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About Diabetes

According to WHO, diabetes is a growing public health threat, affecting an estimated 177 million people worldwide in 2000, up from an estimated 30 million in 1985. Type 2 diabetes, formerly considered a disease of older adults and largely thought due to obesity and sedentary lifestyle, has grown at epidemic rates in recent years and is occurring increasingly among young adults and even children.

Diabetes is a leading cause of end-stage kidney disease, heart attacks, strokes, eye disease and blindness, and other costly complications. Research has clearly demonstrated that expert diabetes care that keeps blood glucose near normal can reduce the risks of developing complications, and can markedly slow the rate at which complications progress. Studies at Joslin and elsewhere in the U.S. have shown that people at risk for diabetes can reduce their risk of developing diabetes by over 50 percent by losing modest amounts of weight and exercising regularly.

Successful diabetes management, such as that practiced at Joslin, relies heavily on the patient, primary care physician and specialized diabetes healthcare team including physicians, nurses, dietitians, educators and exercise physiologists working together to coordinate medication (insulin and other drugs that help the body produce and use insulin) with meal planning, exercise and regular blood glucose monitoring to achieve good diabetes control and a healthy lifestyle.

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Contact: Marge Dwyer
marjorie.dwyer@joslin.harvard.edu
617-732-2415
Joslin Diabetes Center
11-Dec-2003