Diabetes Awareness Month

November is Diabetes Awareness Month, and the Fond du Lac County Health Department is working to help people understand more about Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Joyce Mann tells us there are a lot of things that play a role in a diabetes diagnosis. 

Mann says “some of the factors are increasing age, family history of diabetes is another big factor – ethnicity, we know different populations have higher risk for diabetes, we don’t really understand why. And then looking at physical activity and gender – men are more likely to have unknown diabetes than women, simply because they visit the doctor less often. And then also looking at weight management issues as well.”

Mann points out that changing your lifestyle can have an impact, saying “if you reduce your risk for diabetes by maybe being more active or doing other things, you’re also going to improve – decreasing your risk for lots of other chronic conditions as well.”

You can also take a quick and easy test online to learn if you may have a risk of pre-diabetes or diabetes. Mann says if you have pre-diabetes, “that’s the time where you have the opportunity, if you do some lifestyle changes, can greatly reduce or delay the onset of diabetes.”

The Health Department and
SSM Health team offer diabetes-related programs to help people learn how to
properly handle the disease.