skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Diabetes in Kentucky: "Everybody’s Disease"

play audio
Play

Monday, November 20, 2017   

FRANKFORT, Ky. – What and how much people eat – and how it affects their health – are top-of-mind every holiday season, starting with Thanksgiving.

But folks throughout Kentucky are also working this month to draw attention to the diabetes epidemic.

The number of people with diabetes has nearly doubled in the Commonwealth since 2000, and now affects about 1 in 8 adults in the state.

As a volunteer advocate with the American Diabetes Association in Kentucky, Stewart Perry contends it's a disease that all Kentuckians should take a stand on.

"Everybody knows somebody that has diabetes,” he states. “If it's not in your family, it's in your next door neighbor's family or your coworker's at work family, or it's one of those two people.

“So, it's everybody's disease, and everybody needs to play a part in trying to do something about it."

In Kentucky, 16 towns and cities, as well as the state, have issued proclamations observing National Diabetes Month in November, which Perry says highlights just how important it is to address the growing problem.

It's estimated that more than 500,000 Kentuckians will have diabetes by 2020, and possibly up to 750,000 by 2025.

And Perry explains many people don't realize the impact it can have on the body.

"It is the number one cause of heart disease, the number one cause of hypertension, the number one cause of kidney disease, the number one cause of end-stage renal disease, the number one cause of amputation, the number one cause of blindness,” he points out. “All those things are attributed to diabetes."

Perry says there are ways every community can address the epidemic, including improving access to fresh foods and safe, healthy spaces for exercise.

And he contends the state needs to commit funding to programs that help people prevent and manage diabetes.

"There are many people that believe that if we don't put it in check, diabetes is going to bankrupt our economy,” he stresses. “It's a $5 billion problem to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Can you think about what that would do to our pension if we had that $5 billion back, to spend it? It would do great things."

According to American Diabetes Association, in 2012 diabetes cost Kentucky $3.8 billion in total medical costs, lost work and lost wages.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …


More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social media platform X temporarily shutdown searches of "Taylor Swift" following the release of explicit deepfake images in early 2024. (Mdv Edwards/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021