Diabetes Awareness: Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management/Treatment

Sara Olsen

December 15, 2025

Diabetes by the Numbers

Did you know that November is Diabetes Awareness Month? According to the American Diabetic Association, the numbers below paint a somber picture. Diabetes is a public health issue. The most recent numbers are from 2021, showing:

Prevalence: 38.4 million Americans, or 11.6% of the population, had diabetes.
- Two million Americans have Type 1 diabetes, including about 304,000 children and adolescents.
Diagnosed and undiagnosed: Of the 38.4 million adults with diabetes, 29.7 million were diagnosed, and 8.7 million were undiagnosed.
Prevalence in seniors: The percentage of Americans age 65 and older remains high, at 29.2%, or 16.5 million seniors (diagnosed and undiagnosed).
New cases: 1.2 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year.
Prediabetes: 97.6 million Americans age 18 and older had prediabetes.

Understanding Your Blood Sugar Numbers

The A1C Test

To determine if you are prediabetic, you can undergo a simple blood test called hemoglobin A1C. This test is a 3-month average of your blood glucose.

You can also have your fasting blood sugar test done. This measures your blood sugar after an overnight fast (not eating).

The Fasting Blood Sugar Test

If your blood results come back prediabetic, there are lifestyle modifications that you can implement to reverse it. It will take some hard work, but you can do it!

Lifestyle Changes to Reverse Prediabetes

Activity – get in 150 minutes a week, or 30 minutes 5 days a week.
Dietary changes – watch portions, limit sweets, and eat a well-balanced diet with whole grains, proteins, vegetables, and healthy fats. Follow a meal plan, and consider meeting with a dietitian or diabetes educator.
Lose some weight – A small amount of weight loss means around 5% to 7% of your body weight. That's around 10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person.

There are risk factors that can make you more susceptible to a diabetic diagnosis. Anyone can develop prediabetes at any age, but you may have a higher risk if you:

Have a family history of Type 2 diabetes.
Are over age 45.
Are overweight or obese.
Had gestational diabetes when pregnant.
Have high blood pressure.
Are a Hispanic/Latino, Black, Asian American, or Native American person.

Types of Diabetes

Diabetes is diagnosed when excess glucose is found in the blood, either because the pancreas has stopped making insulin, or glucose is not being absorbed by the cells. There are two types of diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes

Your body doesn’t make insulin; without insulin, your body can’t absorb the fuel from the glucose. Excess sugar in your blood can be hard on your kidneys and other organs.

With Type 1 diabetes, you must take insulin.

Type 2 Diabetes

Your body does not use insulin correctly. Your pancreas might produce enough insulin; the cells are resistant to letting glucose enter.

References:

American Diabetes Association- https://diabetes.org/about-diabetes/statistics/about-diabetes

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