Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a huge burden of disease on the health system and community of Santa Clara County. Prediabetes and gestational diabetes are also serious issues. In the County of Santa Clara, 9 percent of adults have been told that they have diabetes and 22 percent of adults have been told they have prediabetes. Births with gestational diabetes have been increasing almost every year ranging from 5.2 percent in 2010 to 14.1 percent in 2022. 

Prediabetes can lead to other health conditions including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Within 3 to 5 years, about one-fourth of individuals with prediabetes will have diabetes. Almost 70 percent will develop type 2 diabetes within their lifetime. Type 2 diabetes is a chronic medical condition characterized by high levels of sugar in the blood. This is due to the body's inability to properly produce or use insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas. Prediabetes is the stage when your blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. By making lifestyle changes when you have prediabetes, you can prevent the progression to type 2 diabetes. On average from 2012-2022, diabetes was the 5th leading cause of death in Santa Clara County. 

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that occurs during pregnancy in women who do not already have diabetes. Gestational diabetes is usually resolved once the baby is delivered, but it increases one’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future. 

Uncontrolled type 2 diabetes can cause serious health issues. These include disease, stroke, blindness, and kidney failure. It can also lead to the loss of toes, feet, or legs.