More than seven million Americans have diabetes, but don’t know it. The American Diabetic Association estimates another 79 million are pre-diabetic.
Are you one?
The Community Education department at Rapides Regional Medical Center is holding its annual Diabetes Alert Day on Tuesday, March 24 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Alexandria Mall near the Food Court.
Participants will be asked to complete a short questionnaire, then have their blood pressure and blood glucose measured, as well as height and weight assessments to calculate their BMI. Educational and nutritional information will also be available.
The screenings are free and no reservation is needed.
“We’ve held this screening for several years now, but this year we wanted to make sure the public would have greater access to the event, so we moved it to the Alexandria Mall,” said Theresa Hood, RNC, BSN, MS, director of community education at Rapides Regional Medical Center. “Our goal is to help men and women – young and old – who may not realize they have a problem with their blood glucose levels. Diabetes is a disease that affects the entire body, especially when you don’t know you have it.”
This screening is being held in conjunction with the American Diabetes Association’s annual Alert Day, a one-day "wake-up call” asking the American public to take the Diabetes Risk Test to find out if they are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The test can be found at http://www.diabetes.org/are-you-at-risk/diabetes-risk-test/.
Diabetes remains the leading cause of kidney failure and blindness in people between the ages of 20-74 years old. Other major diabetic complications include heart disease, stroke, amputations, and diabetic ulcers and wounds.
Some of the major risk factors for diabetes include being overweight or obese, being physically inactive, having a parent or sibling with diabetes, and having a history of gestational diabetes. If you have any of these risk factors, your health may be at risk from undiagnosed Diabetes.
For more information on Diabetic Screening Day at Rapides Regional, call (318) 769-3445.