San Francisco Sun Reporter
04/15/2002
The facts are
clear: The diabetes epidemic that is sweeping the U.S. is hitting the African
American community particularly hard, according to doctors. They report: Of the
16 million Americans with diabetes, an estimated 2.3 million are African
Americans. For every six white Americans who develop diabetes, 10 African
Americans develop the disease. Death rates in people with diabetes are 27
percent higher for African Americans compared with whites.
African Americans with diabetes are more likely to develop diabetes
complications and experience greater disability from the complications than
whites. These include kidney failure, vision impairment and amputations.
Meanwhile, the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston has recently received initial
funding from Alameda, CA-based Thera Sense, which manufactures and markets the
FreeStyle blood glucose monitoring system, to begin a diabetes awareness
campaign targeted specifically at African Americans.
"This effort is particularly timely given the results of a recent study by
the Harvard School of Public Health published in the March 13 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association showing a gap in the quality of
health care African Americans receive in many areas, including diabetes,"
said a spokesperson. "Research shows that people with diabetes can have a
profound influence on how the disease affects them long-term and short-term.
People who effectively use weight management, diet, exercise, home blood sugar
monitoring and medication to keep their blood sugars in as close to normal a
range as possible can reduce their risk of diabetes complications by nearly 60
percent."