Racial and ethnic minority communities hit hard by type 2 diabetes: Here ’s what we can do

To read in Spanish As you probably know, type 2 diabetes has become a major health problem in the US and around the world. People with type 2 diabetes cannot effectively use glucose (sugar) from the food they eat to fuel the body. As a result, blood sugar levels are consistently higher than normal. Over time this can lead to serious, even deadly, complications such as heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke. The slow and insidious nature of persistently high blood sugar can also cause problems that interfere with quality of life, including vision changes, nerve pain and infections that are slow to heal. It is estimated that 415 million adults around the globe have diabetes, and by the year 2040 this number will increase to 642 million! It’s a tremendous problem, in both the number of people affected and the health consequences of untreated diabetes. Of the 30.3 million adults in the US with diabetes, 23.1 million were diagnosed and 7.2 million were undiagnosed! An even greater cause for concern is the many people who have higher than normal blood sugar (prediabetes) and are on the verge of developing type 2 diabetes. It is estimated that in 2015, 84.1 million Americans age 18 and older had prediabetes. Some populations are especially vulnerable to diabetes and its complications As daunting as all that sounds, the situation is even worse for some racial and ethnic minorities in the US. Latinos/Hispanics, African Americans, American Indians, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Island...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Diabetes Health Health care disparities Source Type: blogs