November 3, 2010
Diabetes is a disease in which the body can no longer process sugar. Doctors say the more patients know about the disease the better equipped they will be to both handle and prevent it.
There are two categories of diabetes. Recently, there has been an increases in cases of Type II diabetes.
"There's been a significant increase in obesity over the last 30 years. Obesity strongly correlates with diabetes as does a sedentary lifestyle," said Dr. Margaret Crook of Blue Ridge Endocrinology & Diabetes.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, more than 23 million people have diabetes.
Nearly six million people are unaware that they have the disease.
"Diabetes can increase your risk of cardio vascular disease, vision loss, [and] kidney damage," said Crook.
There are several ways to treat and prevent diabetes.
Patients can inject themselves with insulin.
"Metformin is the first line drug for diabetes can reduce the risk of developing diabetes 30 percent," explained Crook.
A healthy diet and exercise also can lower ones risk of contracting the disease by as much as 60 percent.
"Just a weight loss of seven percent can really decrease your risk of diabetes, as well as walking briskly 30 minutes a day, five days a week," said Crook.
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