November is National Diabetes Month; Johns Hopkins experts available for interviews

Newswise — Diabetes is a disease that prevents the body from properly regulating blood sugar levels. Insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas, helps regulate your sugar levels by allowing sugar to leave the bloodstream and enter your cells. Diabetes occurs when your body produces too little insulin, becomes resistant to insulin, or both. This causes a buildup of sugar in the blood, which in turn can cause headaches, frequent urination, increased appetite and thirst, fatigue, blurred vision, and dry mouth. Although diabetes is a serious illness, it can be managed with monitoring, medications, and diet and lifestyle changes.

There are several misconceptions about diabetes, such as that diabetes is caused by eating too much sugar or that only overweight or obese people have diabetes. The facts about diabetes are much more nuanced than these myths suggest.

According to the CDC, 28.7 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with diabetes, either type 1 (an autoimmune disease), type 2 (a metabolic disorder), or gestational diabetes (which develops during pregnancy) . Among them, 283,000 are children or adolescents under 20 years old. 96 million more Americansor 1 in 3 people, have prediabetes, a condition in which blood sugar levels are high but not to a degree that constitutes diabetes.

With so many people in the United States at risk of developing diabetes, it is critical that the general public understands that they can take steps to prevent it, such as being more active and making small changes to their diet. Diabetes experts from Johns Hopkins Medicine are available to be interviewed throughout the month of November on this important topic and to dispel common misconceptions surrounding this disease.

Adult Diabetes Experts
Media contact: Maura Kinney, communications specialist, Johns Hopkins Medicine, 443-287-2243, (email protected)

Gene Arnold, MS, RD/LD/CDE

• Director of the Diabetes Self-Management Training Program, Johns Hopkins Medicine
• Certified Specialist in Diabetes Care and Education, Johns Hopkins Diabetes Center

Andrew Demidowich, MD

• Chief of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center
• Assistant Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Daisy Duan, MD

• Associate Program Director, Endocrinology Fellowship
• Assistant Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Thomas Donner, MD

• Director, Johns Hopkins Diabetes Center
• Associate Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Rita Kalyani, MD, MHS

• Editor-in-Chief, Johns Hopkins Diabetes Guide
• Associate Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Nestoras Mathioudakis, MD, MHS

• Co-Medical Director of the Diabetes Prevention and Education Program at Johns Hopkins Medicine
• Associate Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Mihail Zilbermint, MD, MBA

• Head of the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the Suburban Hospital
• Director, Endocrine Hospitalists, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians
• Co-Director, Diabetes Self-Management Training Program, National Capital Region
• Associate Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Pediatric Diabetes Experts
Media Contact: Kim Polyniak, communications manager, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, 443-510-5807, (email protected)

Kristin Arcara, MD

• Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Clinical Co-Director, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center

Sheela N. Magge, MD, MSCE.

• Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Director, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center

Sandra Salsberg, MD

• Clinical Associate in Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Pediatric Endocrinologist, Bethesda Health Care and Surgery Center and Johns Hopkins Children’s Center

Risa Wolf, MD

• Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Director, Pediatric Diabetes Center, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center
• Medical Director, Camp Charm City Diabetes (camp run by the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center-ADA for children with diabetes)