[Hadassah On Call] Diabetes. A word, not a sentence.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that "more than 37 million people in the United States have diabetes, and 1 in 5 of them don’t know they have it." Currently, it is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and affects some 422 million people worldwide.

"Diabetes is at near-pandemic levels," Prof. Avivit Cahn, MD, endocrinologist and attending physician at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem's Diabetes Unit tells Hadassah On Call host Benyamin Cohen. Whether it’s type 1 (often called juvenile diabetes) or the more common adult-onset type 2, diabetes increases the potential for such complications as nerve, kidney and heart damage.

In "Diabetes: A Word, Not A Sentence," the latest Hadassah On Call podcast episode, Prof. Cahn talks about genetics and other risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis, precision medicine in personalizing treatments and how changes in nutrition, fitness and lifestyle can prevent or delay the onset of this disease.

Like this podcast? Sign up for these Hadassah On Call email alerts!

The Hadassah Associates are also working to build awareness, educate and engage men in communities around the country about diabetes with a year-long initiative, view more about this initiative here.