MEDICAL SURFARI: TOO SWEET IT IS! DIABETES AFFECTS MANY

Diabetes mellitis (sugar diabetes) touches the lives of many Southeast Missourians. On any day, 40 to 60 percent of all patients hospitalized in this region's hospitals have diabetes as either a primary or secondary diagnosis. These patients often have an increased length of stay in the hospital as well as an increased risk for complications due to their diabetes.

As the "baby boomers" continue to age, diabetes is becoming more common in our population. November has been dedicated as National Diabetes Month in an effort to raise public awareness about the signs and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and support available to people with this disorder.

Who is especially at risk?

Blood relatives of people with diabetes, women with unexplained miscarriages and stillbirths or who have large babies weighing more than 9 nine pounds at birth, African-Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, people with high blood pressure, people who are overweight and people older than 65.

Diabetes mellitis is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism. Carbohydrates are so named because of the combination of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and they are usually in the proportion to form water. The most important carbohydrates are the starches, sugars and celluloses. This type of diabetes is a syndrome characterized by high blood sugar, resulting from secretion of too little and/or ineffective insulin. Uncontrolled diabetes can harm your nervous system, kidneys, heart, blood vessels and your eyes. These problems generally do not develop rapidly, but may develop over some time if the disorder goes untreated or uncontrolled. Successful treatment of this disorder depends as much, if not more, upon the patient than on the doctor. Once correctly diagnosed, successful treatment depends upon a thorough understanding of the disorder, as well as conforming to your doctor's instructions.

Every day, more and more people are learning to use the Internet as a resource for up-to-date medical information and support services for people with a particular medical condition. They also want to be well-informed about ways to maintain health for themselves and their families. They are learning that these resources help them understand more about their own, or their family member's, medical condition. Medical information on the Internet is often presented in such a way that it is easy to understand and allows for the reader to ask questions if they do not understand and/or need more help. Computer sites are available in our community and other surrounding communities for people to access this type of information. This service is usually free of charge and an expert familiar with Internet access is usually available.

World Wide Web Information Resources:

The following sites are credible sources of current information for diabetics, their families, or anyone particularly interested in diabetes.

-- American Diabetes Association (ADA)

http:\\www.diabetes.org\

This site offers an online diabetes risk test. Every state in the United States has a chapter of the ADA and this site links to each of those chapters. The Diabetes Advocate, The ADA newsletter, is also online here. This site also showcases the latest in diabetes research and new product information. It is well organized and current.

-- Children with Diabetes

http:\\www.castleweb.com\diabetes\

This site has been rated among the top 5 percent of all websites and is a remarkably good online information source for children with diabetes. It has a searchable index that makes locating information a breeze. It contains exhaustive lists of online resources: doctors willing to answer your questions, a list of camps for children with diabetes, cookbooks, a diabetes dictionary, information on glucose meters and accompanying software, lists of online magazines, chat rooms, and information for teachers. The list goes on and on.

-- Diabetes Monitor

http:\\www.mdcc.com\

This site monitors cyberspace for any useful information about diabetes mellitis and it provides it to you with one-stop access. These web pages are bursting with information on all aspects of diabetes. It is so well-organized that most of the information is available in less than three clicks of the mouse. This one should surely be "bookmarked."

-- Cost of Care

http:\\www.ndei.org\newframe2.htm

Many people are concerned with the cost of health care. Medicare will cover diabetes outpatient self-management training services and blood testing supplies as of July 1. And a new Missouri law requires insurers, as of Jan. 1 to offer coverage of all physician-prescribed, medically appropriate and necessary equipment, supplies, and self-management training for people with diabetes.

Public access to the Internet is available at Cape Girardeau Public Library, Riverside Regional libraries, Kent Library and Generations.

Dr. Scott Gibbs is a neurosurgeon and editor-in-chief of Mosby's medical Surfari. You may e-mail questions to him at drgibbs@semissourian.com or write in care of the Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63701.