The disease is particularly prevalent in West
Virginia—almost 12 percent of the population has diabetes;
this is higher than the nationwide average of slightly more than 8 percent.
There are two kinds of diabetes.
One of those—type 1—is often genetic and only affects 5 percent of diabetics.
The other 95 percent of people with the disease have type 2. These national
statistics hold true in West Virginia,
too.
In a person with type 2 diabetes,
their pancreas is not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or their cells don’t
process the insulin properly. In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas makes no insulin.
Anise Nash is program coordinator
at the Bruce Chertow Diabetes Center at Marshall University.
She says rising diabetes rates can be partly attributed to a less active
lifestyle.
“Many of us have jobs that are more sedentary, so we don’t
get as much exercise as maybe our parents and grandparents,” Nash said. “Fast
food is available to us at such a convenient low-cost basis. We have
televisions.”
Scientists aren’t sure exactly what causes type 2 diabetes, but they think that
weight, lifestyle and genetics all play a role.
In West Virginia,
more than 68 percent of the population was overweight or obese in 2008,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This means a lot
of West Virginians are at risk for diabetes.
Once a patient develops the disease, complications can arise
quickly.
Dr. Linda Siminerio is the director of the University of Pittsburgh Diabetes Institute.
“What we’re finding is that people walk around with type 2
diabetes for years before they’re diagnosed,” she said. “And the clock for
diabetes is already ticking before the diagnosis. So they’ve already developed
blood vessel problems, which mean heart disease, which mean chances for
amputation.
“So sometimes they’re already coming into emergency rooms
with the complications of diabetes before they even recognize that they’ve got
the disease.”
Treating type 2 diabetes is different for every patient. Some patients can
manage their diabetes without medication, just by keeping careful track of
their diet and exercise and frequently testing their blood sugar. Others rely
on shots of insulin, as well as careful diet monitoring.
But health experts agree that the best diabetes prevention
is education. Nash says she’s frustrated not everyone can get treatment for a
condition known as pre-diabetes—she says most health insurance plans won’t
cover that kind of preventive care.
Nash says the best way to keep the disease from getting out
of control is to teach patients how to take care of themselves at the onset of
the disease.
“You know, we’re talking about the risk of diabetes
increasing,” she said. “How do we prevent that? Well, we talk about these
things early. We talk about meal planning, we talk about activity, we talk
about risk factors as soon as possible.”
Diabetes groups around the world are trying to do just that,
raising awareness about the disease and its complications. They’ve dedicated November
as National Diabetes Month and this past Saturday as World Diabetes Day.