Seven million diabetes sufferers walk around undiagnosed

It’s November again, and you know what that means? Time to “celebrate” National Diabetes Awareness month.

As many of you may already know, I have been a card-carrying Type 1 Diabetic for 29 years.

For approximately 16 of those years I have been using an insulin pump.

Since first being diagnosed, the difference in treatments available and for the potential for a “cure” are truly amazing.

Back then we were still using pork or beef insulin, but now synthetic insulins are available.

Some people were still using urine dipsticks to check for “sugar,” however today we have glucose monitors that use a tiny amount of blood and give results in a matter of seconds.

There are even continuous glucose monitors that check glucose levels and communicate those results to an insulin pump.

Such advances would have seemed like science fiction back then. Every day there is something new!

However, one thing that isn’t new is the number of people out there who do not know they have the disease.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that in 2010 there were 25.8 million people, or 8.3% of the U.S. population, with diabetes.

Of those 25.8 million, 18.8 were actually diagnosed, which leaves 7 million walking around undiagnosed.

I understand that people are afraid of going to the doctor because they are afraid of getting bad news.

But the sooner you start taking care of diabetes the less likely you are to suffer the consequences.

People always talk about those who have had to have amputations due to poorly controlled diabetes, but there are many more complications than that.

You can have kidney problems (nephropathy); pain in your feet and other extremities (neuropathy); eye problems (retinopathy) and delayed gastric emptying (gastroparisis).

The risk for heart disease increases also, and now they are saying that the risk for Alzheimer’s disease may increase as well.

For people with Type 1 diabetes, which is an autoimmune disease, the odds of having another autoimmune disease increases as well.

I often hear people say, “Oh, he/she is a bad diabetic.” Whether discussing type 1 or 2 diabetes, you need to understand that controlling blood glucose levels is not easy and can be unbelievably challenging. It’s not easy juggling food, medications, glucose testing, activity, etc.

Not to mention that it’s not just food intake that affects blood glucose levels.

Other things such as illness, emotional and physical stress, weight status, physical activity, and etc. can affect glucose levels.

Oh, and speaking of food, people with diabetes can eat the same things that people without diabetes eat. We should just be more aware than other people. When looking at labels, look at the grams of carbohydrate, not the grams of sugar.

Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose in the body, so they become “simple sugars.”

For every 15 grams of carbohydrates, generally glucose will rise by 50 mg/dl.

Everyone needs carbohydrates to help fuel our bodies.

People with diabetes should have a relatively stable carbohydrate intake, but don’t look at someone with diabetes at a birthday party and tell them they can’t have any cake.

Is it possible that you are one of the 7 million people walking around with diabetes and don’t know it?

Warning signs/symptoms for Type 1 Diabetes are: frequent urination, unusual thirst, extreme hunger, unusual weight loss, and extreme fatigue and Irritability.

People with Type 2 Diabetes can have any of the Type 1 symptoms, frequent infections, blurred vision, cuts/bruises that are slow to heal, tingling/numbness in the hands/feet, recurring skin, gum, or bladder infections.

To find out if you are at risk, go to: http://www.diabetes.org.

For some people, the most important part of taking care of their diabetes is finding out if they have it in the first place.