By The Numbers

Just a reminder that I am writing about Type 2 Diabetes.  Sometimes called Adult Onset Diabetes, which just means you did not have diabetes as a child and are probably on some sort of oral medication.  

One of the first things I did was find out how many people had diabetes.  I knew the number was kind of big, but had no idea it was HUGE.  Take a look here to get the information.

But, let me summarize for you.  Almost 26,000,000 (that's 26 million, but it looks even bigger when you see the 0's) either have been diagnosed with diabetes or have diabetes and have not been diagnosed.  That's a lot of folks!  8.3% of the population.

But, wait, there's more - just like those darn Ginsu knives of TV fame.  Those who have pre-diabetes number around 75,000,000.  Put those numbers together and you get 100,000,000 people with some form of diabetes.  That is about 30% of the population.  No wonder the Center for Disease Control is involved with diabetes.  You know about the CDC - the folks who store test tubes of typhoid; the folks who deal with deadly diseases.  Guess what?  Diabetes, if not managed or controlled, is slow death.  (That, I hope is my only attempt at scaring you.)

By the way, if you want to learn more about prediabetes, you can read about it here.

The good news? Diabetes can be controlled and/or managed with a bit of care and common sense.  That is not just good news, it's great news!!!

So, what is diabetes?  In a nutshell, the body uses insulin, which is naturally produced by the pancreas.  For some reason, your body no longer recognizes the insulin, or does not have enough.  Sugar in your blood rises (not a good thing) and before long, you have diabetes.  Now, that's the short and simple explanation.  If you want one that is more complete, you can read it here.

So, you know you are not alone, which was important to me to know, and you know it can be controlled.  You are already making progress.

By the way, the first time I ever measured my blood glucose with a meter it was 357.  I am fairly confident you know that is a pretty big number.  It was not reassuring, but was motivating!  More about your daily glucose numbers and A1c in the next post.

Thanks for reading.

“If you're reading this...
Congratulations, you're alive.
If that's not something to smile about,
then I don't know what is.” Chad Sugg