in epidemic proportions throughout the U.S. and the world.

• In 2007, almost 18 million Americans had been diagnosed with diabetes and another 6 million were undiagnosed—for a total of about 24 million Americans with diabetes.

Reference

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. National Diabetes Statistics fact sheet: general information and national estimates on diabetes in the United States, 2007.  Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, 2005.