article about Diabetes

What Kind of Diabetes Do You Have?

Diabetes is not a single disease with a single cause. Rather, it is a collection of diseases, some more difficult to control than others. All forms of diabetes involve a hormone (body regulator) from the pancreas called insulin. If you have diabetes, either you lack insulin or the insulin you have is not doing its job properly. The result is that instead of being stored for energy through the action of insulin, the foods you eat (primarily the starches or carbohydrates) raise your blood sugar to higher-than-normal levels. Without treatment, your blood sugar remains high and has the potential of adversely affecting every organ and system in your body. With treatment, the insulin problem can be solved, and your blood sugar can be brought down or normalized so that the body is not damaged. A person with diabetes can thus remain healthy and look forward to a normal life span.

Who Gets Diabetes?

In 1977, the Diabetes Data Group (a government-appointed group of the National Diabetes Advisory Board) reported that an estimated $6 billion is spent each year in this country on diabetes, for direct costs (medical care) and indirect costs (lost work time, etc.). In 1984, according to the report, "Diabetes in America," the loss was reportedly $14 billion annually. And in 1989, the cost was estimated to be $20.6 billion -- roughly 3.6 percent of total U.S. health-care costs. This is an average cost per year of $2,000 for each insulin-dependent person. The most recent statistics are somewhat frightening. Data from 1997 from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that there are now 15.7 million Americans with diabetes, or 5.9 percent of the population. Two-thirds of these people have been diagnosed, and one-third are as yet undiagnosed. There are 798,000 new cases of diabetes diagnosed each year and 193,140 deaths directly attributable by death certificates to diabetes, though death certificate data underestimate the true incidence of death due to diabetes and its complications. The cost of the disease is also rising rapidly. Total cost of diabetes in 1997 was estimated by the ADA as $98 billion. Some estimates have ranged as high as $138 billion. The amount of $98 billion represents 10 percent of the total health-care expenditure, and the higher number represents 15 percent of the health-care dollar. The latter number would mean that while diabetes occurs in only 1 out of every 17 people it takes 1 out of every 7 health-care dollars. Yet diabetes receives less than 1 percent of the national research budget or less than 1 out of every 100 research dollars. This is a serious problem that must be challenged if we are to find a cure and end this costly disease. We need to get the message to Congress that they need to look again at priorities and allocate the proper proportion of the research budget to diabetes. "As bad as these bare numbers are, we must also remember that those who suffer losses due to diabetes are not just statistics on a chart. They are people whose talents and wisdom are needed and whose problems deserve our unified efforts. Together we can join to make life more just and more joyful for generations to come." This is a quote from Dr. David Satcher who was then the director of the CDC and is now the Surgeon General of the United States.
While the numbers are bad, there is hope. Progress is being made, and life for people with diabetes gets better each day. Education of people with diabetes is one way to improve control of diabetes and quality of life and even save money. Many studies have been reported that show great cost savings -- as much as $3 million per year, in one program -- through patient teaching and proper medical care.