Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - State, private company join forces to prevent diabetes

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Tuesday, July 13, 1999

State, private company join forces to prevent diabetes

By Anna M. Tinsley
Scripps Howard Austin Bureau

   AUSTIN - State health officials are mounting a new attack against diabetes, which strikes thousands of Texans - many who don't even know it.
   Texas Health Commissioner William R. Archer on Monday signed an agreement with the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., a health and personal care provider, for a two-year pilot project designed to boost education and testing for diabetes, which can cause blindness and kidney failure and lead to strokes.
   Called the Texas Diabetes Prevention and Control Initiative, the project will enhance health department programs, including diabetes education, elementary school health, physical activity, prevention, disease management and annual eye exam programs.
   "Today, some 1.6 million Texans have diabetes, but half of them don't know they have it,'' Archer said. "I'm confident this special partnership will reduce both these numbers in future years and lead to longer healthier lives for our citizens.''
   In Nueces County, 124 people died from diabetes in 1997, according to health department statistics. Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian Americans and blacks have a higher risk of diabetes.
   Under the pilot project, Bristol-Myers Squibb will provide $1 million in funds and services. The money will go towards an education program for health care providers, towards activities to alert the public of diabetes symptoms and towards helping diabetes patients manage their disease.
   Also, an undetermined number of Texas cities will be chosen to hold screenings for the disease.
   Donna Jones, an information specialist for Texas Diabetes Program, said the screenings, which can lead to early detection of the disease, are essential.
   "If you identify this early enough, you can control or possibly prevent some of the side effects of the disease - from strokes to blindness to amputation, to kidney disease, to death,'' she said.
   Diabetes occurs when a body can't convert sugar from food into energy.
   Warning signs include frequent urination, drowsiness, excessive thirst, extreme hunger, dramatic weight loss, irritability and vomiting. Other signs are blurred vision, itching, tingling or numbness in feet and slow-healing cuts or sores.
   Those with diabetes are three times more likely than non-diabetics to develop heart disease or have a stroke.
   Each year in Texas, diabetes blinds as many as 2,391 people, causes about 1,169 cases of kidney disease and leads to many of the 3,200 amputations.
   Diabetes risk factors include a family history of diabetes, high or low blood sugar, being overweight, limited physical exercise and being 45 or older.



Scripps Howard Austin Bureau reporter Anna M. Tinsley can be reached at 512-478-9644 or by e-mail at tinsleya@scripps.com

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