Item #1
Diabetes
is a fact of life for more than 2.3 million blacks, yet fully a
third of those afflicted don't know they have the disease.
The
dilemma becomes even more unfortunate in light of a study
published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, which
indicates that diet and exercise can prevent most diabetes cases.
"What this shows is that individuals, especially those of
races highly susceptible to diabetes, can take a powerfully active
role in prevention," said Jerry Franz, American Diabetes
Association vice president for communications.
The study's findings indicate one can prevent diabetes, regardless
of race, through an average reduction of 7 percent in total body
weight, combined with at least 30 minutes of moderate physical
activity, such as walking, five times a week.
Individuals of all races benefit more or less equally from
adopting such a plan, but the findings offer special hope for such
high-risk groups as blacks, 1.7 times more likely to have diabetes
than non-Hispanic whites.
Blacks experience extremely high rates of at least three serious
complications caused by diabetes — blindness, amputation and
kidney failure. They are twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to
become blinded by diabetes complications that cause blood-vessel
walls in the retina to break down or weaken.
They are 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to suffer lower-limb
amputations, since high blood sugar from diabetes can cause nerve
damage and poor blood flow. The latter can keep sores and
infections from healing.
Finally, blacks with diabetes are 2.6 to 5.6 times more likely to
suffer from kidney disease than whites are.
Like Hispanics, people of African descent have greater
difficulties tolerating a diet high in fat, a characteristic of
today's average American diet.
Both groups have ancestors who generally lived a feast-or-famine
existence and, thus, became adept at more efficiently storing fat
to aid in survival during thin times.
However, blacks, Hispanics, American Indians and others with
similar ancient cultural backgrounds are, simply put, unequipped
to cope with the high-fat diet fostered by Caucasians in the New
World.
"Obesity is fairly common among African-Americans, and this
is largely a combination of both their genetics and their
environment," said Dr. Gary Holland in Abilene. "Both
circumstances provide an enormous pool of favorable conditions for
any number of diseases."
Diabetes affects the body's ability to produce or respond to
insulin, a hormone that allows blood glucose (blood sugar) to
enter the cells of the body and be used for energy.
The study simply reinforces what many diabetics and diabetes
educators already know: Diet and exercise can save lives.
"The problem is that most people don't seriously entertain
thoughts of prevention until it's too late, and that's true no
matter what race is being examined," said Donna Goble, a
diabetes educator with Hendrick Health System in Abilene.
"Once you have it, it doesn't go away, so it's always best to
prevent it entirely if you can."
The black community needs to become more aware of both signs and
symptoms of the disease as well as prevention and treatment
strategies, said Edith Smith, a Hendrick clinical educator. She
regularly takes a diabetes-awareness message to her church family
as well as almost anyone else who will listen.
"It's a drastic adjustment to your lifestyle once you're
diagnosed," said Smith, who has diabetes. "It's
something everyone needs to be aware of, no matter whether they're
black, white, Hispanic or Native American."
NEJM
2002-02-07
====================================================
DID
YOU KNOW?
11.1%
of African Americans in Mississippi have diabetes!
AND
Diabetes
In Control Has Over 1500Studies & Articles In Our Archives,
Which Allows You To Do A Search On Any Topic! Just go to: http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/search.shtml
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