November is Diabetes Awareness Month, a time to highlight one of the nation’s most common and chronic diseases. More than 38 million people in the United States are living with diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Diabetes develops when blood sugar levels, or glucose, become too high. Normally, the body breaks down food into glucose and uses insulin to move it into cells for energy. When the body doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use it effectively, glucose builds up in the bloodstream instead.
According to the National Diabetes Statistics Report from the CDC, 14.7% of all U.S. adults have diabetes. The rate rises sharply with age, affecting nearly 30% of adults 65 or older.
Dr. Larry Deeb serves as a clerkship faculty member at the Florida State University College of Medicine and is a physician at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare’s Endocrinology, Obesity & Diabetes Center. Known throughout the Tallahassee community for his work with diabetes, Deeb has been in practice for more than 40 years and is involved in diabetes research. For more than 15 years, he has conducted clinical studies focused on insulin and diabetes devices.
Deeb has served as president of the American Diabetes Association and president of Life for a Child, a U.S.-based charity which helps supply insulin and other diabetes supplies to more than 50,000 children in 46 low-resourced countries around the world.
Although diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, Deeb has been encouraged by the medical breakthroughs that allow diagnosed individuals to still live a full and healthy life.
“When I started, diabetes really was impossible to truly control,” Deeb said. “We did our best, but it was difficult. Now we can (control diabetes) and people with diabetes need to work with and even push their provider for 21st century care. We have the potential now to allow people to live a full life and not have it cut short by diabetes. I am very optimistic about the future.”
Media interested in interviewing Dr. Deeb about diabetes awareness may contact him via email at lcdeeb@yahoo.com.
Dr. Larry Deeb, College of Medicine clerkship faculty at the Tallahassee regional campus in the Department of Clinical Sciences in Pediatric Endocrinology
What medical breakthroughs have there been in recent years to better manage diabetes?
Today we have continuous monitoring systems that connect to pumps with artificial intelligence built in or automated insulin delivery. We can much better control diabetes and keep glucose in good ranges for long-term health. It has been a game changer. We’ve also begun the era of delaying or even preventing the development of type 1 diabetes. We know it is autoimmune and can see the beginning of the antibodies years before diabetes. We are now screening siblings of children I follow and for those heading to diabetes, we are intervening. I saw a child recently where we discovered his brother was on the way to diabetes and stopped it, at least for now and hopefully forever. These are exciting times. For type 2 diabetes, the TV ads are correct; much better medicines lead to much better control.
What are some of the early signs for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes?
The most definitive sign is frequent urination. By then the blood sugar is high. Getting up several times a night can easily be a sign of diabetes and demands a visit to find out.