NDEP Campaign Highlights the Link Between Diabetes
and Cardiovascular Disease
Heart disease and stroke account for about 65 percent of deaths
in people with diabetes
More than 20 million adults in the United States are living with
diabetes and are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
But there are steps that they can take to reduce the complications
associated with these two diseases. The National Diabetes Education
Program (NDEP) has launched Control Your Diabetes. For Life.,
a national campaign that will reach out through a network of 200
partners to health care professionals and their patients to emphasize
the importance of comprehensive control of diabetes and CVD. The
NDEP is jointly sponsored by the National Institutes of Health
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Public awareness of the link between diabetes and CVD is low,
and many people with diabetes do not understand all they can do
to manage their disease and reduce their risk for complications,
including heart attack and stroke. Adults with diabetes have heart
disease death rates about two to four times higher than adults
without diabetes, and the risk for stroke is also two to four times
higher among people with diabetes. Control Your Diabetes. For
Life. campaign messages and materials help people with diabetes
understand the importance of controlling their ABCs — as
measured by the A1C test, Blood
pressure, and Cholesterol. The A1C test measures
a person’s average blood glucose level over the past three months.
High blood pressure makes a person's heart work
too hard. Too much bad cholesterol, or LDL, builds up and clogs
a person's arteries. People with diabetes need to ask their health
care team what their ABC numbers are, what they should be, and
how to reach their goal numbers.
Free educational materials include: 4 Steps to Control Your
Diabetes. For Life., a brochure to help people with diabetes
manage their disease; Take Care of Your Heart. Manage Your
Diabetes, a tip sheet about the link between diabetes and
heart disease and tips on how to manage the ABCs of diabetes; Guiding
Principles for Diabetes Care, a guide to help health care
professionals learn more about essential components of diabetes
care; Diabetes Numbers At-a-Glance, a handy laminated
pocket guide with a list of current recommendations for health
care professionals to diagnose and manage diabetes; and other
free resources for people with diabetes, their families, and
health care professionals.
Control Your Diabetes. For Life. campaign messages and
materials are tailored to groups at high risk for the disease:
African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, American Indians, Alaska
Natives, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and older adults.
Materials are available in English, Spanish, and 15 Asian and Pacific
Islander languages.
Through the Control Your Diabetes. For Life. campaign,
NDEP is working to change the way diabetes is treated. For more
information about the link between diabetes and heart disease or
the Control Your Diabetes. For Life. campaign, (http://www.ndep.nih.gov/campaigns/ControlForLife/ControlForLife_overview.htm)
visit www.YourDiabetesInfo.org or
call 1-888-693-NDEP (6337). Listen to an NIH Research Radio interview
about this campaign at http://helix.od.nih.gov/nihradio/09072007podcast_0040.mp3.
The NIDDK, a component of the NIH, conducts and supports research
in diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive
diseases, nutrition, and obesity; and kidney, urologic and hematologic
diseases. For more information about NIDDK and its programs, see www.niddk.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's
Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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