371 - Diabetes Updates ...

Most of you know that I am and have been diabetic for 40 years now so every time I see headlines about diabetes I read the article. Here are 3 articles that I found this weekend.

Diabetes' Health Toll Hits $174 Billion Annually

The research, commissioned by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), found medical care costs for people with diabetes were about $116 billion, and a disproportionate percentage of those costs resulted from the treatment and hospitalization of people with diabetes-related complications.

About one out of every five health-care dollars in the United States is spent caring for someone with diagnosed diabetes. Last year, diabetes caused more than 284,000 deaths in the United States.

"The findings reaffirm that diabetes is a public health crisis and its implications are painful and far-reaching," Ann L. Albright, president of health care and education at the ADA, said in a prepared statement. "This underscores the importance of early diagnosis and treatment. Diabetes becomes much more costly in financial and human terms when the disease is not properly treated."

The economic costs of diabetes in 2007 were estimated to be $58 billion, a figure that includes reduced productivity of both people in the labor force and unpaid workers, unemployment from diabetes-related disability, and increased absenteeism.

It's believed that about 6 million people in the United States have undiagnosed diabetes, which means the actual total cost of diabetes in 2007 may have been much more than $174 billion, the study said.

"Diabetes plagues more than just the individual with the disease. It is common, it is costly, it creates numerous complications, and there is no cure. Until we start reversing current trends, through increased awareness, prevention and aggressive disease management, diabetes will continue to have an adverse impact on our society as a whole," R. Stewart Perry, ADA's chairman of the board, said in a prepared statement.

The findings were discussed Wednesday at a Congressional briefing in Washington, D.C.

-- Robert Preidt
SOURCE: American Diabetes Association, news release, Jan. 23, 2008

Illness Presents Diabetics With Special Challenges

"People with diabetes have special considerations when they are under the weather," Ann Albright, the ADA's president of health care and education, said in a prepared statement. "It is important to have a plan with your health-care team in place before you become sick to avoid getting worse. It is also critical to get a flu shot every year to potentially avoid getting influenza."

The ADA offers the following diabetes-management tips for diabetics who are ill:
Check blood glucose levels every three to four hours. Also, if you've been instructed by your health-care team, check for ketones in your urine every few hours. Ketones, a waste product produced when the body begins to use stored fat for energy, can build up if a diabetic doesn't take insulin at regular intervals. High ketone levels can lead to ketoacidosis, which can lead to coma or death.

Unless told otherwise by your doctor, don't stop taking insulin or other medications.
Even if you've lost your appetite, try to eat. The ADA recommends at least 15 grams of carbohydrates about every hour.

If you're vomiting or have diarrhea, or have a fever, try to drink a cup of fluid each hour to prevent dehydration. If your blood glucose level is too high, try sugar-free liquids such as water or broth. If your blood glucose level is low, try drinking liquids with about 15 grams of carbohydrates in them, such as a half a cup of apple juice or one cup of milk.

Talk to your doctor before you take any over-the-counter cold or flu medicines, because some of them can increase blood glucose or blood pressure levels.

Call your doctor if: there is a rise in ketones or if there are ketones in your urine for more than 12 hours; if you've been vomiting or had diarrhea for more than six hours; if you have a fever that keeps going up or one that lasts more than a day; if you have abdominal pain; or if you can't control your blood glucose levels.

-- Robert Preidt
SOURCE: American Diabetes Association, news release, January 2008


Breast Size MayIndicate Diabetes Risk

Young women with larger breasts may be at a higher risk of diabetes in adulthood, a Canadian study suggests.

The study, published in the Jan. 29 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found the larger a woman's bra cup size is at age 20, the greater her risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life.

Working with the U.S.-based Nurses' Health Study II, which started in 1989 and tracks 116,609 women from 14 states with biennial questionnaires on their health and lifestyles, the Canadian researchers assessed the onset of Type 2 diabetes between 1993 and 2003 in 92,106 participants. They excluded participants who did not include information about breast size or body mass index as well as those already diagnosed with diabetes.

They found the age-adjusted risk of developing Type 2 diabetes was two times higher for a B cup, four times higher for a C cup and five times higher for a D cup or larger than for women with the smallest cup size.

After adjusting for conventional risk factors such as family history, diet and exercise, they found the risk to be 1.3 times higher for women with a B cup at 20 compared to women who wore an A cup. For women with C and D cups, the risk was found to be 1.7 and 1.6 times higher respectively.

The study also suggests that women with the largest cup sizes develop diabetes on average about two years earlier, at age 44, than those with the smallest cup size, at 46 years.

Researchers say this is the first study to look at the link between breast size and diabetes.

"The scientific community has long cited the role of obesity as an established risk factor for Type 2 diabetes," said study lead Joel Ray, a physician at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital, in a release. "While an elevated body mass index (BMI) and the distribution of fat around the abdomen are strongly linked to the onset of Type 2 diabetes, little is known about the impact of breast fat.

"Our study's significant findings suggest a fair correlation between the two, independent of other important factors such as BMI and waist size, and the need for further targeted research," he said.

He said follow-up research is planned to see if breast reduction surgery causes any change in insulin resistance.

Doctors question whether large breasts carry particular risks or whether it is another sign of being overweight, a risk factor for the disease.

Dr. Thomas Ransom, an endocrinologist with Halifax's Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre says bra cup sizes are a marker of obesity.

"It's not so much the big breast size of itself, but I think women who are overweight or obese should be concerned. And this is just another marker," he told CBC News. "It sort of correlates and it's really not a surprise."

He said waist circumference is a stronger indicator of Type 2 diabetes risk.

SOURCE: CBC, news release, January 2008