Health
Literacy Group Targets U.S. Diabetes Epidemic
A task force of experts in cardiology, endocrinology,
diabetes education and health literacy announced
the launch of an initiative to help raise public
awareness and understanding of type 2 diabetes.
With funding from pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline,
the newly created Diabetes Literacy Board said
it intends to develop educational materials to
help patients and families recognize the symptoms,
risk factors and long-term complications of type
2 diabetes and insulin resistance.
An estimated 17 million Americans have diabetes,
yet research suggests many individuals do not
understand the disease or its potentially serious
complications.
A study published last July in the Journal of
the American Medical Association identified a
link between low health literacy and poor blood
sugar control in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Separately, a 2001 survey of 532 adults with type
2 diabetes sponsored by the American Heart Association
found about half did not fully understand the
disease.
"The challenge is really going to be to see
if we can--and how we can--make a mark on these
individuals," said Dr. Martin Abrahamson,
chief of adult diabetes at Boston's Joslin Diabetes
Center and chairman of the 10-member Diabetes
Literacy Board.
Bernadette King, product communications director
for Glaxo, explained that "As we looked at
insulin resistance, which is a core defect of
type 2 diabetes...what became very clear is that
consumers really don't understand the mechanism
of diabetes."
The question is "How do we talk about this
in a way that's really easy to understand?"
King said. "Collectively, we were all scratching
our heads about how to do that."
While Glaxo does not serve on the board, it has
pledged to fund any educational materials the
board develops.
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FACT:
25% of Patients with Diabetes Fail to Experience
Warning Signs of Myocardial Ischemia. Patients
with type 2 diabetes appear no less sensitive
to myocardial ischemia than are comparable subjects
without diabetes, 25% of both, fail to experience
the warning signs, researchers report in the April
15th issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.
