THE SILENT KILLERS BEYOND BLOOD SUGAR

So people don't die of diabetes. Number one killer of people with diabetes is not blood sugar, it is heart disease. Now it's diabetes that causes heart disease. It's diabetes that causes increased risk of stroke, increased risk of kidney failure. And yet for decades we've been obsessing over glucose numbers, even while the heart and the kidneys are being quietly destroyed. So among the adults with diabetes, the cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death. Up to half of patients with diabetes develop kidney disease. And up to 30% develop serious vision problems. Diabetes increases your risk of dying by 75% and shortens the life expectancy anywhere from 6 to 10 years. And most of the damage comes from heart and kidneys, not from the sugar itself. So we need to have that bigger picture when we are taking care of someone with diabetes and have them understand that too.