See more of the story
One in 16 privately insured Minnesotans suffers a loss of good health due to diabetes, according to a new analysis by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, which adds up to thousands of people who will never reach their full life expectancies or will suffer chronic disabilities.
The analysis, released Tuesday, is based on a new national Blue Cross health index tool that estimates the prevalence and cost of diseases in states and counties based on the private insurance claims of 40 million Americans.
The index was created to show just how widespread and how costly certain conditions have become. Diabetes, for example, costs each member of a private Blue Cross health plan nearly $140 per year, the new analysis showed.
Relative to the rest of the nation, depression and anxiety take a bigger toll on Minnesotans, the data showed. But Blue Cross executives said they wanted to use the data to promote a new Reverse It campaign against diabetes, because it can be prevented if people are diagnosed at the pre-diabetes stage and if they change their diet and exercise habits.
Among the one in three Americans that have [pre-diabetes], 90 percent of them are not even aware of it, said Dr. Glenn Pomerantz, Blue Cross Minnesotas chief medical officer. It really is the best bad news you can get, because you can fix this. Its curable. Its preventable.
Type 2 diabetes is an obesity-related condition in which the body loses the ability to properly convert sugar into energy. Diabetes is diagnosed when someone has a blood sugar level of 126 or higher. Pre-diabetes is diagnosed when a patients blood sugar is between 100 and 125.
While treatable with insulin injections and medication, diabetes can result in heart disease, stroke or kidney damage.
Adopting a Mediterranean diet rich in nuts and fruits, and adding daily brisk walking, can be enough to move people out of the pre-diabetes category, Pomerantz said.
Everyone always thinks its not them, he added. Take myself, for instance. Im borderline for pre-diabetes and it made me change ... my own lifestyle. I used to live on hamburgers and French fries. I think I picked that up in residency ... That habit stayed with me for decades.
County-level data in Minnesota shows a higher rate of diabetes in the northwest corner of the state, and a higher rate of people who suffer a loss of good health. Pomerantz said the lack of access in rural areas to primary care doctors probably plays a role, so Blue Cross is increasing access to an online personal health coaching program.
Coaching makes a difference, said Jon Frank, who was diagnosed with diabetes 12 years ago but didnt change any of his habits until he turned 50 last year and started worrying about seeing his two children grow up.
Being accountable each week to a coach at Life Time fitness helped the Plymouth man manage his calorie intake, take walks, and drink eight bottles of water a day, he said. Frank lost 100 pounds and cut his blood sugar level nearly in half.
I was a walking deathmobile, said Frank, a college football player who started gaining weight after starting his own fundraising business. I just knew I had to do something.
Pomerantz said the physical and monetary costs of diabetes are expected to worsen unless more Minnesotans find out whether they are at risk for the disease and take action. The Blue Cross data showed the health effects of diabetes growing fastest among people aged 18 to 34.
Our children and young adults are going to have reduced life expectancies if this continues, he said. This cannot happen. It cannot be.
Jeremy Olson 612-673-7744
1 in 16
Minnesotans will see their health affected by diabetes.
$140
Annual cost that diabetes adds to every private Blue Cross health plan.
Continued here:
Minnesota pays huge price for diabetes, Blue Cross finds | Star ... - Minneapolis Star Tribune
- Fresh health warning over common additive used in thousands of ultra-processed foods including mayo and bread - Daily Mail - April 25th, 2024
- Vertex jumps to TreeFrog to enhance production of Type 1 diabetes cell therapy candidates - FiercePharma - April 25th, 2024
- Spotting the warning signs of diabetes in your pets - CBC.ca - April 25th, 2024
- Lexington-Fayette County health department organizing weekend diabetes awareness expo - WEKU - April 25th, 2024
- Preventive effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on incident hypertension in patients with diabetes who do not have hypertension ... - Nature.com - April 25th, 2024
- Curbing the Price of Novel Diabetes and Obesity Medications - Yale School of Medicine - April 25th, 2024
- Stanford Health closing Livermore Diabetes and Bariatric Center - Pleasanton Weekly - April 25th, 2024
- The association of ALT to HDL-C ratio with type 2 diabetes in 5074 years old adults: a population-based study ... - Nature.com - April 25th, 2024
- VERTEX AND TREEFROG THERAPEUTICS ANNOUNCE LICENSING AGREEMENT AND COLLABORATION TO ... - PR Newswire - April 25th, 2024
- Understanding the Complexity of Hyperglycemic Emergencies: Exploring the Influence of the Type and Duration of ... - Cureus - April 25th, 2024
- What Every Parent Should Know About Raising a T1D Kid - Health Central - April 25th, 2024
- Healthy Living & Diabetes Awareness Fair 2024 - University of New Mexico - April 25th, 2024
- New findings on pancreatic anatomy may affect diabetes research and treatment - Medical Xpress - April 25th, 2024
- The role of yogurt in diabetes and obesity prevention - News-Medical.Net - April 25th, 2024
- How exercising outdoors can prevent depression and diabetes - inews - April 25th, 2024
- Heart of the Valley: Valley woman discusses how she improved her health following diabetes diagnosis - KRGV - April 25th, 2024
- The Right Amount of Sleep Could Help Prevent This Extremely Common Disease - Inverse - April 25th, 2024
- 'Bread and Butter': Societies Issue T2D Management Guidance - Medscape - April 25th, 2024
- She was fired after not endorsing Splenda-filled salads to people with diabetes. Why? - The Guardian - April 25th, 2024
- Glycemic index of diets: importance beyond diabetes control - The Hindu - April 25th, 2024
- 1 woman thought she was destined for diabetes. This 1 realization helped her lose 70 pounds - Yahoo! Voices - March 29th, 2024
- Franciscan Health offering diabetes education at local churches - The Times of Northwest Indiana - March 29th, 2024
- For diabetes patients, needle-free insulin injections are on the way - ScienceBlog.com - March 29th, 2024
- Las Vegas nonprofit hosting health workshop specifically aimed at local Latinos - KTNV 13 Action News Las Vegas - March 29th, 2024
- How Often Do You Really Need to Check Your Blood Sugar Levels? - WSJ - The Wall Street Journal - March 29th, 2024
- Unintended Effects of Caps on Insulin Out-of-Pocket Costs - Managed Healthcare Executive - March 29th, 2024
- Study: Pompe treatment Nexviazyme isn't linked to new or worsening... - Pompe Disease News - March 29th, 2024
- A Smoker With New-Onset Pain in Both Feet - Medscape Reference - March 29th, 2024
- Pre-diabetes leads to Type 2 diabetes; Here's how to prevent and reverse it - WXII12 Winston-Salem - March 29th, 2024
- 'From Interpretation to Action': Using CGM to Manage T2D - Medscape - March 29th, 2024
- March: diabetes-kidney | News and features - University of Bristol - March 29th, 2024
- Health centers attempt to prevent diabetes - WTVM - March 29th, 2024
- Beyond Meat Unveils New and Expanded Line of Beyond Crumbles, Now Certified by the American Heart ... - Yahoo Finance - March 29th, 2024
- Beyond Meat Launches Revamped Plant-Based Crumbles, Earning American Heart and Diabetes Association ... - vegconomist - the vegan business magazine - March 29th, 2024
- Ypsomed hands off insulin pen needle business to focus on smart pump, autoinjector development - Fierce Biotech - March 29th, 2024
- Take the online diabetes test that could help save your life - NBC Connecticut - March 29th, 2024
- Study evaluates the use of tirzepatide in overweight/obese adults with type 1 diabetes - News-Medical.Net - March 29th, 2024
- Risk prediction using genes and gut bacteria can improve early detection of diseases like type 2 diabetes - Medical Xpress - March 29th, 2024
- On a Healthy Vegan Diet, I've Healed My Liver, Reversed Type 2 Diabetes, and Lost 35 Pounds - Forks Over Knives - March 29th, 2024
- Study Links Diet, Diabetes, and Alzheimers - Neuroscience News - March 29th, 2024
- Novo Nordisk Isn't in The "Magnificent Seven," but Here's Why I Think It Should Be - Yahoo Finance - March 18th, 2024
- Doctor warns of strange telltale sign of diabetes which can appear on the legs - The Mirror - March 18th, 2024
- Unraveling the complexities of muscle repair in diabetes: A call for targeted research and therapies - News-Medical.Net - March 18th, 2024
- Popular diabetes and weight loss drugs often hard to get for people who need them - NBC News - March 18th, 2024
- Your Health Matters: The ABCs of diabetes - The Globe | News, weather, sports from Worthington, Minnesota - The Globe - March 18th, 2024
- The Link Between Pancreatic Cancer and Diabetes - Cedars-Sinai - March 18th, 2024
- Nikita Kuzmin diabetes: what was he holding in the CBB house? - Cosmopolitan UK - March 18th, 2024
- FDA Approves Rezdiffra, the First Drug for Diabetes-Related Liver Disease - diaTribe Foundation - March 18th, 2024
- He took up running rather than take diabetes medication. It worked - South China Morning Post - March 18th, 2024
- Can Eating Yogurt Really Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes? - Health.com - March 18th, 2024
- Even short periods of diabetes remission are linked to lower risk of heart attack and stroke - The BMJ - March 18th, 2024
- Kidney stone risk factors and how type 2 diabetes medication may help - WECT - March 18th, 2024
- 'Making the Invisible Visible': CGMs Offer Insights for T2D - Medscape - March 18th, 2024
- Novo Nordisk Discontinues Insulin Medication After Cutting Its Price - The American Prospect - March 18th, 2024
- Infographic: Where GLP-1s Work Now -- and What's Coming - Medscape - March 18th, 2024
- Intermountain Health Experts Say Education Key to Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes | PRUnderground - PR Underground - March 18th, 2024
- International body recommends more sensitive test to indicate risk of developing diabetes - The Hindu - March 18th, 2024
- The importance of knowing your A1C level - KSAT San Antonio - March 18th, 2024
- Tandem Diabetes Care's t:slim X2 Insulin Pump is the First Automated Insulin Delivery System to Integrate with ... - Business Wire - January 9th, 2024
- Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage Occurring Suddenly in a Diabetic Patient With Asthma Exacerbation - Cureus - January 9th, 2024
- Virginia Tech researchers find drugs used to treat Type 2 diabetes reduce alcohol cravings - WRIC ABC 8News - January 9th, 2024
- FDA looking into reports of hair loss, suicidal thoughts in people using popular drugs for diabetes and weight loss - CNN - January 9th, 2024
- Glycemic control and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease according to ... - Cardiovascular Diabetology - January 9th, 2024
- Insulin price cap: More Americans will now pay no more than $35 - USA TODAY - January 9th, 2024
- Eli Lilly cracks down on the use of weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound for cosmetic reasons instead of for diabetes and obesity - Fortune - January 9th, 2024
- No Increased Risk of Suicidal Ideation With GLP-1 Drugs - Medpage Today - January 9th, 2024
- Ask the Doctors | New research being conducted to treat diabetes - Eureka Times-Standard - January 9th, 2024
- Salivary Chloride Intracellular Channel 1 (CLIC1) as a Hub of Gene-Gene Interactome of Periodontitis With Diabetes ... - Cureus - January 9th, 2024
- Why Omada's CEO Thinks Amazon Selected His Startup as the 1st Partner for Its New Program - MedCity News - January 9th, 2024
- Researchers find drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity reduce alcohol cravings - Medical Xpress - January 9th, 2024
- Randomized open-label trial of semaglutide and dapagliflozin in patients with type 2 diabetes of different ... - Nature.com - January 9th, 2024
- CV Safety Profile of TheracosBio's BRENZAVVY (bexagliflozin) Confirmed in Research Published in Diabetes ... - Business Wire - January 9th, 2024
- 6 "Bad" Fruits You Should Be Eating When You Have Diabetes, According to Dietitians - EatingWell - January 9th, 2024
- Children of Women with Type 1 Diabetes Have Increased Heart Defect Risk - Inside Precision Medicine - January 9th, 2024
- Transforming Corporate Health: Fitterfly's Success in Tackling Diabetes and Weight Issues - Business Standard - January 9th, 2024
- Ozempic and weight loss | News and views - Diabetes UK - January 9th, 2024
- Drugs used to treat Type 2 diabetes reduce alcohol cravings - ScienceBlog.com - January 9th, 2024
- People taking Wegovy and Ozempic have lower risk of suicidal thoughts vs. older drugs, study finds - ABC News - January 9th, 2024
- For Those With Diabetes On Medicare Part D, Insulin Is $35...If Its Covered - Forbes - October 27th, 2023
- Biologist Douglas Melton: I was studying frogs until my son was diagnosed with diabetes then I started looking for a cure - EL PAS USA - October 27th, 2023