by Lois Williams
Diabetes is a disease that has affected the lives of so many persons in America.
In February 2000, I bought a videotape, "Changing the Way Diabetes is Treated," from the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The tape featured health professionals who met at the NIH in Washington D.C. to discuss the increase of type 2 diabetes, and it represented a major effort to wake up America about the seriousness of diabetes.
At the time the tape was made, there were an estimated 16 million diabetics, 10.6 diagnosed and an estimated 5.4 million undiagnosed. Among the Pima Indians of Arizona, more than 50 percent had overt diabetes. One in every five African American women 55 years old or older had diabetes. In the Hispanic population, 10 percent had diabetes. There were 123,000 children under the age of 19 with diabetes. And that was three years ago.
It was documented that one billion dollars were spent on this disease, each year. Every day, diabetes led to 150 amputations, 75 persons were diagnosed with kidney failure and 70 persons lost their vision, all to diabetes. These are only three of the many complications caused by sustained elevated blood sugar levels, and these numbers are climbing.
Would you believe that only 8 percent of the population at that time said they took diabetes seriously? I wonder if the number has increased with the rapid increase of new cases. I hope so.
One health professional on the video stated that, "it is better to prevent than to lament," and another stressed the importance of educating both patient and health provider. Diabetes education is not only for people who have diabetes, but also for the family, community, state, and even the country. The cost of diabetes affects everybody's "pocketbook."
I had not seen this video for over a year or so. As I write this, it is now October 2003. Have there been any changes? Yes, the problem has gotten worse. The Centers For Disease Control now estimates 17 million Americans have diabetes, and 12,000 to 24,000 people will lose their sight because of it, this year. Alabama, my home state, is now #1 in the nation for the incidence of diabetes (according to the Huntsville Times, for January 7, 2003). More Americans are obese, and children are developing type 2 at a younger and younger age -- which means folks will have diabetes longer, and the risk of diabetes complications, as well as the health care cost in dollars, goes way up. What can be done to halt or at least slow down this epidemic? Every diabetes organization, the news media, and many health professionals are all advising the public to eat less and be more active. Folks need to pay attention, and to take definite action -- and KEEP AT IT!
Everyone can improve their health, whether they have diabetes or not, by eating to a calorie and carbohydrate budget that is realistic for them (talk to your doctor or diabetes educator, or visit your Health Department; also Voice of the Diabetic publishes food tips and diabetic recipes every issue. Whether you have diabetes or not, you can improve your health, by starting an exercise program and sticking to it. Talk to your doctor; there are programs to follow, for people with diabetes and complications. You CAN become more active. Why are we not doing these things?
I have "coined" an acronym, the Diabetic's D.I.M.E! For good diabetes control, use the D.I.M.E! D is for diet, I is for information, M is for monitoring and E is for exercise. The D.I.M.E works for me, even after my 30 years of ignorance of the seriousness of diabetes, and 30 years of uncontrolled blood sugar levels. If I had not developed diabetic retinopathy (it got my attention), if I had not learned about diabetes, if I had not made some lifestyle changes, I doubt if I would be alive today. If I had survived, I am sure I would have been a burden to my family.
I am so grateful for all the information available today. Most of it is FREE; you just have to know where to go. Start right here, with Voice of the Diabetic. If you have access to the Internet, look at the diabetes pages of the US Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov/health/diabetes.htm) or the National Institutes of Health (www.niddk.nih.gov/health/diabetes/ndic.htm), the online magazine InteliHealth (www.intelihealth.com), the International Diabetes Center (www.parknicollet.com), or the excellent private diabetes Web site www.mendosa.com. You can call the Centers for Disease Control, Division of Diabetes Translation, at: (770) 488-5000. Local hospitals, doctors' offices, and even some pharmacies have free handouts, and most of them are good quality.
Take advantage of this information. It is there for you, and using it can help prevent diabetes or slow the progression of its complications.