Diabetic information

- Diabetes is a chronic condition for which there IS no cure.
- Every year more than one million Americans learn they have diabetes.
- Nearly one in five Americans over the age of 60 have diabetes.
- Diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death in the USA. Most of these deaths are due to heart disease and high blood pressure.
- The risk of stroke and heart disease is 2 to 4 times higher in people with diabetes.
- Up to 65% of people with diabetes have high blood pressure and 70% have some nerve damage.
- Over 20,000 people lose their eyesight every year due to complications from diabetes.
- Every year more people die of diabetes than all the deaths from AIDS, breast cancer, and car accidents.
- One in three American kids will develop diabetes in their lifetime. Many American kids do not exercise enough and overeat.

Elvis Presely, Earnest Hemingway, Arthur Ashe, Sugar Ray Robinson, Mary Tyler Moore, Halle Berry, Thomas Edison, and Elizabeth Taylor were ALL diabetics.

- $592 billion is spent every year taking care of diabetic patients.
- Over 6% of Americans have diabetes, more than 18 million. Unfortunately 1/3 of them have not been diagnosed.
- The average American eats about 150 pounds of sugar every year.
- Simple sugars- candy, cake, jam, white flour- are absorbed and digested quickly and causes a sudden surge of sugar into the blood stream.
- Complex sugars- whole wheat bread, pasta, brown rice, dried beans, and vegetables- are absorbed and digested much more slowly and results in a steady level of blood sugars.