Southwest Georgia Public Health: Diabetes poses risk

ALBANY — Officials with the Southwest Public Health District are encouraging increased awareness of the health risks posed by diabetes.

There are three main types of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes. The latter is defined as diabetes while pregnant, which can put the pregnancy and baby at risk and lead to Type 2 diabetes later.

“With Type 1 diabetes, your body can’t make insulin (a hormone that regulates blood sugar), so you need to take it every day,” Health District Director Dr. Charles Ruis said in a recent news release. “Type 1 diabetes is less common than Type 2 diabetes.

“With Type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t use insulin well and is unable to keep blood sugar at normal levels.”

The American Diabetes Association said that in 2015, 30.3 million Americans, or 9.4 percent of the population, had diabetes. Approximately 1.25 million American children and adults have Type 1 diabetes.

Of the 30.3 million adults with diabetes, 23.1 million were diagnosed, and 7.2 million have gone undiagnosed.

The percentage of Americans age 65 and older with diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes is 25.2 percent, or 12 million seniors. There are 1.5 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes every year, and in 2015 84.1 million Americans age 18 and older had prediabetes.

Public health officials said risk factors for Type 2 diabetes include:

— Being overweight;

— Being 45 years old or older;

— Having a parent, brother or sister with Type 2 diabetes;

— Being physically active less than three times a week;

— Ever having gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds.

The American Diabetes Association said diabetes rates by race and ethnic background are 7.4 percent of non-Hispanic whites, 8 percent of Asian Americans, 12.1 percent of Hispanics, 12.7 percent of non-Hispanic blacks and 15.1 percent of American Indians and Alaskan natives. About 193,000 Americans under age 20 are estimated to have diagnosed diabetes.

Ruis said diabetes increases the likelihood of serious health complications, such as heart disease and stroke, blindness and other eye problems, kidney disease and amputations. Medical costs for people with diabetes are twice as high as for people without diabetes, he said.

“If you have any of the risk factors (for diabetes), you should ask your health care provider if you should be tested for diabetes,” he said. “The sooner you know your risks, the sooner you can start making beneficial lifestyle changes.”

Diabetes was the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States in 2015, with 79,535 death certificates listing it as the underlying cause of death, and a total of 252,806 death certificates listing diabetes as an underlying or contributing cause of death, the American Diabetes Association said.

The Georgia Department of Public Health Office of Health Indicators for Planning data shows there were 2,232 deaths in the state related to diabetes in 2016, including 190 in the Southwest health district. That same year, there were 31,819 emergency room visits in Georgia related to diabetes, including 1,542 in the 14-county health district.

A look at hospital discharges related to diabetes last year shows there were 19,959 such discharges in the state, including 998 in the Southwest health district.

As of March 6, 2013, the total costs of diagnosed diabetes in the U.S. in 2012 were $245 billion. At the same time, there was $176 billion for direct medical costs and $69 billion in reduced productivity due to diabetes, the American Diabetes Association said.