American Diabetes Month is a time to learn, live better
The American Diabetes Association has declared November as American Diabetes Month. The organization is determined to help people learn more about the condition that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says “is one of the leading causes of disability and death in the United States.”
Uncontrolled diabetes can result in blindness, nerve damage, chronic pain, kidney disease and other complications. The condition already affects nearly 30 million U.S. adults and children, with another 86 million in a prediabetes condition that puts them at risk of type 2 diabetes development.
If the brakes aren’t applied to diabetes, the American Diabetes Association estimates that by 2050, one in three American adults will have the condition.
The devastating health conditions that can occur as a direct result of severe diabetes conditions include:
- Heart attack, stroke: diabetics are nearly twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke
- Kidney failure: nearly half of all cases of kidney failure are caused by diabetes
- Amputations: more than 50 percent of amputations happen to people with diabetes
- Vision loss: more than 500,000 American adults suffer from advanced diabetic retinopathy, putting them at risk of severe vision loss
- Nerve damage: up to 70 percent of diabetics have mild to severe nerve damage resulting in limb pain and other problems
The costs of diabetes include more than $175 billion annually in medical expenditures and more than $69 billion in indirect costs that include disability and loss of work.
If diabetes prevents you from working, but the Social Security Administration has denied your SSDI claim, discuss an appeal with an experienced Denver attorney.
