Do you know anyone with diabetes? Do you know someone who is borderline? Does that person watch his/her diet, exercise and monitor glucose values? The people I know with Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes do all these things, bravely managing their condition, without missing any of life's opportunities. However, the people I know (and am related to) with Type 2 (Adult Onset) Diabetes are another situation altogether.
Those I know personally with Type 2 Diabetes tend to be older, overweight, inactive (or sedentary), eat very poor diets, do not manage their glucose as directed by their doctors, and suffer the consequences.
Ever wonder why Type 2 Diabetes is in the media so often, or why doctors so insistently harangue patients on the verge to be more vigilant? A report* published in Endocrinology News over the weekend highlights the enormous toll diabetes is taking on the US health care system:
- In 2008, the US spent $83 BILLION on hospitalizations for diabetes
- In other words, 23% of the total cost for ALL conditions
- 1 in 5 (20%) of all hospitalizations were diabetes related
- On average, a diabetes related hospitalization costs 25% more than other conditions
- The South has the highest rate of hospitalizations for diabetes
If you know anyone who has suffered from neuropathy resulting in sores, infections or amputations, someone who has lapsed into a glucose coma, or dialysis or other related diseases, you know the toll diabetes takes on the body. Don't become a statistic -- eat well, stay active, and watch your weight.
* This AHRQ News and Numbers is based on data in Hospital Stays for Patients with Diabetes, 2008 (http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb93.pdf). The report uses statistics from the 2008 Nationwide Impatient Sample, a part of AHRQ's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.
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