The American Diabetes Association has named November as Diabetes Awareness Month. It has launched a campaign titled “Kiss Diabetes Goodbye,” which seeks to raise awareness of diabetes throughout the country. It also aims to raise $1 million for diabetes research, advocacy, and community resources.

 Diabetes is usually known as the disease which can negatively affect blood glucose levels if not properly treated. In many cases, diabetes is controllable, with many diabetics living healthy and happy lives. However, the disease is not to be taken lightly.

 According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the incidence of diabetes diagnoses in adults spiked by more than 90 percent in the past 10 years. Karen Kirtland, Ph.D., lead author of the report, says, “This dramatic increase in the number of people with diabetes highlights the increasing burden of diabetes across the country.”

 Indeed, diabetes is a coast-to-coast problem. The American Diabetes Association states that 23.6 million individuals have diabetes, with 5.7 million of those cases being undiagnosed. 

 Besides affecting blood sugar, untreated diabetes can lead to life threatening conditions such as kidney dysfunction and stroke. But, says Prevent Blindness America, diabetes can also lead to diabetic retinopathy, a blinding condition in which blood vessels within the retina become blocked or leaky. And it’s more prevalent than one might think. “There are up to 24,000 new cases of blindness each year, making diabetes the leading cause of new cases of blindness in adults 20-74 years of age,” the Chicago-based organization declares.

 And while diabetic retinopathy may be the most widely known eye condition caused by diabetes, Prevent Blindness America says people with diabetes are also susceptible to cataracts, glaucoma, macular edema, retinal detachment, and other eye maladies.

 What are ways diabetics can help prevent or postpone complications of diabetes? The American Diabetes Association suggests people “remember the ABCs.” These are taking the A1C test, which determines how well the body is controlling blood glucose; monitoring blood pressure, which, if too high, “makes the heart work too hard and can cause damage to the kidneys and eyes”; and watching cholesterol levels, which blocks arteries and can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
 

To read more about diabetes and diabetic retinopathy, visit http://www.diabetes.org/home.jsp, http://www.cdc.gov/, and http://www.preventblindness.org/.