Diabetes Alert Day: Spreading Awareness & Education 

Announcer:
Welcome to Diabetes Discourse on ReachMD. On this episode, we'll hear from Dr. Claresa Levetan, an endocrinologist at Grand View Health in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Dr. Levetan is here to share her insights on the seriousness of Diabetes and how she helps patients understand their risks. Let's hear from Dr. Levetan now.

Dr. Levetan:
The biggest part of this is that there's 40 million Americans with diabetes, and about 25 percent don't know they have the disease. And a recent study by the American Diabetes Association even found that nearly 70 percent of people did not realize that diabetes poses an increased risk for cardiac disease, stroke. Diabetes doesn't have a lot of symptoms most of the time. It's very rarely that people present with increased thirst, urination. It's really if you're not exercising three days a week, if you're not at your ideal body weight, your waist size is above your hip size, if you have a sibling or relative with diabetes, I mean, these are the risk factors; or even if you're older than 45, that's a risk factor. So finding out whether you have diabetes or prediabetes is really finding out about your health. My goal is always just to empower patients to set their health goals and be aware of where they are. Years ago I did this little phrase: 'A1C, get it, know it, lower it,' and that's really it. Right now with healthcare being what it is, you have to really, take responsibility to ask the questions and not wait for your doctor or healthcare provider to say, 'We need to test for this and this and this.' I think it's really important that you request, an A1C test because almost everybody is at risk for diabetes and prediabetes in this country as we've gained weight and become more sedentary and sitting in front of computers and televisions. Everybody is at risk.The seriousness of diabetes can't be stressed enough. Diabetes is the leading cause of amputations, kidney failure requiring dialysis, blindness in this country and around the world, so diabetes is such a risk factor. Diabetes is what is an underlying factor for strokes, heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, diseases where you have problems with sensation in the feet.

Announcer:
You just heard from Dr. Claresa Levetan on how she communicates the seriousness of diabetes to her patients. To access this and other episodes in the series, visit ReachMD.com/diabetes-discourse, where you can Be Part of the Knowledge. Thanks for listening!