- Did you know that almost one in three American adults, and on in 10 of all Americans are diabetic? This is according to a recent National Diabetes Statistics Report.
- And Tammy Dohoney, Diabetes Educator at Lawrence County Memorial Hospital, says that a ‘large part’ of the Lawrence County community is diabetic. She also says that there is not enough support at the local level.
- “We don’t have as many programs as we’d like,” Dohoney said. “Part of that seems to be due to a lack of interest in the community. When we were originally pushing for those, the community response wasn’t great.”
- November is National Diabetes Month, a time when communities across the
country team up to bring attention to the disease. - If you have the disease, Dohoney says, ignoring it or putting it on the back burner,
can be disastrous. “Eventually you’ll have bad results,” she said. “If you have
uncontrolled blood sugars you’re opening yourself up to a host of problems –
kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, blindness, dialysis, a loss of limbs. The list
is extensive. It’s not something you want to ignore.” - Dohoney says support groups are up and running in Crawford County, as well
as Knox County, Indiana. Those in Lawrence County who are diabetic are more
than welcome. “We need to draw attention to the disorder,” Dohoney said.
“We need to make people more aware of how important it is to treat it. Even
people who don’t have it need to be aware of it.” - For more information, click here.