As the seventh-leading cause of death in the U.S., diabetes is a serious disease. Almost 300,000 Americans died indirectly or directly due to diabetes in 2010, according to the American Diabetes Association
In fact, nearly 29.1 million Americans (9.3 percent of the population) have a form of diabetes, according to the ADA. Therefore, you will likely interact with many diabetic patients while working as a travel nurse.
Diabetes today
For over two decades, the number of new diabetes cases has increased each year. However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this month that the amount of new incidents of diabetes decreased from 1.7 million in 2013 to 1.4 million in 2014. Edward Gregg, a top diabetes researcher at the CDC, told The New York Times that the reduction was unexpected.
"It seems pretty clear that incidence rates have now actually started to drop," Gregg said. "Initially it was a little surprising because I had become so used to seeing increases everywhere we looked."
Researchers and experts in the field said the decline might indicate that the nation's efforts to prevent diabetes and promote health are working, according to the Times. However, that theory is inconclusive because there is not enough substantial data to back it up.
Even with the positive news, the amount of new diabetes diagnoses per year is nearly double compared to rates in the 1990s.
Educate your patients
The ADA said that of the 29.1 million Americans with diabetes, 8.1 million were undiagnosed. Therefore, it is important to educate your patients and be aware of prediabetes symptoms. As with most chronic conditions, the sooner your patients identify an underlying disease, the better.
Luckily, Type 2 diabetes is preventable. According to Medical News Today, frequent physical activity and exercise, in addition to keeping a healthy body weight, reduces the risk of developing the disease.
Type 1 diabetes, on the other hand, is an autoimmune condition and there are not any substantial studies to prove that it can be prevented.
The individual symptoms of diabetes, if isolated, may not raise any red flags. But collaboratively, many symptoms may be a sign of diabetes. That is why as a travel nurse it is important to constantly be thinking of both the little and big picture.
To get started, ask your patients if they notice any changes or recurring signs of illness, and encourage physical activity and a balanced diet.
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