On Monday, July 12, 2010 I attended the Pre-Diabetes Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill held in cooperation with Congressional Diabetes Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Diana DeGette and Rep. Mike Castle and co-sponsored by Results for Life, the American Diabetes Association, Novo Nordisk, and The Endocrine Society. I was astonished to learn that there are 57 million Americans living in danger of developing type II diabetes. For 40 percent of these individuals, full blown type II diabetes is expected to be a reality in as few as 3-8 years. And diabetes is not their only concern. Diabetes translates to a 50 percent increased risk of heart disease or stroke and complications from hypertension, kidney disease, and neurological problems.
In the face of these staggering statistics, I was pleased to hear of the critical efforts from organizations working hard to fight this disease. One speaker in particular, Ann Albright, PhD, RD, Director of the Division of Diabetes Translation for the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) spoke about the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), and struck my interest when speaking about possible solutions. The DPP has a success rate of preventing diabetes in 58 percent of pre-diabetes cases through lifestyle intervention such as training in diet, exercise, and behavior modification and reduces the risk 71 percent in patients above 60 years of age. Now that the CDC and Prevention has these results, they are working to translate their efforts into an actionable program for all pre-diabetic Americans. Not an easy or small task. Dr. Albright said the CDC is partnering with YMCA’s all around the country to provide the DPP program-a smart choice considering they are located within three miles of 57 percent of all households. The partnership is a good start, but now the CDC is looking to find other organizations to get on board and join the fight against diabetes in order to make a true impact across the country.
As Dr. Albright said, “Just because you build it doesn’t mean people will come.”
Tags: diabetes
