Big Changes Urged To Stop Diabetes From Overwhelming The Health Care System

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Main Category: Diabetes
Article Date: 11 Jun 2006 - 22:00 PDT

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Big changes are urgently needed to stem the growth of diabetes and its growing burden on the USA's health care system, says Dr. Robert Rizza, President of Medicine and Science, American Diabetes Association. He warned that unless significant changes take place, the next 30 years could see an explosion of deaths, heart attacks, strokes and other awful illnesses.

Dr. Rizza says the next 30 years could see, as a result of diabetes:

62 million deaths
35 million heart attacks
13 million strokes
6 million cases of renal failure
8 million cases of blindness and/or eye surgery
2 million lower limb amputations

Unless an outright cure for diabetes is found, the USA will most likely be facing a health care bill of $6.6 trillion over the next three decades. Dr. Rizza added that scientists are making tremendous progress towards an eventual cure for diabetes, but it would be foolish to say that one is just around the corner. Until there is a cure it is vital that every patient receives the best care available. In order to receive the best treatment and care, diabetes patients must…

…have a blood sugar level of under 7%
…have their blood pressure below 130/80 mmHg
…have their bad cholesterol (LDL) levels below 100 mg/dl
…have their good cholesterol (HDL) levels of at least 40 mg/dl for men and 50 mg/dl for women
…have their triglycerides levels below 100 mg/dl
…have a BMI below 25
…have one baby aspirin per day
…be non-smokers

Having this type of 'optimal care' in place would drastically reduce the number of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failures, eye diseases, amputations and early deaths, said Rizza. He said a daily 'polypill' for diabetes patients, one which could treat all the complications brought on by diabetes, would make for better compliance and a much lower incidence of complications from diabetes. This 'polypill' needs to be developed, he said.

Dr. Rizza said that if the rate of growth of the diabetes epidemic remains unchecked, the burden will become such that the economy will suffer seriously.

http://www.diabetes.org

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
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