KDN Diabetes
Advocacy Issues
The Diabetes Message for Kentucky Legislators 2010:
1. Thank you for all that you have done over the last several years to address the problem of diabetes in Kentucky
2. Diabetes is:
- COMMON: 9.9% (324,000) of Kentucky adults have diagnosed diabetes and those who are undiagnosed may take the total number of people with diabetes up to 405,000. Also, 8% (235,000) of adults report having a diagnosis of pre-diabetes. Hundreds of thousands of additional Kentuckians are at risk due to obesity, physical inactivity, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
- SERIOUS: Diabetes is the 6th leading cause of death in KY and often leads to heart attack, stroke, lower extremity amputations, kidney failure and blindness.
- COSTLY: Diabetes may cost as much as $3 billion per year in Kentucky.
- CONTROLLABLE: Much can be done to prevent diabetes in Kentucky and to reduce the sickness and death caused by the disease.
(See the 2010 Kentucky Diabetes Fact Sheet for more details)
3. Please continue to support efforts to stem the tide of diabetes in Kentucky by: