 |
Frequently
Asked Questions |
Q. How many Americans
have Type 1 (juvenile diabetes)?
A. More than one million. |
Q. At what ages are children normally diagnosed?
A. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children
between the ages of 10 and 12, although it
can occur at any age. |
Q. What is Type 1 diabetes caused by?
A. Type 1 diabetes is caused by an autoimmune destruction
of the insulin producing too many
cells in the pancreas. It is NOT caused by poor diet or eating
too many sweets. |
Q. Do people with Type 2
diabetes produce insulin? When is Type 2 diagnosed?
A. People with Type 2 diabetes produce insulin, but their
bodies are unable to use it effectively.
Type 2 is usually diagnosed in adulthood. With
more and more children becoming overweight,
Type 2 diabetes is being diagnosed in young people in
almost epidemic proportions. |
Q. By taking insulin,
will that cure diabetes?
A. Taking insulin is NOT a cure for any type of diabetes,
nor does it prevent the possibility of
future complications like kidney failure, blindness,
nerve damage, amputation, heart attack
stroke and premature death. |
Q. Does Type 1
diabetes run in families?
A. Type 1 diabetes tends to run in families.
Brothers and sisters of children with
Type 1 diabetes have about a 10% chance of developing the disease by age 50. |
Q. How often does
death occur from diabetes?
A. Diabetes kills one American every three minutes. |
Q. At what rate is diabetes diagnosed?
A. A new case of diabetes is diagnosed every FORTY
seconds. That's 30,000 Americans per
year. Of that 30,000, over 13,000 are children.
That makes 35 children each and every day. |
Q. How does diabetes effect health care cost?
A. Diabetes accounts for more than $132 billion of annual
health care costs in the U.S.
Indirect costs resulting from lost workdays, restricted
activity days, mortality and
permanent disability due to diabetes totals nearly $40.8 billion
annually. |
Q. Does diabetes need
daily attention?
A. Diabetes needs constant attention. Blood sugars
must be carefully monitored -- some people
check at least 6 times per day. |
Q. Are there any
outside factors that can affect the blood sugar?
A. Many factors affect a person's ability to control
their blood sugar when on insulin --
stress, hormonal changes, periods of growth,
increase or decrease in physical activity,
medications, illness, infection and fatigue. |
Q. What is the life expectancy for people with diabetes?
A. Life expectancy for people with diabetes is
shortened by an average of 15 years.
Source: The Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation (www.jdrf.org) |
