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Task Force Targets U.S. Diabetes Epidemic

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Task Force Targets U.S. Diabetes Epidemic

From: Duke and the Doctor

Date: Fri May 16, 2003 2:35 pm

Subject: Task Force Targets U.S. Diabetes Epidemic

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A task force of experts in cardiology, endocrinology, diabetes education and health literacy on Monday 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.

In type 2 diabetes, the body loses its ability to properly use the blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin. It is more common among older adults -- although the increase in obesity and excess weight among young Americans has caused a related upswing in type 2 diabetes. Long-term complications include heart disease, blindness, kidney dysfunction and nerve damage.

A study published last July in the Journal of the American Medical Association identifies 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, said the health literacy problem isn't new but poses vexing communications issues.

"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," she explained.

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.

"This is not to replace in any way whatsoever patients' relationship with their physicians or their attendance at educational programs in the communities across the nation," Abrahamson added.

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