Kirby Medical Center Recognizes American Diabetes Month

Kirby Medical Center Recognizes American Diabetes Month

November is American Diabetes Month. This recognition serves to bring awareness to the over 37 million Americans living with diabetes and represents a time to come together as a community.

To help raise awareness this American Diabetes Month, plan to wear blue on Thursday, November 14^th to recognize World Diabetes Day 2024. This global awareness campaign aims to raise understanding about diabetes, advocate for improved diabetes care and prevention, and support those affected by the condition. Let’s come together this American Diabetes Month and spread awareness about diabetes in our community. We are stronger together.

Diabetes is a condition in which the body’s blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are higher than normal. This results from the body’s inability to use or store blood glucose for energy.

Each year in Illinois, an estimated 74,234 people are diagnosed with diabetes, while there are approximately 1,037,818 people in Illinois (10.6% of the adult population) who have diagnosed diabetes. Around 296,000 people in Illinois have diabetes but don’t know. 34% of the adult population in Illinois, or 3,393,000 people, have prediabetes, meaning that their blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. (Source: https://diabetes.org/sites/default/files/2023-09/ADV_2023_State_Fact_sheets_all_rev_Illinois.pdf )

There are two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body experiences high blood glucose levels that are caused by a lack of insulin. More specifically, the body’s immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, which causes the pancreas to produce little to no insulin. This type of diabetes often develops in young people, but it can appear in adults. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body experiences high blood glucose levels that are caused by a lack of insulin or by the body’s inability to use insulin efficiently. This type of diabetes usually develops in middle-aged and older adults, but it can occur in young people. (Source: https://diabetes.org/about-diabetes/common-terms)

According to the CDC, risk factors for type 1 diabetes include both family history of type 1 diabetes as well as age, as the condition usually develops in children, teens, and young adults. Additionally, white people are more likely to develop type 1 in the United States than African American and Hispanic or Latino people.

You might be at risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes if you are age 45 or older, have a parent or sibling with type 2 diabetes, are overweight or have obesity, are physically active less than 3 times a week, have ever had gestational diabetes, or are an African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian, or Alaska Native person. You can take this 60-second test to find out if you are at risk for Type 2 Diabetes: https://diabetes.org/diabetes-risk-test (Source: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/risk-factors/index.html)

To reduce your risk, behavior changes can include increasing physical activity and eating a healthy diet. Small, gradual changes can make a significant impact in reducing your risk of both prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. (Source: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/risk-factors/index.html)

Lastly, did you know KMC has an official partnership with the American Diabetes Association and sponsors a full time Registered Dietitian (our very own Natalie) at Camp GranADA here at Allerton Park in Monticello to provide a week of fun filled activities for children with type 1 diabetes? For more info see this link: https://diabetes.org/tools-resources/for-caregivers