Who Needs More
Information on Diabetes?
By Greg Armstrong
lobally, there were an estimated 371
million people living with diabetes
in 2012. Diabetes claimed the lives
of 4.8 million people in 2012, half of which
were under the age of 60. Perhaps the most
alarming statistic is that 50 percent of dia-
betics are undiagnosed. What that means is
that potentially, there are another 371 million
people that don’t even know they have dia-
betes. Add to that, another 400-500 million
that are currently in a pre-diabetic state. A
position, with proper diet and exercise, that
could stave off or dramatically postpone full
blown diabetes.
So, again, who needs more information on
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diabetes? Just about everyone!
honestly evaluate your weight and how many
With the above numbers, we could easily
extra pounds you are packing. Proper diet
predict that there is a potential for one in
and losing weight perhaps will go to reducing
every three Americans to have diabetes or
your risk of Type II diabetes more than any
pre-diabetes within a few decades. So, what
other risk factor. Finally, seriously track your
do we do? Should we wait until it is a prob-
activity level. By purposely exercising 30
lem for us to take action? The wise choice
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would be to take proactive action and learn
put distance between you and diabetes.
what you can about diabetes now and what
A great opportunity to add to your diabetic
you can do to help prevent a progression of
knowledge is to attend the “Sweet Spot”
the disease.
classes. These FREE classes are held at 7
Know your numbers. Now is a good time
p.m. every fourth Monday at The Corner Cup
to know what your fasting blood glucose lev-
Coffee House in downtown John Day. The in-
els are and if available, know your A1C. The
formative classes are topical and cover many
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facets of diabetes. For more information, call
for the past 60-90 days. Next, it is time to
541-575-0629.
2015 Medical + Family Health Guide • MyEagleNews.com • Page 9