Make The Kidney Connection News
November 9, 2010

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. Understanding your family health history can help you and your loved ones stay healthy. This year, the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) is focusing on family health history—an important risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes.

Did you know?

• Nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes.
• Nearly 6 million people with diabetes do not even know that they have this disease.

When you take steps to prevent diabetes, you also will lower your risk for possible complications of diabetes such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, nerve damage, and other health problems. That's a big reward for you and your family and friends.

Ask yourself a few questions…

• Does anyone in the family have type 2 diabetes? Who?
• Has anyone in the family been told they might get diabetes?
• Has anyone in the family been told they need to lower their weight or increase their physical activity to prevent type 2 diabetes?
• Did your mother get diabetes when she was pregnant? This condition also is known as gestational diabetes.

If the answer to any of these is yes, or you have a mother, father, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes, you may be at an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

Talk to your doctor and visit www.YourDiabetesInfo.org to take the Family Health History Quiz and learn how you can prevent type 2 diabetes.

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NKDEP is on Facebook! To join the conversation, share your story, and learn about new materials and events on Facebook, become a fan today!

To subscribe or unsubscribe to this e-newsletter, please contact us at nkdep@info.niddk.nih.gov with your request.