Up & Coming Magazine: Facts Can Help You Live With Diabetes

Up & Coming Magazine: "Do you know someone who is diabetic? If you are a Cumberland County resident, chances are that either you or someone you know is diabetic. According to the State Center for Health Statistics, one in every 24 Cumberland County residents is diabetic, not including those residents who are diabetic but have not yet been diagnosed.

Ignorance is costing us bundles. The NC State Center for Health Statistics tells us that in the year 2000 alone, annual hospitalization charges for diabetes in Cumberland County totaled over $75 million. In addition, 54 percent of our diabetic residents lack the education necessary for preventing complications, which directly inflates costly hospitalizations. This staggering information overwhelmingly proves that action is needed to stop these alarming trends happening right in our own backyards.

What is diabetes? Diabetes is an autoimmune disease that affects the pancreas and its ability to produce insulin, which results in elevated blood glucose or 'blood sugar' levels. If these elevated blood glucose levels are not addressed, serious complications, even death, can occur.

Typically, people are diagnosed as either Type 1 (formerly called juvenile diabetes) which requires life-sustaining insulin injections or Type 2 (formerly called adult-onset diabetes or non-insulin-dependent diabetes). Some people develop pre-diabetes or insulin-resistance, where fat, muscle, and liver cells do not use insulin effectively. "


by JUDY KLINCK
Up & Coming Weekly