Urban Solutions Diabetes Watch

Noble S. Jones MD

Approximately 2.8
million or 13% of all
African Americans have
diabetes. However,
one-third of them do
not know it. With its
complications -- heart
attack and stroke,
blindness, kidney
disease, and
amputations -- diabetes
is the fifth deadliest
disease in the United
States, and it has no
cure.

Diabetes is a disease
in which the body
does not produce or
properly use insulin.
Insulin is a hormone
that is needed to
convert sugar, starches
and other food into
energy needed for daily
life. The cause of
diabetes continues to
be a mystery, although
both genetics and
environmental factors
such as obesity and lack
of exercise appear to
play roles.

Source: American
Diabetes Assoication



		Urban Solutions, Inc. and DiabetesWATCH, a service provided by Aventis Pharmaceuticals, have teamed together to provide you with answers to your questions about diabetes. Each month, Dr. Noble S. Jones will address questions submitted by our readers. To ask Dr. Jones a diabetes related question, please send an e-mail to ysjus4u@aol.com.

			This Month's Question: Ms. Brenda L. of Philadelphia wants to know: What is A1C? Why is it important? A1C is a very important number (also known as Hemoglobin A1C). A1C tells the blood sugar control over the previous 3 months. We are measuring the excess sugar that sticks to red blood cells during the cells life. The life of the red blood cell is 90 days. For every one percentage point drop in the A1C, some diabetes complication risk decrease by 35% or more. Excellent A1C's are those less than 7%. If your A1C is above 9% notify your doctor for a new management plan to achieve that 7%. For more information on diabetes please visit DiabetesWATCH.com Visit the Urban Solutions Archives for previous DiabetesWATCH questions.