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It is our commitment to help you manage your diabetes.
Knowing about this disease and taking care of yourself is important in order to be able to live with it:
If you have diabetes, you need to take care of yourself and your diabetes. When you manage your diabetes, you need to check your blood glucose, take your medication(s), make sure you know how to prevent complications, and also how to take care of yourself if you become sick.
Click below to learn more:
About Diabetes
Diabetic Cooking Recipes
Diabetes Organizations
About Diabetes
Did you know that data released by the 2005 Census Bureau showed that the number of uninsured Americans was 46.6 million? The U.S. Center for Disease Control estimates that diabetes will continue to grow and affect millions of people in the country for years to come. Our eating habits do not help at all. The obesity rates in this country are at alarming rates and nothing in the future seems to alleviate this nightmare.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, and starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.
Types of Diabetes
Type 1 Diabetes
Results from the body's failure to produce insulin, the hormone that "unlocks" the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them. It is estimated that 5-10% of Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 diabetes.
Type 2 Diabetes
Results from insulin resistance (a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin), combined with relative insulin deficiency. Most Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.
Common symptoms of diabetes include:
- Frequent urination
- Excessive thirst
- Extreme hunger
- Unusual weight loss
- Increased fatigue
- Irritability
- Blurry vision
Complications of diabetes in the United States
Heart disease and stroke
Heart disease and stroke account for about 65% of deaths in people with diabetes. Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about 2 to 4 times higher than adults without diabetes. The risk for stroke is 2 to 4 times higher among people with diabetes.
High blood pressure
About 73% of adults with diabetes have blood pressure greater than or equal to 130/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or use prescription medications for hypertension.
Blindness
Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults aged 20-74 years. Diabetic retinopathy causes 12,000 to 24,000 new cases of blindness each year.
Estimated total Prevalence of Diabetes
in People Age 20 or Older by Age Group in the US
Latinos with Diabetes in South Florida
- The prevalence of diabetes is 1.7 times higher in Hispanics than Non-Hispanic Whites
- 61% of the population is Hispanic in Miami-Dade County (19% in Florida and 7% in the United States)
- 8.6% Hispanics have been diagnosed with diabetes in Miami-Dade County
- 2.5 million or 9.5% of all Hispanic Americans aged twenty years or older have diabetes
- An estimated 16% of Cubans in the United States between the ages of 45 and 74 have diabetes
- Approximately 24% of Mexican Americans and 26% of Puerto Ricans in the United States between the ages of 45 and 74 have diabetes
- Estimated that by 2020, 44% of Hispanics over the age of 65 will have diabetes
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