November is American Diabetes Month. What’s your diabetes IQ? How much do you really know about the disease?

While EndoTool addresses the need for insulin therapy in hospitalized patients, a significant number of these patients have been previously diagnosed (or will be) with diabetes. In honor of American Diabetes Month, we thought we would take a step back and look at some facts about diabetes.

Did you know?

• Almost 30 million Americans suffer from either type 1 or 2 diabetes.
• Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, which results in the inability of the pancreas to secrete insulin. It is also known as “juvenile diabetes” or “early onset diabetes” and it cannot be prevented.
• Type 2 diabetes is a result of the body’s inability to use insulin effectively and typically correlates with obesity.
• Gestational diabetes affects pregnant women and is a temporary condition.
• Today, type 2 diabetes accounts for about 90% of diabetes cases around the world and about 90% of these patients are obese.
• The Centers for Disease Control rates diabetes as the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.
• According to Joslin Diabetes Center, out of the estimated 24 million people with diabetes, one-third (or eight million) are unaware they have the disease.
• Mortality due to diabetes is projected to increase by more than 50% during the next decade and at a much higher rate in upper and middle income countries.
• Prior to insulin treatments, patients with diabetes were typically treated with starvation or semi-starvation diets.
• The risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be minimized by a combination of a healthy diet and thirty minutes of moderate physical activity a day.

As healthcare professionals, we should all play an active role in preventing one of the fastest growing diseases in many countries. Education is one of the best defenses against the disease.

What does your facility do to help at-risk patients learn about combatting diabetes?