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Addressing the Diabetes Epidemic

www.oconeemed.org

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports nearly 30 million Americans are living with diabetes, while 86 million have prediabetes and are at risk of developing the disease within ten years.

A summit in Rochester aims to educate the medical community about ways to prevent diabetes, diagnose prediabetes and look at the standards of care in diabetes management.

Executive Director of the Upstate New York American Diabetes Association, Travis Heider, says there's still no cure, but people can take preventive measures.

Heider says a Center for Disease Control's Diabetes Prevention Program has proven to be successful, and  if people generally lose between 5 to 7 percent of their body weight, they can

really prevent diabetes from taking hold.

He says the goal of the summit is to educate medical professionals about diagnosing prediabetes and suggesting paths for people to take to prevent the onset of the disease.

The summit also looks at ways to improve outcomes, to attempt to get ahead of the curve, and try to mitigate the 86-million people in this country from getting diabetes.