Diabetes may cause more deaths than previously thought – The Messenger (subscription)

Four times as many deaths may be caused by diabetes, according to a recent study by Boston University School of Public Health published in the online journal PLOS One.

The study argued that diabetes caused 12 percent of deaths in the U.S. Currently, death certificates indicate that 3.3 percent of deaths in the U.S. are caused by diabetes. If the studys findings prove to be accurate, diabetes would become the third-leading cause of death in the United States, up from the seventh.

According to the Kentucky Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, diagnosed diabetes among adults nearly doubled in Kentucky from 6.5 percent to 12.5 percent from 2000 to 2014. Now, one in eight Kentucky adults, or 424,670 people in Kentucky are estimated to have diagnosed diabetes.

In 2015, the rate of diabetes increased again to 13.4 percent. Nationally, nearly 10 percent of people have diabetes.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates 138,000 Kentuckians are living with undiagnosed diabetes.

The Pennyrile region of Kentucky has a comparatively average rate of diabetes, at 12.1 percent. Regions along the eastern part of Kentucky have rates as high as 17.8 percent.

It was surprising to me that they would put it at 3 percent, said Christian County Health Department Nurse Jennifer Boone. Diabetes is just so hard on the entire body. It effects the entire body. All the organ systems, everything.

Diabetes is a group of diseases in which high levels of blood sugar are found in the body for extended periods of time.

Type 1 Diabetes comes from the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin. Type 2 Diabetes is usually caused by obesity and inactivity, when the body does not respond to insulin properly. Type 2 Diabetes usually occurs in later stages in life and is considered a result of lifestyle choices.

Its a lifelong thing. A lot of people think that if they eat healthy, if they exercise, if they are able to come off their medication then they dont have diabetes, Boone said. Its not like its ever really cured. Its just managed well.

Diabetes can cause kidney failure. It can also cause blindness, as the blood vessels in the eye can become damaged by the high amount of blood sugar caused by diabetes.

Gums can also become infected and inflamed by diabetes.

Any open wounds take longer to heal with diabetes, leading to many festering sores for those who suffer from the disease.

Kentucky has the 12th highest mortality rate in America. Exercise and a good diet are considered to be good forms of diabetes prevention.

People with higher than average blood sugar levels are considered to have prediabetes. Those with that condition can prevent diabetes with exercise and a good diet.

The Christian County Health Department advocated for the expansion of the Hopkinsville Greenway System during the debate over H-CC WINS, because the organization believed that the system would promote walking in the community, which would lead to better health.

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Diabetes may cause more deaths than previously thought - The Messenger (subscription)