National Diabetes Month — November 2015

MMWR Weekly Vol. 64, No. 45 November 20, 2015

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National Diabetes Month — November 2015

Weekly

November 20, 2015 / 64(45);1261

November is National Diabetes Month. In the United States, approximately 29 million persons have diabetes, and an additional 86 million adults have prediabetes, putting them at risk for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke (1). Persons with diabetes can take steps to control the disease and prevent complications, and those with prediabetes can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes through weight loss, healthy eating, and physical activity (1,2). After decades of continued increases, the prevalence of diabetes changed little from 2007–2008 to 2011–2012 (3).

CDC and the American Medical Association has launched Prevent Diabetes STAT: Screen, Test, Act Today (http://www.preventdiabetesstat.org). This multiyear initiative includes a toolkit (http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention/pdf/STAT_toolkit.pdf ) to help persons determine their risk for type 2 diabetes and to guide health care providers on the best methods to screen patients for prediabetes and refer patients at high risk to prevention programs. The CDC-led National Diabetes Prevention Program promotes diabetes prevention programs that focus on lifestyle changes in communities throughout the United States (4). More information about CDC-recognized diabetes prevention programs is available at https://nccd.cdc.gov/DDT_DPRP/Registry.aspx.

References

1. CDC. National diabetes statistics report: estimates of diabetes and its burden in the United States, 2014. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2014.
2. Knowler WC, Barrett-Connor E, Fowler SE, et al. Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. N Engl J Med 2002;346:393–403.
3. Menke A, Casagrande S, Geiss L, Cowie CC. Prevalence of and trends in diabetes among adults in the United States, 1988–2012. JAMA 2015;314:1021–9.
4. Albright AL, Gregg EW. Preventing type 2 diabetes in communities across the US. The National Diabetes Prevention Program. Am J Prev Med 2013;44(4 Suppl 4):S346–51.