Diabetes

To find out more about the Lions Diabetes Awareness Program and to schedule a presentation to your local group on this important subject, contact Lion Roberto G.D. Loya to make arrangements.

Lions Clubs International have worked on Diabetes Awareness since 1984 based primarily on the disease's relationship to sight. In the U.S., diabetes is the leading preventable cause of blindness--through diabetic retinopathy, and a major contributor to the second leading cause, glaucoma. Diabetics are twenty-five times more prone to blindness than people without the disease.

Further, diabetes, while controllable, is not curable. It is the third leading cause of death by disease in the U.S. It can shorten the diabetic's life, on average, by one third. Diabetics are more prone to kidney disease, to gangrene and to heart disease and stroke than people without diabetes.

Professionals in the field estimate diabetics make up 5% of the U.S. population and 15% of total health care costs. An estimated l6 million Americans have diabetes-and half don't know it.

Because many of the negative effects of diabetes can be alleviated by early diagnosis and aggressive treatment, Lions programs focus on making people aware of diabetes and arranging screenings for early diagnosis. Clubs contribute funds to both the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, two agencies actively searching for a cure for diabetes, and promote prevention of diabetic eye disease through the Lions eye health program

The most common form of diabetes, Type II, formerly called adult onset, makes up 90% of the diabetics in the United States. This form of diabetes is on the rise, due to unhealthy lifestyles prevalent in the U.S.