By: Sadie Moses, Freelancer
29 million people face Diabetes face every day. November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and awareness has become more important than ever before.
According to the American Diabetes Association, 1 in 11 people have the disease, while 86 million are at risk to contract it. Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States. It can lead to 
conditions such as heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, blindness and eye problems.
The most important part of this month is simply getting informed.
Diabetes is diagnosed as either one of two types. Type one is characterized by the body’s failure to produce insulin. Usually, type one is genetic. Therapy can help people with this type live long, normal lives. While less people are diagnosed with type one, those people are generally youth from childhood to age 20, meaning that many are college students.
Type two, on the other hand, is the most common form of diabetes, characterized by the body failing to use insulin properly and caused by either genetics or lifestyle choices. While those in the early stages of this type may not need glucose supplements, type two is known to get worse over time, and most need medications later on.
People with diabetes can face hypoglycemia, also known as insulin shock. It is a condition where one has abnormally low glucose levels that can result in a wide range of symptoms.
Left untreated, hypoglycemia can lead to severe conditions such as seizures or unconsciousness. Treatment involves consuming something with 15-20 grams of simple carbs or glucose.
While diabetes does not increase the chance of catching an illness, becoming ill can cause harmful complications. Because of this, the ADA recommends getting flu shots every year.
For students on Western’s campus, we can be aware of this issue by helping out our friends and community in supporting those with diabetes in their day-to-day lives.
Diabetes can make it hard for students to do schoolwork. “If my blood sugar gets too high or too low, it affects my ability to concentrate and sometimes even stay awake,” said an anonymous student with type two diabetes.
Students living with diabetes have their good days as well as bad, and we can be supportive through all of them. Get informed, and know the truth about the disease.
