Eighty-six million Americans have prediabetes but only about 9 million are aware of it. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services is promoting this month as American Diabetes Month to increase awareness about Type II Diabetes.
ABC News Chief Health & Medical Editor Dr Richard Besser talked about exercise as a preventative measure and what researchers are saying about how much you need to cut your risk.
Dr. Besser: “They looked at 28 studies that followed thousands of people over many years and what they found was if you do the thirty minutes five times a week,which is recommended, it greatly reduces the amount – your risk of getting Type-two diabetes — if you do more than that, your risk goes down even further – but what really grabbed me, was that if you do less – if you do only ten minutes a day, you get some benefit.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, American Indian and Alaska Native adults are twice as likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services is encouraging Alaskans to take an online prediabetes test to increase awareness and knowledge of how to prevent Type II Diabetes.