Today, 1 in 10 Arizonans — about 786,000 people — have diabetes, a disease that impacts the way the body turns food into energy. People living with diabetes are also more than twice as likely to have a stroke and more prone to suffering from depression. Nationally, it is the eighth leading cause of death, and the number-one cause of kidney failure, foot and lower leg amputation, and blindness in adults.*
At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ), it’s our mission to inspire health and make it easy. We teamed up with the Arizona Department of Health Services to raise diabetes awareness and, more importantly, turn that awareness into action to benefit all Arizonans. Together, we’ve set an ambitious but attainable goal of reducing the progression of diabetes by 25% by 2025. We are aiming to make it much easier for people to access resources and services that will help prevent diabetes and complications from diabetes.
BCBSAZ’s Diabetes Action Plan comes at a critical time — and we need your help. As an Arizona employer, our tools are here for you so we can all move forward with the goal of a healthier Arizona. Encouraging all Arizonans to get their annual preventive care exam, including biometric screenings that check for early signs of diabetes, can help reduce diabetes in Arizona. Through this work, we can break down barriers to access for tools that can make it easier for people to prevent and manage diabetes.
BCBSAZ’s plan has an initial three-year goal, but we’re also thinking big picture. BCBSAZ and partners are aiming for a long-term reduction in prediabetes specifically throughout Arizona. Prediabetes is increasing by almost 1% every year, suggesting that diabetes rates will begin to climb within the next five to 10 years.* Without lifestyle changes, prediabetes can not only lead to diabetes, but also heart disease and stroke.
It is important to understand that there are two different types of diabetes, each with different causes and potentially very different outcomes.
Type 1 diabetes (also called juvenile diabetes, because it is most often diagnosed in childhood) is responsible for roughly 5% to 10% of cases in the U.S.* It can be diagnosed at any age. In fact, the American Diabetes Association reports that about half of new cases of Type 1 diabetes occur in adults over age 20. This form of diabetes is likely caused by an autoimmune reaction in the body, when the pancreas stops producing insulin, and it cannot be prevented.
The overwhelming majority of people with diabetes (around 90-95%) have Type 2 diabetes, which is typically diagnosed in adulthood. Type 2 diabetes happens when the body has trouble making or using insulin. It is the most common type of diabetes — and it can often be prevented or managed with lifestyle changes. Prediabetes — the precursor to Type 2 diabetes — affects more than one-third of the population in the U.S. and in Arizona. This early warning signal gives us an opportunity to turn things around through nutrition and physical activity changes that can delay or even reverse the progression toward diabetes. The problem is, more than 80% of people with prediabetes don’t even know they have it.*
If you’re wondering about your risk for prediabetes, you can take the prediabetes risk test or ask your health care provider if you need a simple fingerstick test to check for prediabetes.
You can learn more about living well with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes in our diabetes health topic center.
One of the ways BCBSAZ is aiming to inspire health is by addressing some of our state’s biggest health challenges. We know that if we can positively impact overall health in our state, Arizonans will enjoy a better quality of life and health care costs will decrease as well. To learn more about BCBSAZ’s plans to defeat diabetes in Arizona visit newscenter.azblue.com/defeating-diabetes-in-arizona/.
* According to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
