ADA: Diabetes Kills More People than Breast Cancer and AIDS Combined
Alternative content
ADA: Diabetes Kills More People than Breast Cancer...
Almost 24 million Americans are living with diabetes. The American Diabetes Association is calling it an epidemic. For parents whose children have been diagnosed with the disease, it's a constant...
Pamela Olson talks about her son Anders and his daily routine with Type 1 diabetes.
SAVANNAH, Ga.— Almost 24 million Americans are living with diabetes, and American Diabetes Association is calling it an epidemic.
November is National Diabetes Month. The American Diabetes Association says 57 million people are at risk of diabetes, and if current trends continue, one out of every three children will get it. The death rate for diabetes has gone up 45 percent since 1987.
Diabetes can lead to a lot of serious complications like blindness and nerve damage. so for parents whose children have been diagnosed with the disease, it’s a constant battle to stay ahead.
Anders Olson is your typical six year-old: talkative, active, and eager to show off the insulin pump he wears everyday.
“I need it because I have diabetes, and that’s my medicine,“ said Anders.
He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 2 years old. His mom Pamela said she didn’t know much about diabetes then.
“It was very scary for my husband and I both. It was hard giving him shots. In the beginning we had to give him 3 shots every day,“ she said.
As with any child, she said it can be a challenge to keep track of Anders’s food and activities. “We count carbs every time he eats whether it’s a snack or a meal, and then he gets insulin based on the number of carbs he eats,“ said Pamela.
But the insulin is what keeps him from experiencing devastating complications that can arise. “It can cause heart disease, kidney failure, stroke… It really can eventually affect every organ if it’s not kept under control,“ she said.
Her son’s situation has made Pamela more active in getting the word out about the disease to others.
“There are so many children in our community who have already been diagnosed or who probably have it and don’t realize they have it yet,“ she said.
The American Diabetes Association says diabetes actually causes more deaths a year than breast cancer and AIDS combined.
The group said diabetes will claim the lives of 200 people in the next 24 hours or more than 5,800 people a week.
Advertisement
Advertisement