Denver doctor seeks to raise awareness on diabetes, disproportionate impact on communities of color

November is American Diabetes Month when communities across the country collaborate to bring awareness to diabetes. 

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood sugar, is too high; it can cause major health problems and adversely affects communities of color. 

For instance, according to CDC data, Black adults are 60 percent more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to be diagnosed with diabetes by a physician.

Dr. Jaya Kumar, Chief Medical Officer at Swedish Medical Center, is a local nephrologist wanting to help enact change around the topic. 

"Decades of research has shown that people of color are disproportionately affected by diabetes," Kumar said. "About 36 million Americans have diabetes, and out of them, one-fifth do not know they have diabetes. Another 96 million have prediabetes. And 80 percent of those folks don't know they have prediabetes."

Dr. Kumar told CBS News Colorado's Mekialaya White the disparities point to an overarching issue.

"There was research published in the Journal of American Medicine Association in 2017, where they studied the reasons behind the discrepancy and disparities in people of color and, surprisingly, it was not genetics. It was mainly related to obesity."

She says there are practical ways to reduce your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

"I think the most important part is to raise awareness on how common diabetes is, the three main things that you can do is be physically active, eat healthy food, and if you're overweight or obese lose some weight." 

For more information on diabetes and symptoms to beware of, click here: diabetes.org