Are you among the 12 million undiagnosed for Diabetes?

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, November 17, 2022 – Diabetes in both its forms, Type 1 and Type 2, can cause serious health complications and even death emphasizing the need for early detection.

Denise Braithwaite Tennant, CEO of the TCI Hospitals revealed they are now quickly making a case for a vascular surgeon because of the increase in dialysis patients in the Turks and Caicos.  Diabetes is a major risk factor for kidney disease.  About 30 percent of patients with Type 1 diabetes and 10 to 40 percent of those with Type 2 diabetes eventually will suffer from kidney failure and that is only one complication.

According to the US Centres for Disease Control other complications can include heart disease, nerve damage, and problems with feet, oral health, vision, hearing, and mental health.

While Type 1 diabetes is unavoidable, Type 2 diabetes is preventable and more than 90 per cent of diabetic patients have the preventable version of the illness. In order to prevent getting sick in the first place and to prevent even more complications if they are already ill and are unaware, individuals must get their blood sugar tested.

It is reported that 51 million people in North America and the Caribbean are diabetic; the International Diabetes Federation says 12 million or a quarter of that figure are undiagnosed.

Millions more are pre-diabetics and will develop the full blown disease later in life unless there are significant lifestyle changes.

While you should not wait for symptoms to get checked, the CDC says people suffering from diabetes may find they: urinate lot, often at night; are very thirsty; lose weight without trying; are very hungry; have blurry vision; have numb or tingling hands or feet; often feel very tired; have very dry skin; have sores that heal slowly and have more infections than usual.

Blood sugar tests can be performed by any family doctor or hospital with simple tests.

The need to check blood sugar levels becomes increasingly important with the knowledge that the region also has the second highest mortality rate for diabetes in the world.