Farmers across the state hope to make a profit this harvest but to grow crops you must stay healthy. One hundred-seventy thousand Iowans have Type 2 Diabetes. Dr. M. Kathleen Figaro with Genesis Health says this disease is increasing.
?Three and a half percent of Iowans had Type 2 diabetes 1991, now over 7 percent have Type 2,? Figaro says.
Figaro says the problem will continue if people don?t ban together. She asked the governor for a repository of information.
?A repository of information about who has diabetes, who has cardiovascular complications, what has happened to them, what level of care have they had from other healthcare professionals??
Dr. Jonathan Pak with Boehringer Ingelheim says the company, along with Eli Lilly conducted a national survey to understand the link between cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.
?We learned, 52 percent of people with Type 2 diabetes do not know they are at risk of cardiovascular disease, such as strokes, heart attacks, or even death,? Pak says.
He says there is good news though.
?Ninety-nine percent of the people, when they knew this was a concern, were willing to do something about it. Over 80 percent of people say they would change their diet, exercise, and talk to healthcare providers,? Pak says.
Governor Kim Reynolds says this is part of Iowa?s Healthiest State Initiative launched in 2011.
?The healthiest state?s goal is root in the belief that Iowans should take ownership of their own health and well-being. Part of taking ownership is doing everything we can to raise awareness,? Reynolds says.
Reynolds declared November as Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease month Tuesday at Boehringer Ingelheim in Ames.
