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Walk to fight diabetes
By: Rick Hughey, Guest Columnist
Every day, more than 320,000 of us in the metropolitan area step out to fight diabetes.
We are a diverse group with many faces.
Some are the fresh, innocent faces of youth born with an inability to produce insulin needed to convert sugar into energy for the life of a healthy body. Some are the character-lined faces of seniors who have developed diabetes late in life and whose declining strength of will and body or insufficient income to purchase medications opens them to a series of complications and a slow, agonizing death. Some are the faces of the obese whose sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy eating habits have overwhelmed their bodies’ ability to produce enough insulin. Others, like me, are the faces of anomaly who look the picture of health and fitness and have no family history of the disease.
Regardless of whether we have Type 1 diabetes (formerly referred to as juvenile diabetes) or Type 2, regardless of what led to our disease, our daily fight is difficult.
Some of us fight by injecting insulin into our stomachs four to six times per day. Some of us fight by taking various prescribed oral medications. Some of us fight by eliminating favorite foods from our diet. Some of us fight by maintaining a regular exercise regimen.
Most of us require multiple tactics in our fight. Usually the fight is one each of us wages alone and on our own terms.
Then comes a day such as Saturday, Sept. 27 when we fight together as community at the annual American Diabetes Association’s Step Out Walk to Fight Diabetes.
It is a day we ask the larger community to come out and join our fight.
The walk is the largest fundraising event for the American Diabetes Association, supporting research cures, education and treatment.
This year’s walk follows a scenic three-mile route through the Plaza along Brush Creek. In addition to the walk, there is a Health & Wellness Festival where participants may learn more about how victims of diabetes can lead a healthy and vibrant lifestyle.
On behalf of the thousands affected by diabetes, I urge fellow Johnson County citizens to join in this fight. Do it because someone you know is affected. Do it because you are ultimately going to be affected by a disease whose epidemic proportion looms catastrophe for our healthcare system.
Here is why:
• 23.6 million Americans live with diabetes, nearly 5.7 million of them are undiagnosed;
• 57 million have pre-diabetes;
• One in three children born since 2000 will develop diabetes by early adulthood;
• Diabetes is currently the fifth-leading cause of death in the United States;
• The total annual economic cost of diabetes in 2007 was estimated to be $174 billion.
If you or a loved one is affected by diabetes, come join us on Sept. 27 in Theis Park on the Plaza. If you belong to a civic or business organization, a nonprofit or faith community whose mission is to make a difference in people’s lives, come join us. To sign up or learn more about diabetes, visit www.diabetes.org/stepout or call the American Diabetes Association Midwest Division at 383-8210.
Rick Hughey is an Overland Park business owner living well with diabetes. He volunteers with the American Diabetes Association.
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We are a diverse group with many faces.
Some are the fresh, innocent faces of youth born with an inability to produce insulin needed to convert sugar into energy for the life of a healthy body. Some are the character-lined faces of seniors who have developed diabetes late in life and whose declining strength of will and body or insufficient income to purchase medications opens them to a series of complications and a slow, agonizing death. Some are the faces of the obese whose sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy eating habits have overwhelmed their bodies’ ability to produce enough insulin. Others, like me, are the faces of anomaly who look the picture of health and fitness and have no family history of the disease.
Regardless of whether we have Type 1 diabetes (formerly referred to as juvenile diabetes) or Type 2, regardless of what led to our disease, our daily fight is difficult.
Some of us fight by injecting insulin into our stomachs four to six times per day. Some of us fight by taking various prescribed oral medications. Some of us fight by eliminating favorite foods from our diet. Some of us fight by maintaining a regular exercise regimen.
Most of us require multiple tactics in our fight. Usually the fight is one each of us wages alone and on our own terms.
Then comes a day such as Saturday, Sept. 27 when we fight together as community at the annual American Diabetes Association’s Step Out Walk to Fight Diabetes.
It is a day we ask the larger community to come out and join our fight.
The walk is the largest fundraising event for the American Diabetes Association, supporting research cures, education and treatment.
This year’s walk follows a scenic three-mile route through the Plaza along Brush Creek. In addition to the walk, there is a Health & Wellness Festival where participants may learn more about how victims of diabetes can lead a healthy and vibrant lifestyle.
On behalf of the thousands affected by diabetes, I urge fellow Johnson County citizens to join in this fight. Do it because someone you know is affected. Do it because you are ultimately going to be affected by a disease whose epidemic proportion looms catastrophe for our healthcare system.
Here is why:
• 23.6 million Americans live with diabetes, nearly 5.7 million of them are undiagnosed;
• 57 million have pre-diabetes;
• One in three children born since 2000 will develop diabetes by early adulthood;
• Diabetes is currently the fifth-leading cause of death in the United States;
• The total annual economic cost of diabetes in 2007 was estimated to be $174 billion.
If you or a loved one is affected by diabetes, come join us on Sept. 27 in Theis Park on the Plaza. If you belong to a civic or business organization, a nonprofit or faith community whose mission is to make a difference in people’s lives, come join us. To sign up or learn more about diabetes, visit www.diabetes.org/stepout or call the American Diabetes Association Midwest Division at 383-8210.
Rick Hughey is an Overland Park business owner living well with diabetes. He volunteers with the American Diabetes Association.