November is American Diabetes Month

Have you been diagnosed with pre-diabetes?

Diabetes is a challenging disease that affects your health in a variety of ways. An estimated 79 million people in the U.S., or one in three people, has a diagnosis of pre-diabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association, if you’re over age 45, you should get an A1C or glucose test. If you’re younger than 45, overweight and have a family history, take the ADA Risk Test. If it shows you’re at higher risk, follow up with your health-care provider soon. If you discover you have pre-diabetes, take action to have the best chance of putting your pre-diabetes into remission (meaning glucose levels below the diabetes range without medication). Research shows that 7 in 10 people with pre-diabetes will develop Type 2 diabetes over time.

For people actually living with diabetes, family support is very important when it comes to managing diabetes and serious complications such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, 肾脏疾病, and nerve damage that can lead to amputation. It’s also important to know that having a family history of diabetes – such as a mother, father, brother, or sister with diabetes – increases a person’s risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

This November, encourage simple, but important lifestyle changes to improve your, and your family’s health. Visit http://ndep.nih.gov/partners-community-organization/national-diabetes-month/2013.aspx 和 http://www.diabetes.org/ for resources to make healthy changes, and avoid development of pre-diabetes.