Almost 26 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes, and 79 million have prediabetes. Recent studies show while the number of cases of diabetes continues to rise, patients are experiencing fewer complications.

Dr. Amy Huebschmann of the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Ludeman Family Center for Women’s Health Research says the credit goes to new drugs that treat other conditions. She explains that “getting blood pressure under control, getting cholesterol levels under control — that’s probably what’s behind the improvements we’ve seen.” Still, people with diabetes are more prone to heart attacks than those who don’t have the disease.
According to medical experts, the key to keeping your family healthy is cutting portion sizes, getting regular exercise and regular check-ups to monitor any rises in blood sugar.

The number of diabetes cases has jumped 300 percent over the past two decades and 90% of those cases are type 2 diabetes. Doctors put the blame on the nation’s weight problem. Dr. Huebschmann says, “the factors that drive obesity are generally eating more food than we need and consuming extra calories as well as being sedentary.” Click here for KDVR interview with Dr. Huebschmann.

Ludeman Center researcher Dr. Amy Huebschmann’s research is focused on understanding and ultimately removing barriers to exercise in underserved women with type 2 diabetes. Dr. Huebschmann is working to systematically identify which are physiological and which are psychological barriers in order to find the most effective intervention strategies.