November 14th Marks World Diabetes Day

KNSI) — Monday, November 14th, is World Diabetes Day, and experts warn it can be a very silent disease.

Dr. Jaya Kumar says, “about 36 million Americans have diabetes. The surprising face is that one in five do not even know that they have diabetes.”

Dr. Kumar says another 96 million Americans have pre-diabetes which is a precursor to the disease. There are numerous ways to curb the worst effects of the disease, including “having regular physical activity, eating a healthy diet, and losing at least five to ten percent of your body weight will go a long way in helping diabetes, prevent the onset of complications and live longer.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. Our bodies break down most of the food we eat into sugar (glucose) and releases it into the bloodstream. When blood sugar goes up, it signals the pancreas to release insulin. Insulin is a key to let blood sugar into the body’s cells for use as energy. With diabetes, the body doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use it as well as it should.

If left untreated, diabetes can cause nerve and kidney damage, heart disease, and limb loss.