National Diabetes Awareness Month

According to the American Diabetes Association, “in 2012, 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3% of the population, had diabetes,” further shocking ‘”in 2010 the figures were 25.8 million and 8.3%.” In the month of November every year, top organizations dedicate their time to education and awareness about Diabetes.

This year, the National Diabetes Education Program is adapting an ‘ABC Model’ of teaching people how to manage diabetes. They are calling the program “Be Smart About Your Heart: Control the ABCs of Diabetes.”

• The A in the model stands for A1C test, which is “a blood test that measures your average blood sugar level over the past three months.”
• The B in the model stands for blood pressure or, “the force of your blood against the wall of your blood vessels.”
• The C in the model explains cholesterol, “there are two kind of cholesterol in your blood: LDL and HDL. LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol can build up and clog your blood vessels. It can cause a heart attack or stroke.”

Another staggering fact about diabetes remains that “in 2012, 86 million Americans age 20 and older had prediabetes; this is up from 79 million in 2010.”

Are You At Risk?

Part of knowing whether you are at risk or not is paying attention to a few KEY things: prevention, diagnosing/learning about diabetes and LOWERING your risk if it is high. According to the American Diabetes Association, it is possible to ‘prevent or delay’ type 2 diabetes. The key to doing so is staying at a healthy weight,eating well and remaining active.

Learn about a whole lot more and read the rest here: http://ow.ly/DKrOt