World Diabetes Day 2023: CDC Reveals 1 in 3 Americans Now More Vulnerable to Type 2 Diabetes; WHO Says Quitting Smoking Helps

On World Diabetes Day 2023, which happened on Tuesday, Nov. 14, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that one in three Americans are now more vulnerable to type 2 diabetes.

(Photo: CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN/AFP via Getty Images) An elderly woman gets her blood tested during a drive to provide medical check-ups for hypertension, cholesterol, and diabetes at an integrated services post in Banda Aceh on December 15, 2021.

CDC officials said that 81% of 98 million U.S. citizens don't know that they have this health condition. To help Americans overcome their type 2 diabetes, the CDC and the Ad Council announced that they are launching new PSAs (public service announcements).

Here's what Americans need to know about the new health initiative of the CDC.

CDC Reveals 1 in 3 Americans Now More Vulnerable to Type 2 Diabetes

CDC Division of Diabetes Translation Director Christopher Holliday explained why the new information about one in three Americans being more vulnerable to type 2 diabetes is alarming.

"Diabetes is a devastating public health problem, and I cannot overstate the toll that it continues to take on millions of people across the United States," he said via CDC's official press release.

He explained that U.S. residents can prevent or delay their type 2 diabetes if they can just identify pre-diabetes signs. To make this a possibility, new PSAs are being launched as part of the ongoing "Do I Have Prediabetes?" initiative.

CDC explained that the new "Be Your Own Hero" PSAs will encourage Americans to the 1-minute prediabetes risk test they created. This will allow them to know the necessary steps to delay or even prevent type 2 diabetes.

The health agency said that if an individual receives a high-risk score on the test, the new PSAs will give them additional resources, as well as encourage them to cooperate with their doctors to get a blood test to confirm a diagnosis of prediabetes.

WHO Claims Quitting Smoking Can Help

(Photo: FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images) A woman with diabetes uses a glucometer to measure the glycemia in her blood in Paris on March 24, 2020, on the eighth day of a strict lockdown in France aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus.

While the CDC revealed the increasing type 2 diabetes risks among Americans, the World Health Organization (WHO) claimed that quitting smoking can reduce the chance of getting this health complication.

The health organization said that if people only quit their smoking habits, they can cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 40% (30% to 40% to be exact).

Based on the evidence acquired by WHO, smoking affects the body's ability to regulate blood sugar levels, meaning it can also affect the risk of getting type 2 diabetes.

Aside from this, quitting smoking can also improve the management and reduce the risk of diabetes complications. You can click here to learn more about WHO's findings.