Random fact: November is National Diabetes Month. It’s something that I didn’t know, not until I started doing research for this column. Considering that I am diabetic, that’s a strong implication about what’s wrong with our state.

Kentucky is suffering from a disease. An epidemic of cataclysmic proportions, one that has ranked us in the top 10 worst states in the nation with this type of genetic problem. The commonwealth as a whole is suffering from diabetes.

Yes, diabetes. Or, as it has been known in our times, as having “sugar.” The “shakes and shivers.” Or, the infamous “beetus.”

You may wonder why exactly I’m talking about this, starting this dialectic about a disease that is well-known. I want to ask the question: How well do we know the disease?

Here are a few quick facts about diabetes, taken from the Kentucky Diabetes fact sheet: In 2007, the Kentucky rate for diagnosed diabetes was the ninth highest in the nation, Washington D.C. and the territories. Kentucky clocked in at 9.9 percent compared to a national rate of 8.1 percent.

This means that an estimated 318,000 adults in Kentucky have been diagnosed with diabetes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research has shown that 29 percent of diabetes cases are still undiagnosed.

Using that estimate, an additional 127,200 in Kentucky adults may have undiagnosed diabetes for a total of 445,200 (14.3 percent or one in seven) Kentuckians with diabetes.

More than 400,000 people in Kentucky have the chance of having diabetes. Statistically, that is a scary picture. In the Herald office right now, there is a possibility that six people have diabetes and wouldn’t even know about it. If applied to Western’s entire campus, we’re looking at about 2,000 people who have the possibility of facing amputations, nerve damage, kidney failure or even death.

So, why hasn’t Western, the progressive campus that it is, tried to do something for November? In February, you can’t walk five feet without seeing a pink ribbon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about breast cancer awareness, but why does one serious medical condition get attention while another isn’t even acknowledged?

It almost feels like a diabetic has to get a special episode on “House M.D.” just to get attention in the media. I can see the show now:

“Not only does he have type 3.1421 diabetes, he’s also got lupus,” says Gregory House to his medical team.

Why is it that our country doesn’t seem to acknowledge this?

One of the biggest factors causes of diabetes aside from hereditary is obesity. Yes, being overweight can increase your chances for having diabetes. Being epicurean in nature, enjoying the finer things of life can attribute to the wonderful life of a diabetic. This can include deep-throating Twinkies and snorting some Pixy Stix for quarters or bonging Red Bulls. It may give you wings, but it’ll also give you a rather bad disposition later on in life.

But Americans don’t want to admit that we have a problem. The land of the free has become the land of the drive-thru. We enjoy our gluttonous ways, and we love our meals. I’ll super-size that quarter-pounder meal. Give me a McFlurry to go with it, too. Hell, I’ll even take an apple pie. Give me a dozen – I can freeze them.

What do you automatically think of when you hear of diabetes? It’s probably Wilford Brimley telling you to check your sugar regularly from testing supplies from Liberty Medical. Or, listening to his techno remix on YouTube to “the beetis.”

Yep, diabetics are associated with techno music. We even have raves, don’cha know.

In retrospect, what is it that we can do to prevent this disease from reaching 15 percent or 20 percent of the population, or worse, the entire state? We can offer more food alternatives in the food courts or in restaurants, helping cut the unneeded fats in our foods. Western can also be a leading university, and actually address the issues, instead of focusing on just one problem at a time.