What Is Diabetes Mellitus

WHAT IS DIABETES MELLITUS?

by Arturo Rolla, MD, and
Joan Stout

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that occurs when

the body cannot properly use glucose (a form of sugar), the body's main source of fuel.

During digestion, most of the carbohydrates we eat are converted to glucose, which passes

into the bloodstream, where it is available to the cells for use as energy. 80% of the

glucose in the blood goes to the muscles. But in order for glucose to enter the cells and

Reduce Diabetic Blindness

DOCTOR SUGGESTS NEW PRIORITIES

COULD REDUCE DIABETIC BLINDNESS

James O'Rourke, MD, professor of pathology at

University of Connecticut Health Center, is calling for primary care deliverers to

regularly obtain an image of their diabetic patients' retinal blood vessels and then

catalog those as part of a permanent medical record. Today, one-half of all people with

diabetes will develop some degree of retinal damage during their lifetimes, and 10 percent

Good News: Type 2 Diabetes

THE UKPDS: GOOD NEWS FOR
PEOPLE WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES

by Richard Hellman, MD.,
FACP, FACE

What the Diabetes Control and
Complications Trial (DCCT) Showed
In 1993, the National Institutes of Health

released the results of a 10-year study of people with type 1 diabetes. The findings of

the study, which is known as the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial, were

extraordinarily encouraging.

Diet After Transplantation

DIET AFTER TRANSPLANTATION

by Peggy Harum, RD, CS,
LD

Peggy Harum, RD, CS, LD is a certified specialist

in renal nutrition who works for Total Renal Care.

Before I prepared this article, I did some

reviewing of different papers that had covered the topic of diet after transplant. I was

surprised to learn that noncompliance with immunosuppressant medications is responsible

for almost a third of graft loss. Nearly half of transplant centers exclude patients with

Reducing Errors With IV Insulin

SWEET REWARD: REDUCING
ERRORS WITH IV INSULIN

This article appeared in the "ISMP

MEDICATION SAFETY ALERT," Volume 3, Issue 23, November 18, 1998, published by the

Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP). Reprinted with permission.

PROBLEM: An ISMP study revealed that 11% of

serious medication errors involve insulin misadministration (Cohen MR, et al.,

"Survey of Hospital Systems and Common Serious Medication Errors." "J

Letters to the Editor

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

August 31, 1998

I am a Physician's Assistant at a rural

healthcare clinic. In my practice I work with a lot of patients with Diabetes. I happened

to run across your summer edition of the VOICE at a public library.

I was very impressed with what I saw and would

like the opportunity to make it available to my patients. I thought your articles were

very appropriate and extremely informative. I'm convinced that my patients will also

Eli Lilly Doesn't Respond

ELI LILLY FAILS TO RESPOND
TO EDITOR'S LETTER

by Ed Bryant

Blind and visually-impaired insulin-using

diabetics have an urgent need for tactile-marked insulin vials. We at the Diabetes Action

Network have been working toward this goal for a number of years. Although insulin

manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company initially appeared cooperative, things have changed.

On October 16, 1998, I sent the following letter.

New Retinopathy Treatment

NEW RETINOPATHY TREATMENT

One of the complications that can result from

diabetes is proliferative diabetic retinopathy, a condition in which fragile retinal

capillaries break and leak blood into the eye, obscuring vision. In extreme cases, a

surgical procedure called a vitrectomy can be necessary to get the blood out—and the

vitrectomy itself may fail. While good diabetes control is the best prevention for

conditions like retinopathy, there may soon be an alternative to vitrectomy surgery for

Book Reviews

BOOK REVIEWS

by Marilyn Helton

Greetings and Happy New Year to everyone! I trust

you all sailed through the holidays without indulging to bulging. And, if you are guilty,

I have some wonderful reading material guaranteed to get you back on track to tighter

control.

"Straight Talk About Diabetes," by

Peter J. Nebergall, PhD:

In Dr. Nebergall's own words: "The contents

of "Straight Talk About Diabetes" are for purposes of advice, inspiration and

What You Always Wanted to Know

WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED
TO KNOW BUT DIDN'T KNOW WHERE TO ASK
(Resource Column)

Inclusion of materials in this publication is for

information only and does not imply endorsement by the Diabetes Action Network of the NFB.

DIABETES SUPPLIES