November is American Diabetes Month
WoundCentrics is honoring Diabetes Month by joining the awareness and education campaign in the communities where we provide specialized wound care services. Currently, 34.2 million Americans have diabetes and 2 million are struggling to heal a diabetic foot ulcer. America’s diabetic population is expected to nearly double by 2030, it is important to know the risks associated with diabetic foot ulcers according to the American Diabetes Association:
Up to 25% of people living with diabetes will experience a foot ulcer in their lifetime
14-24% of foot ulcers progress to amputation
85% of diabetes-related amputation were preceded by a foot ulcer
130,000 for a lower-extremity amputation (5.6 per 1,000 adults with diabetes)
50% of patients die within five years of amputation
WoundCentrics provides advanced wound care services that identify and specializes in treating wounds, including diabetic foot wounds. WoundCentrics wound clinics coordinate wound care services with other healthcare services treating diabetic patients with other diabetic complications, manages and heals wounds, prevents amputations, and preserves the quality of life for diabetic patients.
WoundCentrics Wound and Hyperbaric Centers and the WoundCentrics Providers are specially trained in wound care and diabetic foot ulcer care, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a treatment for diabetic ulcer patients.
WoundCentrics’ mission is to support the National Diabetes Month to increase awareness of the risks, along with proper care for diabetic foot ulcers that can reduce diabetes-related amputations in the communities that they offer wound care services. For more information on WoundCentrics visit www.woundcentrics.com
Diabetes and the Complication of Diabetic Foot Wounds
According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDDK), a division of the National Institute of Health (NIH), National Diabetes Week brings awareness and focus to the major health issue of diabetes and the complications of diabetes like diabetic foot wounds and diabetic neuropathy.
Foot problems are common in people with diabetes. You might be afraid you’ll lose a toe, foot, or leg to diabetes, or know someone who has, but you can lower your chances of having diabetes-related foot problems by taking care of your feet every day. Managing your blood glucose levels, also called blood sugar, can also help keep your feet healthy.
WoundCentrics manages patients suffering from diabetes and foot complications and wounds every day. If you have diabetes and a foot wound, WoundCentrics specialist and our wound and hyperbaric centers can help heal your wound and return patients to a better quality of life.
For more information on diabetes and foot care from the National Institute of Health visit https://www.nih.gov/
Diabetes Awareness Month
American Diabetes Awareness Month (or simply Diabetes Month) is an annual campaign throughout the month of November in the USA to bring awareness to the growing prevalence of diabetes, the health risks associated with it, raise funds for research into the condition, and support people living with it.
Diabetes is one of the fastest-growing, preventable medical conditions in the world.
Recent research by the Diabetes Research Institute published in 2020 also points to some alarming statistics. Among the US population overall the prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed people with the condition for 2018 were (crude estimates):
34.2 million people of all ages—or 10.5% of the US population—had diabetes
34.1 million adults aged 18 years or older—or 13.0% of all US adults—had diabetes
7.3 million adults aged 18 years or older who met laboratory criteria for diabetes were not aware of or did not report having diabetes (undiagnosed diabetes). This number represents 2.8% of all US adults and 21.4% of all US adults with diabetes
The percentage of adults with diabetes increased with age, reaching 26.8% among those aged 65 years or older
Diabetes also affects different ethnic groups differently. The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes was highest among American Indians/Alaska Natives (14.7%), people of Hispanic origin (12.5%), and non-Hispanic blacks (11.7%), followed by non-Hispanic Asians (9.2%) and non-Hispanic whites (7.5%).
The condition also causes many deaths:
In 2017, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. This finding is based on 83,564 death certificates in which diabetes was listed as the underlying cause of death (crude rate, 25.7 per 100,000 persons)
In 2017, there were 270,702 death certificates with diabetes listed as the underlying or contributing cause of death (crude rate, 83.1 per 100,000 persons)
And the costs are astronomical!
The total direct and indirect estimated costs of diagnosed diabetes in the United States in 2017 was $327 billion
Total direct estimated costs of diagnosed diabetes increased from $188 billion in 2012 to $237 billion in 2017 (2017 dollars); total indirect costs increased from $73 billion to $90 billion in the same period (2017 dollars)
Between 2012 and 2017, excess medical costs per person associated with diabetes increased from $8,417 to $9,601 (2017 dollars)
For the individual, the American Diabetes Association states that people with diagnosed diabetes incur average medical expenditures of $16,752 per year, of which about $9,601 is attributed to diabetes. On average, people with diagnosed diabetes have medical expenditures approximately 2.3 times higher than what expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a condition where the body is unable to naturally control the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood. Blood sugar levels rise and in turn cause medical complications.
Glucose is the main source of energy we need to function (run, walk, and go about our daily lives). It is produced by the food we eat mostly through carbohydrates like bread, pasta, rice, potato, sweets, and chocolate.
However, to be used as energy glucose needs to pass through the digestive system and enter the body’s muscles and cells via the bloodstream. This transition of insulin from the blood to the cells is enabled by a hormone called insulin which is produced by the pancreas.
If the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or we become resistant to it, glucose will remain in the blood and cause blood sugar levels to rise.
The body’s inefficient use of insulin, a resistance to it, or when the pancreas has packed up altogether is the cause of diabetes and it can cause serious health problems as we discuss below.
Other Medical Problems
The number of deaths attributed to diabetes is staggering, but what are the medical conditions commonly associated with it? Diabetics are likely to be diagnosed with more medical problems than the average man or woman but many are preventable. These include stroke, heart disease, kidney disease, nerve damage, eye problems, dental disease, and foot problems.
In 2016, a total of 7.8 million hospital discharges were reported with diabetes as any listed diagnosis among US adults aged 18 years or older (339.0 per 1,000 adults with diabetes). These discharges included:
1.7 million for major cardiovascular diseases (75.3 per 1,000 adults with diabetes), including:
438,000 for ischemic heart disease (18.9 per 1,000 adults with diabetes)
313,000 for stroke (13.6 per 1,000 adults with diabetes)
130,000 for a lower-extremity amputation (5.6 per 1,000 adults with diabetes)
209,000 for hyperglycaemic crisis (9.1 per 1,000 adults with diabetes)
57,000 for hypoglycemia (2.5 per 1,000 adults with diabetes)
Among US adults aged 18 years or older with diagnosed diabetes, crude estimates for 2013–2016 were:
37.0% had chronic kidney disease (stages 1–4), of which over half (52.5%) had moderate to severe chronic kidney disease (stage 3 or 4)
24.9% with moderate to severe chronic kidney disease (stage 3 or 4) were aware of their kidney disease