On March 28, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) released a study it did with the Alberto Hurtado University in Chile that confirmed diabetes is one of the most serious problems in Latin America, in terms of public health and economic burden.

Diabetes affects approximately 28 million people in the Americas. Currently there are an estimated six million people who are temporarily disabled because of diabetes, and, each year more than 330,000 people in the region die due to diabetes-related causes.

Statistics on Latinos and diabetes in the United States also are elevated. The American Diabetes Association reports that two million, or 10.2 percent of all Latinos in the United States have diabetes. The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is two times higher in Latinos than in non-Latino whites. This contributes to the fact that diabetes is the fifth-deadliest disease in the United States, and it has no cure.

However, the complications of diabetes - including blindness, kidney disease and amputation - can be prevented by controlling blood glucose, exercising and maintaining an adequate diet.

Visit www.paho.org or www.diabetes.org for more information.

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