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State of Diabetes in America
New Report Reveals America's Diabetes Health is in
Jeopardy
Calls Attention to Major Health Issue for Senior
Citizens
May 18, 2005 - A first-of-its-kind report released
today by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE)
revealed that from 2003 to 2004, two out of three Americans with type 2
diabetes, analyzed in a study of more than 157,000 patients, were not in
control of their blood sugar, failing to meet AACE's target A1C goal of
6.5% or less. Half of all diabetes cases occur in older people over 54.
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How are older adults especially affected
by diabetes? |
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As we age, our risk for
developing diabetes increases. Approximately half of all
diabetes cases occur in people aged 55 years and older.
Approximately 18.3% (8.6 million) of people in the United States
aged 60 years and older have diabetes. Diabetes often leads to
chronic conditions that eventually result in death, such as
heart disease and kidney disease. Thus, diabetes is often
behind, but not listed as, the cause of many deaths.
See the following for more
information:
Dealing with Diabetes*
from the National Institute on Aging
Its Not Too Late to Prevent Diabetes
from the National Diabetes Education Program
Cognitive and Physical Disabilities and
Aging-Related Complications of Diabetes,*
a professional journal article from the American Diabetes
Association |
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In addition, a state-by-state ranking of blood
sugar control -- contained in the new "State of Diabetes in America"
Report -- shows that there is significant room for improvement in
diabetes management as the majority of people studied in every state,
including the District of Columbia, were not in control of their blood
sugar levels. The new Report was presented at AACE's 14th Annual Meeting
and Clinical Congress.
Despite the new Report findings, the vast majority
(84%) of Americans with type 2 diabetes who were polled as part of a
national survey agree that they are doing a good job of managing their
diabetes by controlling their blood sugar. More than 18 million
Americans are affected by diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, the most common
form of diabetes, accounts for 90 to 95% of all diagnosed diabetes
cases.
"Despite major advances in diabetes care and the
variety of tools available to help people with type 2 diabetes manage
the condition, this Report suggests that America's type 2 diabetes
population is struggling to control their blood sugar levels and affirms
the outcomes from our recent Implementation Consensus Conference," said
Carlos R. Hamilton, Jr., M.D., FACE, President of AACE, an organization
of endocrinologists who are medical experts in treating diabetes. "Type
2 diabetes is of urgent concern and these findings must serve as a
wake-up call for America that more needs to be done to help lower A1C
levels across the country and ultimately, manage this epidemic."
About A1C
The "State of Diabetes in America" Report offers
critical information about blood sugar levels throughout the United
States, as measured by the A1C test. The A1C test measures a person's
average blood sugar levels over the previous two to three months. The
A1C test complements daily blood sugar monitoring, taken at home, which
shows blood sugar levels at the time the test is taken.
AACE recommends an A1C target level of 6.5% or less. This is significant
since every 1% increase above 6% elevates a person's risk of serious --
and potentially life-threatening -- diabetes-related complications such
as stroke, heart attack and loss of limbs. It is important, however,
that people with type 2 diabetes speak with their doctor or other
healthcare professional about setting their own personal A1C goal. Meal
planning, regular physical activity, and if needed, medicine, alone or
in combination, are the cornerstones to achieving A1C goals. When diet
and exercise do not work to reach A1C goals, one or more medications may
be prescribed to help control blood sugar levels.
"The medical community needs to intervene earlier
and more aggressively to control blood sugar because of the link between
high A1C levels and diabetes-related complications. This may mean adding
a medicine, or a combination of medicines that help to treat diabetes in
different ways, to a person's treatment regimen of diet and exercise,"
said Jaime A. Davidson, M.D., FACE, who chaired ACE/AACE's recent
Implementation Consensus Conference. "We also need to encourage people
with type 2 diabetes to take control of their own health by educating
them about the central role they themselves play in the long-term
management of their diabetes."
Gaps in Knowledge Revealed
A nationwide survey carried out in conjunction with
a new campaign called the "State of Diabetes in America: Striving for
Better Control" revealed that while almost all (98%) people diagnosed
with type 2 diabetes agree that blood sugar control is important, the
majority (61%) do not know what the A1C test is. Moreover, even after
being told what it is, half of all those surveyed (51%) do now know what
their last A1C number was.
Public Awareness Campaign Launched to Address Issue
Based on the Report and the survey findings, the
"State of Diabetes in America: Striving for Better Control" campaign is
designed to improve diabetes management in the U.S. by providing people
with type 2 diabetes the tools to help them control blood sugar levels
and giving them an easy-to-understand "road map" for successful diabetes
management. The key principles of the campaign center around what people
with type 2 diabetes can do to get their blood sugar numbers down.
As a first step, AACE is encouraging the many
Americans with type 2 diabetes to join together in taking an "oath" to
better control blood sugar levels. To take the oath, learn more and
receive a free diabetes-friendly cookbook, people with type 2 diabetes
should visit
http://www.stateofdiabetes.com/ or call (800) 704-4694.
About the Campaign Sponsors
AACE is a professional medical organization
consisting of over 5,200 practicing clinical endocrinologists devoted to
furthering patient care in the field of endocrinology. AACE is committed
to transforming the lives of patients by enabling one another to
practice leading edge, proactive, ethical and cost effective medicine.
All members of AACE are fully licensed physicians
and fully trained in endocrinology. The majority are board certified in
internal medicine and subspecialty certified in adult or pediatric
endocrinology. AACE members are recognized clinicians and educators, and
many are affiliated with medical schools and universities. Members
contribute on a regular and continuing basis to the scientific
literature on endocrine diseases and conduct medical education programs
on this subject.
For more information on AACE, please visit
http://www.aace.com/ or
http://www.powerofprevention.com/.
GlaxoSmithKline has provided funding and other
support to AACE for the "State of Diabetes in America: Striving for
Better Control" campaign. GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world's leading
research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, is committed to
improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel
better and live longer.
Note to Editor: A state-by-state ranking of blood
sugar control from the "State of Diabetes in America" Report follows.
Data for the Report were provided by Surveillance Data Inc. (SDI), the
leading provider of real-time localized illness tracking and modeling
data to the healthcare industry. To obtain a full copy of the Report,
please contact Lisa Martins from Cohn & Wolfe at (212) 798-9819.
About the Patient Survey: The telephone survey was
conducted by Harris Interactive(R) for the "State of Diabetes in
America: Striving for Better Control" campaign in April 2005 among a
nationwide sample of 501 U.S. adults ages 18 and over who have been
diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Figures for age, gender, education,
race/ethnicity, region and income were weighted where necessary to align
them with their proportions in the population according to the 2004
National Health and Wellness Survey. In theory, with probability samples
of this size, Harris Interactive estimates with 95% certainty that the
results have a sampling error of +/- 4 percentage points.
State-by-State Rankings (2003 to 2004)
Table A is a state-by-state ranking showing the
percentage of people studied who were above the A1C goal of 6.5%. The
higher the ranking, the greater the percentage of people who were not in
control of their blood sugar levels. A total of 39 states and
Washington, D.C., are included. Data for the Report were provided by
Surveillance Data Inc. (SDI).
Table A
RANK STATE PERCENT RANK STATE PERCENT
1) MS 72.8 17) KS 67.0
2) IL 72.6 18) KY 66.8
3) UT 72.4 18) DC 66.8
4) OH 71.7 19) DE 66.4
5) AL 71.3 19) IN 66.4
5) LA 71.3 20) SC 66.3
6) NY 71.1 21) MO 66.2
7) PA 70.9 22) NC 65.7
8) AR 69.6 23) TN 65.6
9) WV 69.5 23) OK 65.6
10) GA 69.3 24) MI 65.4
11) NM 68.6 25) OR 64.2
12) WA 68.4 26) FL 63.9
13) MD 68.1 27) ID 63.3
14) VA 67.7 28) WY 63.0
14) TX 67.7 29) AK 61.8
15) NJ 67.3 30) MN 59.3
15) AZ 67.3 31) IA 58.9
15) NV 67.3 32) NE 56.5
16) CO 67.1 33) MT 55.2
Table B lists states for which SDI data were not
available. Hence, it is based on HEDIS(R) Quality Comparisons data from
2003, which shows the percentage of people with diabetes who were above
A1C of 9%. The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) provides
HEDIS data, which are often used by managed care organizations to
measure performance and healthcare quality in key disease areas,
including diabetes.
Table B
RANK STATE PERCENT RANK STATE PERCENT
1) CA 34.5 6) ME 27.0
2) HI 33.1 7) VT 26.7
3) ND 29.7 8) SD 24.6
4) RI 29.5 9) WI 24.2
4) MA 29.5 10) NH 20.4
5) CT 28.4
Source: American
Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
CONTACT: Sissy C. Horn, Sarah Bradley both of
American Association of
Clinical Endocrinologists, +1-904-353-7878, ext. 122, 136; or Lisa
Martins of
Cohn & Wolfe Healthcare, +1-212-798-9819, Cell: +1-917-292-0905, for
American
Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
Web site:
http://www.powerofprevention.com/
http://www.aace.com/
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