Did you

know that 16 million Americans have diabetes: but one out

of three of those persons does not know it?

Diabetes is

a serious and silent disease. It is serious because it

can lead to major health complications such as blindness,

heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and amputations. It

is silent in that many people have no symptoms (or at

least anything that they recognize as a symptom).

the disease is diagnosed, damage to arteries, eyes,

nerves and kidneys may have been going on for seven to

ten years. Every minute at least one person is diagnosed

with diabetes, and this treatable disease kills more than

193,000 Americans each year. Don't let it happen to you

or those you care about.

You are at

higher risk if: 1) You are age 45 and older 2) a member

of a high-risk ethnic group (e.g., African-American,

Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Pacific Islander) 3)

you are over weight 4) you have high blood pressure (at

or above 140/90) 5) you have a family history of diabetes

6) you have a history of diabetes during pregnancy or you

are a woman who has had a baby weighing more than nine

pounds at birth.

In an

effort to assist our community to maintain optimum health

through self monitoring and health education, the Fayette

County Health Department will partner with the American

Diabetes Association during their American Diabetes Alert

to provide free blood sugar screenings and information.

Date for

this event is Monday, March 6 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

To locate other sites near you that will be conducting

the screenings during the week of March 6, call the

American Diabetes Association at 1-888-DIABETES. If you

have two or more of the above risk factors, or would just

like to know more about diabetes: please come by and see

us. If you decide to have a finger stick test done,

please be aware that eating just prior to testing affects

test results.