November is Diabetes Awareness Month, a time when the American Diabetes Association and the healthcare community mobilizes to raise further awareness about diabetes – the fastest-growing chronic disease in the world and the most expensive chronic disease in the U.S. One in 10 Americans, in fact, will be diagnosed with diabetes, with 90 percent of them diagnosed with the more preventable type 2. Most of these people don’t even know they are at risk, and often there are no symptoms of prediabetes. The good news is, with early detection and awareness, people can take steps to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Make November the month you commit to taking a diabetes (type 2) risk test and learn about your family’s history of diabetes. It’s a worthy effort: Persistent high blood glucose levels can damage the body’s organs and, over the long-term, include damage to both large and small blood vessels, which can lead to heart attack, stroke, and issues with kidneys, eyes, gums, feet and nerves.
And, while type 1 diabetes is not as preventable, it can be managed well with insulin injections and through blood sugar monitoring, eating healthy foods, exercising regularly, and maintaining a healthy weight. Type 2 diabetes, meanwhile, is much more preventable; it’s estimated that nine out of 10 diagnoses of diabetes could be avoided, in fact, by:
- Eliminating sugar and refined carbs
- Exercising regularly and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle
- Making water the primary beverage
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Quitting smoking
- Eating a high fiber diet
- Optimizing Vitamin D levels
- Taking natural herbs, such as curcumin and berberine, that increase insulin sensitivity.
Diabetes-focused CME, In-person and Online
At Skin, Bones, Hearts & Private Parts, we know that education is a critical part of managing diabetes, from patients’ perspectives as well as from their healthcare provider’s perspective. Diabetes has been part of our CME curriculum since our founding, and both of our final two CME Conferences in 2024 have a full day dedicated to it, also available via CME Virtual Conference: