Do you know someone who is overweight? Do you know someone who is obese? Do you know someone who has type 2 diabetes? If you know a person who has type 2 diabetes, do they also have high cholesterol and even elevated blood pressure? Maybe I am talking about you…or someone close to you? It is daunting to realize some of the following facts:

Diabetes affects 25.8 million people of all ages (8.3 percent of the U.S. population):

• Among U.S. residents ages 65 years and older, 10.9 million or 26.9 percent had diabetes in 2010.
• About 215,000 people younger than 20 years old had diabetes – type 1 or type 2 – in the U.S. in 2010.
• About 1.9 million people ages 20 years or older were newly diagnosed with diabetes in 2010 in the U.S.
• In 2005 – 2008, based on fasting glucose or hemoglobin A1C levels, 35 percent of U.S. adults ages 20 years or older had pre-diabetes and 50 percent of adults ages 65 years or older had pre-diabetes. Applying this percentage to the entire U.S. population in 2010 yields an estimated 79 million American adults ages 20 years or older with pre-diabetes.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic lower-limb amputations, and new cases of blindness among adults in the U.S.
• Diabetes is a major cause of heart disease and stroke.
• Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.

The most tragic thing about this is type 2 diabetes is practically avoidable and even once you get it, is manageable and somewhat reversible with good health; yet so many choose to take the easy way out and die instead. Yes, I really just said that!

Choice…lose weight or die too young.
Choice…exercise or die too young.
Choice…eat lower glycemic foods or die too young.
Choice…eat healthier, get rid of processed sugars in excess or lose your eye site and feeling in your fingers and toes.
Choice…it is up to you.

I know this sounds so simple, yet if you are diabetic or pre-diabetic, the road does seem all uphill. Picture this though…yes you have a long vertical slope ahead of you, but once you climb it, through determination, sweat, perseverance, you will summit and from there gain a new perspective. One which affords health, vitality, longevity and extended quality of life. After the summit, you will be on a nice gentle slope, one with a few hills, up and down, but no more major peaks or valleys. It is worth the work and effort. Getting to the summit is the push, but it is so much less painful than the alternative.

My father died of diabetes, so I know very close up and personal what a tragic disease this is. Over the years my team and I have been able to transform diabetics to a healthier way of life. One which has helped dozens if not hundreds get off insulin and medication and extend their quality of life. We have been able to guide them to the summit and with their hard work, guide them from the cliff.

Please share this with someone you know who is gambling with their health, they have a choice. You have a choice!