National Diabetes Month, 2004

Proclamation 7841 of November 4, 2004

National Diabetes Month, 2004

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

More than 18 million Americans are estimated to have
diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of new
blindness, end-stage kidney disease, and nontraumatic
amputations. It can also double a person's risk of
heart attack and stroke and can cause nervous system
damage and premature death. During National Diabetes
Month, we seek to raise awareness of the impact of
diabetes on our citizens, and we recognize those
committed to improving the treatment and prevention of
this chronic disease.

Approximately one million Americans have been diagnosed
with type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes.
It develops from autoimmune, genetic, and environmental
influences, most often striking children, adolescents,
and young adults. By developing the disease so young,
people with type 1 diabetes have a greater risk for
serious complications. Type 2 diabetes affects
approximately 17 million Americans, and is most common
in people over 40 who are overweight, inactive, or have
a family history of this disease. While people of all
backgrounds are affected, type 2 diabetes
disproportionately strikes African Americans, Hispanic
Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans. The
number of Americans with type 2 diabetes has grown
dramatically, and many more Americans are at high risk
for developing it.

My Administration is committed to funding diabetes
research. This year, the National Institutes of Health
dedicated $993 million for diabetes research, and I
have requested more that $1 billion for 2005, a 49
percent increase since 2001.

We are also working to raise awareness of the risk
factors associated with diabetes. According to clinical
research, people at risk for type 2 diabetes can reduce
their risk by approximately 58 percent if they lose a
modest amount of weight and stay physically active.
Those who already live with diabetes can greatly reduce
their risk for heart disease and stroke by controlling
their blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim November 2004 as National
Diabetes Month. I call upon all Americans to observe
this month with appropriate programs and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord two
thousand four, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and twenty-ninth.

(Presidential Sig.)B