DES MOINES, Iowa – The arrival of November means it is American Diabetes Month. It comes as the prevalence of the disease continues to rise across the state and nation. The latest numbers show about 250,000 people in Iowa have diabetes, and for the U.S. as a whole, it’s 29 million.

The toll on their health can be great, says Daphne Haselhuhn, event coordinator of the Iowa chapter of the American Diabetes Association. “Your kidneys, eyesight, cardiovascular, gum disease,” she points out. “All those things are things that play into a role as far as living with diabetes or having those blood sugars that might be a little high and having pre-diabetes and not managing it.”

About 95 percent of those people who have diabetes have Type 2, which healthier lifestyle choices with nutrition and physical activity can help prevent. Haselhuhn notes that even some simple, small changes with healthy eating and regular exercise can greatly reduce the risk. “We recommend exercise at least 30 minutes a day and that can even be parking at the very end of the parking lot, instead of up close to your door, just simple things like that,” she stresses.

If the current trends don’t change, it’s estimated that by 2050, 30 percent of all Americans will have diabetes.

(Iowa News Service)