OREANDA-NEWS. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released its annual National Diabetes Statistics Report, and the results remind us that better education about the symptoms and treatment for the disease is needed. 

Based on the health data that was analyzed, more than 100 million people in the United States have diabetes or prediabetes. That means the chances are good that you know at least one person who is prediabetic or has diabetes.

According to the CDC report, diabetes was the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States in 2015. Health Net wants to remind you that this potentially life-threatening condition, which results from the body not producing enough insulin to properly use the glucose produced by carbohydrates as they are digested, is treatable.

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that transports glucose to the cells to nourish them. Without enough insulin, excess glucose enters the bloodstream and cells are essentially starved.

Dangers of ignoring diabetes

The CDC report includes statistics across ages, races, ethnicities, education levels, and regions. The report also includes statistics for prediabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes.

People with prediabetes are at an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. The report indicates that newly diagnosed cases of type 1 and type 2 diabetes have increased among U.S. youth and in adults 45 to 64 years old.