The IAA One Minute Blog

According to a recent study, diabetes is on the rise. There are 29.1 million Americans or 9.3 percent of the population with diabetes, up from 25.8 million in 2010. The prevalence of diabetes in children also shot up dramatically between 2000 and 2009. The rate of Type II diabetes in children rose more than 30% during this period.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease where there is too much sugar in the blood. The body normally converts the sugar/carbohydrates we eat into energy that cells can use to function. Insulin, a hormone that is secreted from the pancreas, is the hormone responsible for converting the sugars/carbohydrates into the energy that the cells need. A diabetic is someone who has too much sugar in the blood because the conversion of the sugar/carbohydrates into energy never happens.

There are two different forms of diabetes:

• Type I: Usually diagnosed in children and young adults. Type I does not produce insulin, without insulin the body cannot convert the sugar/carbohydrates into energy. The sugars ingested remain in the blood.
• Type II: In this type, the body does not make enough insulin or the cells in the body “ignore” the insulin that is produced.

There are 86 million Americans with pre-diabetes, up from 79 million in 2010.

Signs and Symptoms

It is important to try and diagnose diabetes as early as possible. Signs and symptoms of the disease are:

• Blurred vision
• Extreme fatigue or irritability
• Extreme hunger
• Frequent infections
• Frequent urination
• Sores that are slow to heal
• Unusual thirst
• Unusual weight loss

Uncontrolled diabetes or diabetics with blood sugar that is consistently too high can experience health issues such as:

• Amputations
• Blindness
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Kidney failure
• Neuropathy
• Stroke

There are 8.1 million people who have diabetes, but have gone undiagnosed.

Diabetes and You

There are a number of ways that you can help treat and prevent diabetes:

• Be active: Daily physical activity is important for weight control and blood sugar regulation.
• Healthy eating: Promotes weight control. Try eating smaller portions, less fat, more fiber, and cutting down on sugary drinks.
• Pat attention to your feet: High blood sugar can damage nerves in your feet and reduce blood flow to your feet. Left untreated, cuts and blisters can lead to serious infections.
• Take care of your teeth: Diabetes may leave you prone to gum infections.
• Take stress seriously: If you’re stressed it is easy to neglect your usual diabetes care routine. The hormones your body may produce in response to prolonged stress may prevent insulin from working properly, which only makes matters worse.
• Weight loss: Research has shown it only takes a modest amount of weight loss (five to seven percent of your total body weight) to reduce your risk for the development of diabetes. Being overweight or obese is a risk factor for Type II diabetes. The reason weight is related to the development of diabetes is that weight inhibits the body’s ability to make or use insulin properly.

While diabetes may require changes to your lifestyle, it is important to make those changes part of your daily life.

What IAA has to Say

Insurance Administrator of America wants you to take the time to learn about preventing diabetes. With diabetes on the rise in both adults and children, IAA does not want you to become part of the statistic.

Insurance Administrator of America is excited to offer “My Wellness” a program that clients receive for free, which can help improve their personal health and wellness. My Wellness offers everything from coaching to health and fitness programs. Own a Fitbit? Clients can help track their success through the Fitbit.  A great aspect of My Wellness is the way employees can use whatever parts of the program that suits them. There are plenty of wellness tools to meet the needs of every employee.  Contact your IAA Client Advocate for more information. Remember, with IAA one call does it all.  

Interested in reading more blog posts about this issue? Click here and here.