November Is American Diabetes Month — Get Involved

At Scrubin, we are involved with getting the word out about many great causes and organizations. One of the biggest for us is American Diabetes Month.

This is a disease which has been forefront of the public consciousness for some time, and with good reason. Diabetes numbers 30 million Americans among its sufferers, both adults and children. And it is estimated that more than 80 million more are “pre-diabetic” and at heightened risk to develop type 2 diabetes. If the disease is not at epidemic levels, it is not far from it.

Our diets are all too often composed of an excess of sugars, fats, cholesterol and sodium. While public awareness seems to be rising in this regard, it is still a widespread fact that much of our food is packaged and processed, and therefore potent as delivery systems for excesses of sugar. This is to say nothing of our affection for sodas and sugar-laden energy drinks.

Now, while a healthy, informed diet is not enough to stave off diabetes in every case, the simple fact is that eating healthier — limiting sugars, basing meals around protein and essential vitamins and roughage — would slash the percentage of our population who have type 2 diabetes by a tremendous degree. This is a particularly urgent matter in regards to our young people. The rate of growth for the disease in children has burgeoned by more than 33% in the past couple of decades.

Sure, there are several factors at work in this rising figure, but most researchers agree that the majority of the growth is directly tied to the rapidly escalating rates of childhood obesity. Healthy diet, regular exercise: these are the enemies of Type 2 diabetes. Make sure your kid has both!

Another unfortunate fact about our food consumption and diabetes: it is often more expensive and more difficult in the United States to eat healthy. Cheaper foods are typically mass produced, therefore usually have a lower price tag. And these are the very foods prevalent with trans-fats, sodium, high fructose corn syrup, dyes and excess sugars. As such, our more impoverished communities have been particularly hard hit by the growing rate of diabetes in the society. American Diabetes Month has a variety of outreach effortsintended to educate all our communities communities about the very real dangers of the disease.

Think you might be at risk? Your doctor can ease your fears, or get you on a path of treatment if there’s a problem.  He or she will perform a simple glucose test. If diabetes is indicated, then immediate steps can be taken: regular monitoring, insulin treatment, strict diet and life-style changes.

If you rate as pre-diabetic, then you and your health-care professional can design a firm plan to tackle the potential risk before it becomes a difficult reality.

Diabetes in America is on the rise, unfortunately, but we can make November of 2015 the moment when we turned back the tide!