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New Initiative Seeks To Improve Diabetes Care

(9/8/2006) The number of diabetes cases diagnosed in this country each year is increasing at an alarming rate. An estimated 18.2 million Americans now suffer from some form of the disease. That’s 6.3 percent of the population. If left untreated, diabetes can lead to blindness, heart and blood vessel disease, stroke, kidney failure, amputations, nerve damage and even death.

You may be at risk for diabetes if you are over 45, are overweight (have a body mass index greater than 25), have borderline high blood sugar levels, or have high blood pressure, inactive lifestyle or a family history of diabetes.

But many people don’t know that they can prevent the disease until it’s too late. A combination of healthy eating and a modest, consistent increase in physical activity can actually delay and perhaps even prevent development of Type II diabetes.

“When people hear the word ‘diabetes,’ they usually don’t realize the ramifications that come with it; the very serious complications,” says Vincenza Snow, MD, of the American College of Physicians (ACP). Her organization recently teamed up with the American College of Physicians Foundation to launch a major initiative aimed at improving diabetes care in the United States.

“The goal of ACP’s new three-year effort is to raise awareness and teach the best practices in diabetes care,” said Snow. The first step, which is already underway, is to create and disseminate educational tools and information for physicians and other members of the health care team.

“Patients are a key part of the team,” says Snow. “The new project will develop self-management tools to help patients become working partners with their health care providers in their diabetes care.”

Doctors, nurses and others in the health care field will receive access to software that will help them keep track of symptoms and blood sugar levels of their patients with diabetes.

Novo Nordisk, a health care company and world leader in diabetes care, gave ACP and the ACP Foundation an unrestricted educational grant for the three-year effort.

Diabetes is a condition in which either the body cannot produce insulin or cannot effectively use the insulin produced. Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which a person’s immune system attacks the pancreas and destroys the cells that make insulin. Type 2 diabetes, a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin, is the more common form of the disease. Symptoms of the disease are frequent urination, excessive thirst, extreme hunger, unusual weight loss, increased fatigue, irritability and blurry vision.