Blood Sugar Levels Climbing In Americans with Diabetes
Adults in the United States seem to have lost interest in controlling their blood sugar levels. According to a study published in the June 10 New England Journal of Medicine, 57% of Americans with diabetes had a glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level under 7% in 2007-2010. Between 2015-2017, this dropped to 50.5%. The percentage of patients with diabetes who keep their blood pressure under control has declined as well, from a high of 51.2% in 2007-2010 to 47.7% in 2015-2018. The news about cholesterol levels is better: The percentage of patients with diabetes who maintain their non-HDL cholesterol within a normal range has steadily risen and was 55.7% in 2015-2018. There may be many reasons for the decline in glycemic control, but experts worry that a devil-may-care attitude about diabetes may lead to more cases of heart attack, stroke, neuropathy and amputation.
