November is American Diabetes Month

Few things are more unsettling than to learn that a loved one has been diagnosed with a condition like diabetes. Whether type-1 or type-2, this diagnosis can have a life-changing impact on entire families.

When my own son was given a type-1 diagnosis a few years ago, a trusted friend of mine who had received the same diagnosis more than three decades before offered a sobering consolation. Said she, this was probably the best time for anyone to have to deal with diabetes, explaining further how modern diagnostic advancements have removed much of the uncertainty that she faced during her own childhood.

Another colleague, who is a clinical dietitian, described to me the troubling implications that type-2 diabetes has very for the growing health care crisis in the US. She indicated that an alarming increase in type-2 diagnoses could represent the tip of an iceberg of diabetes-related conditions, ultimately sending already enormous health care costs into an out-of-control spiral. Particularly of concern to her was the relative preventability of type-2 conditions, as compared to type-1 diagnoses.

The American Diabetes Association estimates that out of every four Americans, one is at risk of developing type-2 diabetes, or already has that condition. These estimates are far more acute in nonwhite segments of the US, where the likelihood is increased to one out of every two individuals born as of the year 2000.

Anyone who does the math can easily realize how grave a concern that this epidemic has become both for those who must obtain treatment for this condition and an entire society that must find means to address its economic implications.