North Carolina’s junior U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan (D) is betting that better awareness of issues surrounding diabetes on the part of the public and medical professionals could turn these trends around.
Nearly 10 percent of North Carolinians have diabetes, whereas the prevalence of the condition in Richmond County shot up from 12.4 percent in 2003 to 18.8 percent in 2007.
The disease, and related illnesses, is currently the fourth-leading cause of death in the county. FirstHealth found the mortality rate to be 40.2 per 100,000 cases.
Hagan is co-sponsoring a bill to provide better diabetes care by increasing training for health professionals, creating a state-by-state report card on the disease and the formation of a group to educate people about screening for the disease.
The Catalyst for Better Diabetes Care Act would also require those who prepare death certificates to record the incidence of diabetes in more deaths, and an outreach program to help seniors take advantage of free testing.
Hagan contends the bill could save the government a lot of money in health care costs if adopted into law.
“Not only is diabetes wreaking havoc on people’s health, it is also costing our country millions of dollars to treat,” Hagan said. “With proper detection and treatment, we can curb the staggering cost of diabetes, and people can live healthier and happier lives.”
According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 24 million people had the disease nationwide in 2007. By its estimates, the number of people in the U.S. with diabetes tripled between 1980 and 2006.
The North Carolina Department of Public Health pointed out that while diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the state, it is likely underreported. It cites studies stating it is likely that little more than a third diabetes patients have the condition listed on their death certificate, with only 10 to 15 percent having it listed as the underlying cause of death.
North Carolina’s a Diabetes Advisory Council provides services like a self-management curriculum and a publication entitled Diabetes Today with tips about the disease.
On its website, it says more than half a million North Carolinians have the disease, with the toll rising daily.
“Risk factors for diabetes – lack of exercise, being overweight or obese, and poor nutrition – are also on the rise,” the website reads. “The N.C. Diabetes Prevention and Control Program (DPCP) is working to reduce those numbers. No one government agency can address this issue; that’s why this fight is a cooperative venture – engaging community members, health professionals, and community institutions in understanding and responding to the burden of diabetes.”
The focus of the organization is the prevention of and screening for diabetes, as well as management for affected individuals.
Richmond County Health Director Dr. Tommy Jarrell said diabetes is a major concern in the region, and pointed to two separate public health issues with diabetes: Detection and management.
“First of all, there are a lot of people walking around here that have diabetes and don’t know it,” Jarrell said. “There needs to be more testing done for diabetes, and more education for those who have been tested and have diabetes, on how to manage the disease and improve their lives.”
He said a very high percentage of the patients seen at the primary clinic have diabetes.
“We really need constant education about the disease,” Jarrell continued. “Those people that do have it need more services available to them as well.”
FirstHealth Community Health Services Policy Director Roxanne Leopper said the hospital shares a diabetes educator with the county’s free clinic twice a week.
She also stressed screenings as key to fighting the disease, and said FirstHealth offers them free, along with other services. One is the self-management program that teaches people with diabetes how to cope with it.
“There is a lot happening in Richmond County concerning diabetes that this bill could compliment, and maybe take us to the next level,” she said. “This would be such a benefit for us to have.”
Jarrell explained that while diabetes is an indiscriminate condition, rates are traditionally higher in the African-American community.
“We’re also starting to see more children who are diagnosed with diabetes,” he said. “Most of it can most likely be attributed to obesity. There is just so much more obesity in children than there was five or 10 years ago, and that is one of the risk factors that contributes to diabetes.”
Both of these statements are confirmed by state data.
There are myriad complications that arise from diabetes when not properly treated. Some of the more common include heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, amputation, pregnancy complications and diabetic nerve disease.
“Diabetes has taken an enormous toll on our society’s health and economy,” Hagan continued on the Senate floor. “But in many cases the disease can be preventable. The Catalyst to Better Diabetes Care Act will address some of the fundamental obstacles that prevent us from tackling this disease.”
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