Jul. 7--For years, Irena McClain, Associate Director of the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi, has served as a representative for the foundation in Meridian, Jackson, and Hattiesburg.
Now, for the first time in years, the foundation has designated a representative specifically for Meridian.
McClain and the foundation's executive vice president Mary Fortune talked with the Meridian Star Editorial Board about what changes can be expected in Meridian, what's going on with the foundation across the state, and common misconceptions about diabetes.
The Meridian Star: Can you tell me a little bit about the new office that's opening in Meridian?
Irena McClain: We have someone covering Meridian out of Jackson currently. We have a new representative that's covering there. We're looking for office space possibly, for a space for someone to sit there and work. That's what it is. But...we have a new representative covering that area for the first time in several years. We're really not sure at this point if we'll actually have a physical location, but we sure do have a lot of good volunteers over there.
Star: So, can Meridian expect to see anything different from the diabetes foundation as a result of this?
Fortune: Well, I think we'll see probably an increase in the patient assistance. We do a great deal of it right now in Meridian and the Lauderdale County area. We'll also have someone on the ground if there's another need or people need information. We help the uninsured that have no insurance or are underinsured and need supplies, insulin, meters, strips, or medicines. That's one of the things we do.
McClain: We'll also be present at a lot of the health fairs that we haven't covered before simply because we did not have a person there...And just raising diabetes awareness overall.
Star: I think there's a walk coming up, can you tell me about that. How people can get involved, and what's going on with that?
McClain: Yes, the walk for diabetes serves two purposes -- to raise awareness about diabetes, which is a major health problem in Mississippi, and also to raise funds for our programs. The Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi is a very program heavy organization. We have everything from programs for newly diagnosed children and teens, school programs to make sure that they're well taken care of at school and at day care. our assistants program, etc. And since we do not receive federal money for these programs the only way we do get money for them is to do it the old fashioned way, get out there and do things like our walk for diabetes. And that will be taking place at lovely Bonita Lakes on the lower lake where we've had it for several years on October 19th...And it's really worked out well, people come, you know they'll go to church in the morning and then come join us for the walk. We have a picnic afterwards. It's just a great, great time to be there. And it does a lot more for people to raise awareness.
Star: What are some misconceptions or things that a lot of people are unaware of about diabetes?
McClain: Well, there's a lot. One of the things is that you always have clear cut warning signs. That's not necessarily true. About half the people that
are diagnosed with the more prevalent form of diabetes, type II diabetes, really don't have any warning signs. They feel a little more fatigued than usual, but they don't always have those clear cut warning signs of increased thirst frequent urination, blurry vision, etc.
Fortune: People with type II diabetes may have it for up to 12 years before their diagnosis.
The Star: And how would you find out if you have diabetes?
McClain: Having your blood sugar checked.
The Star: And is that something that your doctor would normally check during a routine physical or would you have to request it?
Fortune: Well, they should, but sometimes you need to request it, and we also do those at our health fairs and screenings that we do, we check their blood glucose. And it's actually better to check the blood glucose to find pre-diabetes after a meal, two hours after a meal instead of doing it as a fasting test.
McClain: Yes...after you eat blood sugar shows disturbances up to a decade before the fasting. So you can find people with pre-diabetes which they can turn around by developing some lifestyle changes. They're not destined to develop diabetes. That's another misconception -- mom and dad have it, I'm going to get it no matter what I do. The national diabetes prevention program show that we can prevent up to 60 percent of cases of diabetes in high risk people. Exercising and eating healthily. And I think the exercise is really most important.
Fortune: And I think another misconception is that only children get type I diabetes and only adults get type II. We're now seeing adults being diagnosed with type I, which is insulin dependent, and we're seeing children as young as say 13, 12 years old being diagnosed with type II diabetes which used to be called maturity onset.
McClain: That's why we've gotten away from those terms juvenile or maturity onset or adult onset because they are in of themselves very misleading.
The Star: What's the difference between type I and type II diabetes?
Fortune Type I diabetes is insulin dependent, but type II diabetes sometimes can be controlled by diet alone. If it's not diet alone, they'll add oral medications to it, and if that doesn't do the trick they will actually go on insulin. But they're not insulin dependent, they're insulin requiring, so that's the difference.
The Star: Do they have different causes?
Fortune: Most definitely, they have different causes. They're actually almost two different diseases. Type I diabetes is usually an attack by the immune system on the beta cells of the pancreas, in many cases due to a virus. And that's why you'll see a child or an adult as the only person in that family with diabetes, because it's an immune attack on their beta cells. Type II diabetes usually does run in families, can be hereditary. It's usually caused by overweight, sedentary lifestyle.
The Star: A lot of people think of diabetes as something that people don't die from. A lot of people consider it as not that bad of a disease. What would you say to dispel that idea?
Fortune: Well, cardiovascular complications, that's strokes and heart attacks, are the leading diabetes complication, in addition to end stage renal disease.
McClain: You have adult onset blindness, non-traumatic amputation, and the thing is in this century we really don't need to be seeing people developing these complications. I mean, again, people are thinking I've got diabetes, these complications are inevitable. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Star: So they just need to maintain?
McClain: Medical care, family support, all those things are necessary to take care of your diabetes. No person is an island. You have to have that family support, you have to have that emotional support, you have to have good medical support. And you also have to be proactive and realize that this is something you can take care of.
The Star: Why is it that diabetes is causing people to have these amputations?
McClain: People lose their ability to feel, particularly with their feet. So they could step on something, develop and infection, and not know it until it's gotten way out of control and, you know, of course when you have a severe out of control infection you're at risk for developing gangrene, and that's what happens. It's the nerve damage. High blood sugar is poisonous. It's toxic to your nervous system, to your cardiovascular system. The reason why it causes blindness is because high blood sugar contributes to leaking in those little capillaries at the back of your eye, the retina, and that causes bleeds, and you can end up going blind.
The Star: So, basically, there is just a large variety of horrible things that can happen to your body if you don't take care of your diabetes.?
Fortune: And the thing is that people with diabetes look okay so people don't realize that there's something wrong.
McClain: And people live for a long time with diabetes as compared to say cancer, heart attack, etc., and so people may not realize all the damage that's going on. And the thing is we don't want to scare people...It can be controlled. The complications take years, even decades to come up. We do feel most people want to take the best care of themselves, and a lot of times people just aren't sure what they need to do. We have a lot of free information. People can call us and get copies of everything on diabetes from just overall taking care of yourself to psychosocial, nutrition, taking care of your feet, taking care of your heart and your kidneys, etc, so people can make some informed decisions and feel empowered.
The Star: Can you help people find doctors that specialize in diabetes care?
McClain: Yes, endocrenologists are diabetes specialists. There's also some very good priFortune care physicians out there caring for people with diabetes. So we certainly can recommend doctors to people, and you know, we call ourselves like sort of the all one place to give a call if you have a question about diabetes.
The Star: What's the number that people can call if they have questions?
McClain: 1-877-DFM-CURE, so that translates into 1-877-336-2873.
The Star: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
McClain: Let's see...we have our kid and parent diabetes camp, and our next session is coming up on November 1 at the Twin Lakes Conference Cente...And we also have our big diabetes super conference coming up January 24 at the Telcom Center in Jackson, for people with type I and type II diabetes.
Fortune: What our organization is about is providing hope for people that have diabetes, teaching them that diabetes is still about living, and living with diabetes is still about living. We're the can-do people. We're Mississippi's diabetes team. Our website is also packed with information, it's www.msdiabetes.org.
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