A Wake-Up Call to Diabetes: Spreading Awareness of Its Seriousness

Dr. Buse:
Hi, I'm Dr. John Buse, and you're listening to Diabetes Discourse on ReachMD.

On the occasion of Diabetes Alert Day, I think the most important thing that people with diabetes or their family members or people in the general population that have risk factors for diabetes like obesity, hypertension, a family history, or even belonging to a high-risk race or ethnicity, the important thing to know is that diabetes is serious.

Why do we say that? It's the leading cause of amputations in adults. It's the leading cause of blindness in adults. It's the leading cause of kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplantation. It's the leading contributor to cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death in America. It's a leading contributor to the risk of developing cancer. It's clearly linked to depression and cognitive dysfunction. So it's really a major contributor to most of societal ills.

Why would we want to deliver this message about the seriousness of diabetes? I think the reason we really want to do that is because with intervention, we can prevent essentially all of that associated comorbidity.

The message that I think needs to be delivered to patients with diabetes and to people who are at risk is that diabetes is serious. But with early treatment, and careful attention to screening tests, we can prevent most of the troubles associated with diabetes. And I do think that people with diabetes should expect a normal lifespan without disabling complications. But that requires early diagnosis and careful treatment. 

For ReachMD, I'm Dr. John Buse. To hear even more insights on how we can improve the care of patients with diabetes, visit reachmd.com/diabetesdiscourse, where you can Be Part of the Knowledge. Thanks for listening.