It is the leading cause of kidney disease, blindness, and amputation, yet nearly 25 percent of people who have it don't even know it. This November, during American Diabetes Month, the Pen Bay Healthcare Diabetes & Nutrition Care Center and the American Diabetes Association are asking "Why should you care about diabetes?"

Chances are, you or someone you love has been affected by diabetes in some way. But even if you haven't been affected by diabetes, you need to know that diabetes is the biggest public health crisis of the 21st century, and it continues to grow to epidemic proportions. Nearly 24 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes. The death rate for diabetes has continued to grow since 1987, while death rates due to heart disease, stroke and cancer have declined.

Having diabetes places a person at increased risk for a number of serious, even life-threatening complications, including:

• Heart disease and stroke. Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about 2 to 4 times higher than adults without diabetes.
• Blindness. Diabetic retinopathy causes 12,000 to 24,000 new cases of blindness each year making diabetes the leading cause of new cases of blindness in adults between 20 and 74.
• Kidney disease. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure.
• Amputations. More than 60 percent of nontraumatic lower-limb amputations occur in people with diabetes.

Remembering the "ABCs of diabetes" can help to prevent or delay the onset of these serious diabetes complications:

• Average glucose. Most people with diabetes should get an estimated average glucose (eAG) or a hemoglobin A1 test every six months, which measures how well they are managing their diabetes over time. It is important to keep their eAG less than 154 mg/dl or A1C less than 7 percent.
• Blood pressure. People with diabetes should have a target blood pressure of less than 130/80.
• Cholesterol. LDL (bad) cholesterol should be below 100 mg/dl; HDL (healthy) cholesterol should be above 40 mg/dl for men and 50 mg/dl for women; triglycerides should be below 150 mg/dl.

For more information about the Pen Bay Healthcare Diabetes & Nutrition Care Center, visit pbmc.org/diabetes. For more information about American Diabetes Month, visit the American Diabetes Association at diabetes.org.