World Diabetes Day live dialogue

On World Diabetes Day, Friday November 14, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) conducted a live Question and Answer on its web forum, nycHealthy.
The first of its kind event was hosted by the DOHMH’s Dr. Diana Berger who provided answers and advice to the questions posted by various participants concerning this growing health epidemic.
Among the questions asked, ones that appeared the most were about diabetes and how hereditary it is, what foods should be avoided to keep a steady sugar level, and distinguishing between the different types of diabetes that exist.
Diabetes has truly hit the city hard according to the latest numbers from the DOHMH, which show that only 530,000 adults out of 700,000 are aware they have it.
Back in 2007, it was reported that only a little over 200,000 New Yorkers did not know they had the disease. Now statistics on the DOHMH web site show that that number has risen over 30 percent to 265,000.
Ten years ago, these numbers were only half what they are now.
Annually, the city spends $6 billion in diabetes-related expenses.
New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton even lent her voice to the call by pointing out some alarming facts.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in three children born since 2000 will develop diabetes. Between four to eight percent of pregnant women in the United States suffer from gestational diabetes and the numbers are growing,” Clinton said.
On the national level, New York makes up 3 percent of the 24 million people in the country with diabetes.
Calling it “one of the great health challenges of our time,” Clinton criticized modern-day insurance policies.
“These problems are exacerbated by insurance companies that refuse to pay for important and affordable preventative care, such as visits to nutritionists or podiatrists. But the same insurance will pay if you have to have your foot amputated. The system has got it backwards,” the senator stated.
For more information on diabetes, call 3-1-1.