Health and Lifestyle

Febuary 1, 2001

American Diabetes Association

DIABETES AMONG LATINOS

What Is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to produce or respond to insulin, a hormone that allows blood glucose (blood sugar) to enter the cells of the body and be used for energy. Diabetes falls into two main categories: type 1, which usually occurs during childhood or adolescence, and type 2, the most common form of the disease, usually occurring after age 45. Diabetes is a chronic disease that has no cure.

How Does It Affect Latinos?

Prevalence

• The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is 2 times higher in Latinos than non-Latinos whites.

• 1.2 million or 10.6% of all Mexican Americans have diabetes.

• Approximately 24% of Mexican Americans in the United States and 26% of Puerto Ricans between the ages of 45-74 have diabetes.

• Nearly 16% of Cuban Americans in the United States between the ages of 45-74 have diabetes.

Latinos and Diabetic Complications

• Diabetic retinopathy is a term used for all abnormalities of the small blood vessels of the retina caused by diabetes, such as weakening of blood vessel walls or leakage from blood vessels. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Mexican Americans is 32-40%.

• Ten to twenty-one percent of all people with diabetes develop kidney disease. In 1995, 27,900 people initiated treatment for end stage renal disease (kidney failure) because of diabetes. Among people with diabetes, Mexican Americans are 4.5 to 6.6 times more likely to suffer from end stage renal disease.

 What Is Needed?

In ideal circumstances, Latinos with diabetes will have their disease under good control and be monitored frequently by a health care team knowledgeable in the care of diabetes.

• Patient education is critical. People with diabetes can reduce their risk for complications if they are educated about their disease, learn and practice the skills necessary to better control their blood glucose levels, and receive regular checkups from their health care team.

• People with diabetes, with the help of their health care providers, should set goals for better control of blood glucose levels, as close to the normal range as is possible for them.

• Health care team education is vital. Because people with diabetes have a multi-system chronic disease, they are best monitored and managed by highly skilled health care professionals trained with the latest information on diabetes to help ensure early detection and appropriate treatment of the serious complications of the disease. A team approach to treating and monitoring this disease serves the best interests of the patient.

Could you have diabetes and not know it?

Sixteen million Americans have diabetes - one in three does not know it! Take this test to see if you are at risk for having diabetes. Diabetes is more common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian-Americans, and Pacific Islanders. If you are a member of one of these ethnic groups, you need to pay special attention to this test. To find out if you are at risk answer the following questions and click on "CALCULATE" to see what information is returned.

GO DIRECTLY TO THE AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION AND TAKE TEST

Click on addressJ http://www.diabetes.org/ada/risktest.asp

(For more information visit the American Diabetes Association: http://www.diabetes.org)