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Date Released: 11/1/2007 To save the Podcast, right click the "Save this file" link below and select the "Save Target As..." option. Save This File (2MB) Download this transcript (29KB)This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC – safer, healthier people. Welcome to this podcast series on diabetes, brought to you by the National Diabetes Education Program or NDEP. NDEP is a joint initiative of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. Diabetes is serious, common, and costly, yet controllable. * Over 4100 people are diagnosed with diabetes in the United States every day. * Fifty-five go blind. * One hundred and twenty have kidney failure. * Two hundred and thirty get a limb amputated. * That’s every single day. What is diabetes? * Diabetes is a group of diseases marked by high levels of blood glucose resulting from defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both. * Diabetes can lead to serious complications and premature death, but people with diabetes can take steps to control the disease and lower the risk of complications. Diabetes is serious. * Diabetes is the number one cause of acquired blindness, kidney failure, non-traumatic amputation and a contributor to the number one cause of death in the United States: heart attack and stroke. * Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in America Diabetes is common. * Almost 21 Americans have diabetes — 7 percent of the U.S. population. Of these, about one third don’t know they have the disease. * Each year, about 1.5 million people are diagnosed with diabetes. * One in five Americans ages 60 or older have diabetes. * The number of people diagnosed with diabetes has increased almost 1000% from 1.5 million in 1958 to 14.6 million in 2005, an increase of epidemic proportions. Diabetes is costly. * Diabetes costs the nation about $132 billion annually in direct medical costs such as hospitalization and treatment and indirect costs such as disability payments, time lost from work, and premature death. Diabetes is controllable. * Studies have found that controlling blood glucose (or blood sugar) reduces the risk of eye, kidney, and nerve diseases by 40%. * Blood pressure control reduces the risk of heart disease or stroke among persons with diabetes by one third to one half. * Improved control of cholesterol can reduce heart disease or stroke among people with diabetes by 20% to 50%. To learn more about diabetes and to order free educational materials, please visit www.ndep.nih.gov or call the National Diabetes Education Program at 1-800-438-5383. To access the most accurate and relevant health information that affects you, your family and your community, please visit www.cdc.gov.
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