Diabetes is a serious disease affecting millions of people around the world. It’s a chronic illness that affects the body’s ability to break food down into energy. When you eat, the food becomes glucose, which is then released into your bloodstream. The glucose is used as energy because of a hormone called “insulin” that’s produced by your pancreas.

People with diabetes have issues either producing enough insulin or processing the insulin their bodies produce. Most of us have heard of diabetes, but many don’t quite understand the disease. That’s why March 24, 2020 was Diabetes Alert Day.

10 Diabetes Facts You Should Know

Here are some important diabetes facts to help improve your awareness of this serious disease:

1. Almost 2 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed in the U.S. every year.
2. Diabetes can be fatal. It’s the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.
3. Diabetes can be prevented by maintaining a healthy weight, eating healthy, exercising, and not smoking.
4. Diabetes is the number one cause of adult blindness, amputations of the lower limbs, and kidney failure. 
5. It’s estimated about 25 percent of people in the U.S. have diabetes and don’t realize it.
6. Over 30 million people have diabetes in the U.S. alone. That’s close to 10% of the country’s population.
7. Over 84 million adults – almost 34% of our population – have prediabetes. Prediabetes is diagnosed when blood sugar levels are higher than normal. People with prediabetes are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes.
8. The number of adults diagnosed with diabetes in the U.S. has tripled in the last two decades.
9. There are three types of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2, and gestational.
10. There is no cure.

For more information about diabetes or for more health awareness tips in general, be sure to keep visiting us at The Benefits Store.