A Gentle Reminder

How did this marvelous journey begin?  One year ago, I sat in an office and heard the following:

Data from the 2007 National Diabetes Fact Sheet (the most recent year for which data is available)
Total: 23.6 million children and adults in the United States—7.8% of the population—have diabetes.
Diagnosed: 17.9 million people
Undiagnosed: 5.7 million people
Pre-diabetes: 57 million people
New Cases: 1.6 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older each year.

Total prevalence of diabetes

Under 20 years of age;

• 186,300, or 0.22% of all people in this age group have diabetes
• About 1 in every 400 to 600 children and adolescents has type 1 diabetes
• About 2 million adolescents aged 12-19 have pre-diabetes

• Age 20 years or older:  23.5 million, or 10.7% of all people in this age group have diabetes
• Age 60 years or older:  12.2 million, or 23.1% of all people in this age group have diabetes
• Men:  12.0 million, or 11.2% of all men aged 20 years or older have diabetes
• Women:  11.5 million, or 10.2% of all women aged 20 years or older have diabetes

Morbidity and Mortality
Deaths

Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death listed on U.S. death certificates in 2006. This ranking is based on the 72,507 death certificates in 2006 in which diabetes was listed as the underlying cause of death. According to death certificate reports, diabetes contributed to a total of 233,619 deaths in 2005, the latest year for which data on contributing causes of death are available.

Complications
Heart disease and stroke
• In 2004, heart disease was noted on 68% of diabetes-related death certificates among people aged 65 years or older.
• In 2004, stroke was noted on 16% of diabetes-related death certificates among people aged 65 years or older.
• Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about 2 to 4 times higher than adults without diabetes.
• The risk for stroke is 2 to 4 times higher among people with diabetes.
High blood pressure
• In 2003–2004, 75% of adults with self-reported diabetes had blood pressure greater than or equal to 130/80 mmHg, or used prescription medications for hypertension.
Blindness
• Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults aged 20–74 years.
• Diabetic retinopathy causes 12,000 to 24,000 new cases of blindness each year.
Kidney disease
• Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, accounting for 44% of new cases in 2005.
• In 2005, 46,739 people with diabetes began treatment for end-stage kidney disease in the United States and Puerto Rico.
• In 2005, a total of 178,689 people with end-stage kidney disease due to diabetes were living on chronic dialysis or with a kidney transplant in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Nervous system disease (Neuropathy)
• About 60% to 70% of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nervous system damage.
Amputation
• More than 60% of nontraumatic lower-limb amputations occur in people with diabetes.
• In 2004, about 71,000 nontraumatic lower-limb amputations were performed in people with diabetes.

For Additional Information
These statistics and additional information can be found in the National Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2007, the most recent comprehensive assessment of the impact of diabetes in the United States, jointly produced by the CDC, NIH, ADA, and other organizations

Statistics from the American Diabetes Association Website:  Diabetes Statistics .

DON'T LIKE THESE NUMBERS?  NEITHER DO WE!

WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?  SO DO WE!

Here's the plan: Since we are planning on walking in the Step Out Walk for Diabetes in October, we are going to put a team together to walk. The team will be a fundraising team to raise money for the Diabetes Association. 

It is time for me to put my new skills (walking) to good use. This is important. Within the next few years, chances are almost a third of the adults in the United States will be Diabetic! It is time to raise awareness and stop this trend in it's tracks.

Step Out Video on You Tube

I know there are people out there reading this. You can come out and walk with us in October! If you don't want to walk, you can show up to heckle and cheer! Failing that, you can support us financially!

I don't have all the details yet, I'll post them as I get them. But how cool would it be if we had the largest team there! That would ROCK!!!!

We need a team name though. I am now open for suggestions. Anyone? Anyone?