Diabetes Remains a Leading Killer in the U.S.
U.S. Surgeon General in Wichita to Launch New Pilot Project

In commemoration of Diabetes Awareness Month, U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona will be the keynote speaker today at the Diabetes Detection Initiative kickoff event at the Mid-America All-Indian Center in Wichita. Wichita is one of ten sites from across the country to be selected to pilot a project designed to find people who have undiagnosed or unrecognized diabetes. Roderick L. Bremby, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), will also be in Wichita to speak in support of the project.

KDHE’s Diabetes Prevention and Control Program, in partnership with U.S. Health and Human Services Region VII Office, and the Kansas Association of the Medically Underserved, are launching the Diabetes Detection Initiative in Wichita to help identify those at risk for diabetes and refer them for diagnosis. The DDI project will continue through August 2004. Wichita was selected based on community capacity as well as increased prevalence of diabetes among certain populations.

Approximately 17 million Americans have diabetes and only 11 million of them have been diagnosed. The remaining 6 million Americans have diabetes but do not know it. Diabetes is now the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. and cost the nation $132 billion in 2002.

Left undetected and untreated serious problems such as heart disease and stroke, blindness, lower limb amputations and kidney failure can develop. Early diagnosis and proper treatment of diabetes can delay, and even prevent, the progression of these serious health problems. Because the clinical diagnosis of diabetes usually occurs about 7-10 years after disease onset, many of the complications (eye and kidney disease for example) already exist.

Diabetes - common, serious, and costly in Kansas

In 2001, there were 115,427 adults in Kansas, 5.8% of the adult population, with diagnosed diabetes. It is estimated that diabetes complications in the previous year created 197 new cases of blindness, 598 lower extremity amputations, and 335 new cases of end-stage renal disease. In addition, there were 38,640 diabetes-related hospitalizations. The direct cost (medical care) and indirect cost (lost productivity and premature mortality) of diabetes in Kansas totaled about $1.3 billion in 2001. There are about 1,245,000 Kansans, almost 50% of the population, estimated to be at increased risk for undiagnosed diabetes because of the risk factors of age, overweight, and sedentary lifestyle.

Finding the undiagnosed

Earlier this month, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced a new community-based effort to identify persons with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes and refer them for follow-up blood testing and treatment if appropriate. The focus of this initiative is to help Americans better understand their diabetes risk and take appropriate actions based on those risks.

The Secretary's Diabetes Detection Initiative: Finding the Undiagnosed (DDI) supports HHS' Steps to a HealthierUS and the President's HealthierUS programs to create a healthier, prevention-oriented society. The goals of the DDI are to increase blood testing for individuals who are at high-risk for diabetes and to increase diagnosis for those with unrecognized diabetes.

As a broad-based community effort, the DDI encourages individuals to determine their risk for undiagnosed diabetes using a customized paper risk assessment tool adapted from the American Diabetes Association. The results of this self-administered risk assessment tool will give the individual a clear message regarding appropriate blood testing to confirm the risk. A finger stick/capillary blood test will be part of the medical assessment that takes place in a health care site and this result, combined with other information, will inform the health care provider of the need for further testing to diagnose diabetes. Risk tests will be distributed through a variety of community channels including social- service, faith-based, grass- roots and fraternal organizations and retail outlets.

Diabetes, cause and symptoms

Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the body does not produce insulin (Type 1) or properly use insulin (Type 2). Insulin is a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy. About 90 percent of the 17 million Americans with diabetes have Type 2.

Symptoms of diabetes can include increased thirst, unusual weight loss, constant hunger, blurred vision, extreme fatigue, tingling or numbness of hands or feet, frequent infections, and slow-healing wounds and sores. However, a person can have diabetes for many years without symptoms.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment recommends people with diabetes follow these guidelines for a healthier and better quality life:

• Be examined by a primary care physician several times a year.
• Follow a schedule that ensures vigorous physical activity several times each week.
• Take all prescribed medications.
• Test or have someone else test your blood sugar levels regularly.
• Arrange with your doctor to get a hemoglobin A1c test at least twice a year. (This test shows how good your blood sugar control is.)
• Get a flu shot each year - Diabetics without this protection are 3 times as likely as non-diabetics to die of influenza infections.

More information about the Diabetes Detection Initiative can be accessed at www.ndep.nih.gov. More information about diabetes in general can be accessed at www.kdheks.gov/diabetes/ , or www.cdc.gov/diabetes/, or www.diabetes.org.

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