Diabetes is a serious disease and the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. It can lead to damage in several organs such as your heart, kidneys, eyes, and sex life. If left untreated, you can have heart and brain attacks, loss of limb, impotence, or require dialysis. These problems are preventable if recognized early and treated properly.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a progressive disease that results in high levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood, a condition known as hyperglycemia. The number of adult Americans that are diagnosed with diabetes each year is 1.3 million.

Diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not make insulin at all, referred to as Type 1 diabetes, or when the body cannot properly use the insulin the pancreas does create, referred to as Type II diabetes. Insulin is the hormone that helps glucose enter all the cells of your body to be used as energy. Without it, our bodies cannot function properly.

In both Type I and Type II diabetes, sugar which is the body's main source of energy, builds up in the blood and starves the cells for energy. This can result in life-threatening damage to the kidneys, nerves, heart and eyes.

Some symptoms of diabetes include:

• Excessive thirst
• Frequent urination
• Feeling very tired or weak
• Blurred vision
• Aches and muscle cramps
• Weight loss despite eating
• Acanthosis nigricans- darkened pigmentation of the skin folds

At our office we provide:

• Treatment
• Education
• Dietary Consultation

Statistics of Diabetes in the U.S. provided by the American Diabetes Association (ADA):

• 7% of the total U.S. population (20.8 million people) has diabetes
• Of these 18.2 million people, 14.6 million have been diagnosed, which means that 6.2 million are undiagnosed
• 1.3 million Texans have been diagnosed with diabetes (8.1% of the total Texas population)
• About 343,000 Texans are undiagnosed

Statistics of Diabetes by Age and Gender:

• Under 20 years of age: 176,500 have diabetes- equal to 0.22% of all people in this age group
• Approximately one in every 400 to 600 children and adolescents has type 1 diabetes
• Adults age 20 years or older: 20.6 million have diabetes- equal to 9.6% of all people in this age group
• Adults age 60 years or older: 10.3 million have diabetes- equal to 20.9% of all people in this age group
• Men: 10.9 million have diabetes- equal to 10.5% of all men aged 20 years or older; about one third of them do not know it
• Women: 9.7 million have diabetes- equal to 8.8% of all women aged 20 years or older; about one third of them do not know it

Statistics of Diabetes by Race/Ethnicity:

• 13.1 million, or 8.7% of all non-Hispanic whites have diabetes
• 3.2 million, or 13.3% of all non-Hispanic blacks have diabetes
• 2.5 million, or 9.5% of all Hispanic/Latino Americans have diabetes

Links to Diabetes websites:

• ADA- American Diabetes Association
• Diabetes Information- National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
• NIDDK- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
• International Diabetes Federation
• The Mayo Clinic- Division of Diabetes & Endocrinology

Contact us for more information.