Roughly 10% of the U.S. Population – 26 million people – is currently living with diabetes and of those, 7 million people do not even know they have it. Diabetes can often creep up on people. They feel a little extra thirsty or overly tired, then they may stub a toe and suddenly realize they have an infection resulting from diabetes that they did not even know they had. All too often, diabetes flies under the radar of awareness and is considered not as severe as other conditions deserving of the public’s attention like cancer or HIV/AIDS, but diabetes is severe, life changing, and an important condition to which to pay attention.

Type 2 diabetes is not only manageable but it is also preventable, and although type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented, it can be managed. Diabetes does not have to be a death sentence. If people are made aware of the signs and encouraged to seek treatment, diabetes can be caught early and a treatment plan can be put into place.

On its current course the number of people diagnosed with diabetes is projected to nearly double to 44.1 million by 2034.