Health Tip: Caring for Foot Ulcers

Title: Health Tip: Caring for Foot Ulcers
Category: Health News
Created: 7/11/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/11/2016 12:00:00 AM

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Buruli ulcer: wound care and rehabilitation

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Sufficient Sleep May Help Protect Men Against Diabetes: Study

Title: Sufficient Sleep May Help Protect Men Against Diabetes: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/30/2016 12:00:00 AM

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Health Tip: When Your Blood Glucose Rises

Title: Health Tip: When Your Blood Glucose Rises
Category: Health News
Created: 6/30/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/30/2016 12:00:00 AM

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'Hacking' a Diabetes Cure?

Title: 'Hacking' a Diabetes Cure?
Category: Health News
Created: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM

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Access to diabetes medications and supplies are a necessity, not a luxury

Mississippi State Representative Jeffrey S. Guice’s June 27, 2016, email message to a family regarding Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage of diabetes supplies demonstrates a lack of knowledge about the daily and life-long challenges and costs of living with diabetes. We hope that this is an opportunity for Rep. Guice and many others to learn more about diabetes.

Diabetes is a complex and often misunderstood chronic health condition that affects nearly 30 million Americans, approximately one out of every 11 people, and includes approximately 200,000 children. It is also one of the nation’s leading chronic health care crises. According to the American Diabetes Association’s report, Economic Costs of Diabetes in the United States in 2012, the national health care costs of diabetes exceed $245 billion each year. The human costs are measured in the horrific complications, including blindness, amputation, heart disease, kidney failure, and death, that families like the one who wrote to Rep. Guice are seeking to avoid by having the tools they need to successfully manage diabetes.

According to the 2012 Economic Costs report, a person with diabetes can expect to have annual health care costs that are approximately 2.3 times, or an additional $7,872, more than someone who does not have diabetes. Because diabetes is a complex health condition, the challenges and costs associated with diabetes care can vary significantly from person to person. Some people are able to use less expensive prescription medications to effectively manage their diabetes, while others must use insulin and prescription medications and test their blood glucose many times a day. Being able to obtain the medications and supplies to manage diabetes is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.

Nicole Nichols, the mother of the child with type 1 diabetes who wrote to Rep. Guice, sought help with recent changes in obtaining diabetes supplies under Mississippi’s Medicaid/CHIP program. This situation is just one example of the difficulties individuals with diabetes and their families experience accessing the care they need to remain healthy. It was appropriate for the mother of the child with type 1 diabetes to alert elected officials to a problem with her state’s Medicaid/CHIP program and to seek help to rectify that problem. That’s advocacy, and it’s important.

The American Diabetes Association hopes Mississippi will take the steps needed to ensure vital diabetes supplies are available to those in the Medicaid and CHIP programs, and encourages open and respectful dialogue to engage, support and advocate for people with diabetes.

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Robert E. Ratner, MD, FACP, FACE
Chief Scientific & Medical Officer
American Diabetes Association

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25 Legends: Eric James

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of two American Diabetes Association^® signature fundraising events—Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes^® and Tour de Cure^®.

Every dollar raised at these events supports people living with diabetes and funds our life-changing research and programs.

The “25 Legends” blog series highlights personal stories from some of the Association’s most dedicated walkers and riders who are affected by the disease.

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My name is Eric James and I reside in Columbia, South Carolina. I have now lived with type 1 diabetes for nearly thirty years. My personal connection to diabetes, however, stems from long before I was diagnosed.

In 1973, my older brother, Bobby James, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 6 years old (I was only 3). Diabetes management was substantially different back then—he used urine strips to measure his blood glucose levels. Despite the rudimentary tools available to my brother, he seemed to handle his diabetes well and also managed to become the best big brother. 

In 1987, diabetes changed my own life forever. I was training for my 10th and final year of football and was in excellent physical condition. Despite being slim and muscular, I lost 10 pounds in the span of a week. As my appearance turned gaunt, it became clear that I needed to visit the doctor. Soon thereafter, I was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes—with a blood glucose reading of 1,200! My reaction to this news was stoic, perhaps predictably, as my big brother had already lived with the disease for 14 years. In an odd way, it gave me comfort to be more like him.

In our minds, my brother and I were invincible. And we lived that way. But though we did not want to admit it, diabetes was very much in control of our lives. We were two healthy-looking guys, but slowly and surely, our health entered a state of decline. On Dec. 25, 2002, my brother suddenly and unexpectedly passed away at the age of 36 due to complications from diabetes. This was a devastating blow to my entire family. Bobby was a central figure in our lives—and he was gone in an instant.

I knew I needed to drastically improve my own care, connect with the diabetes community and, ultimately, support others affected by the disease. When family members asked if I would consider riding in the 2003 South Carolina Tour de Cure, I jumped at the opportunity and said, “YES!”

That was when my Tour de Cure experience began. Since then, my team, “Bobby’s Bikers,” has had as many as 73 cyclists, ranked as the 12th-largest fundraising team in the nation and, to date, raised well in excess of $100,000 for the American Diabetes Association! I’m a Team Captain, a 14-year Red Rider veteran and a tenured member of the South Carolina Tour de Cure committee.

Since I began participating, my health has also taken an incredibly positive turn. Successfully managing carbs, activity and blood glucose are a part of my daily regimen thanks, in part, to Tour de Cure. I do not currently use an insulin pump or continuous glucose monitor, but I will likely embrace these tools in the coming years. Today, I can honestly say that diabetes no longer controls my life—I control it.

I continue to live, learn and share in my amazing community and will continue participating regularly in Tour de Cure, to make a difference for everyone affected by diabetes.

Together, we CAN Stop Diabetes.

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The Association is so grateful of our 25 Legends! Their tireless efforts as walkers and riders are a tremendous support and inspiration to people with diabetes.

Sign up today! Learn more about these events and find out how to get involved at diabetes.org/stepout and http://ift.tt/1qKFQGM.

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