National Diabetes Awareness Month

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. In 2005, an estimated 20.8 million persons in the United States, approximately 7 percent of the population, have diabetes; however, only 14.6 million of these persons have had the disease diagnosed. Persons with diabetes have a risk for premature death approximately twice that of persons of similar ages without diabetes. In 2002, diabetes was the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in childhood or adolescence, although adults can get it as well. Five to ten percent of people with diabetes have th...