Texas Diabetes Council 2004-2005 State Plan

One and a half million Texans have diabetes, but more than 500,000 of them don't know it yet. Diabetes follows a stealthy course in many individuals who develop the disease. Sooner or later, however, diabetes demands attention in ways that are impossible to ignore.

Diabetes the body's inability to use sugar from the blood properly is one of the most serious public health problems in Texas today. Complications of diabetes are related to circulation problems that damage blood vessels and result in damaged limbs and organs. Diabetic complications affecting the nervous system range from impaired sensation in the extremities to lower limb amputations. Heart disease, high blood pressure, and strokes are more prevalent in people with diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease and blindness in adults 20 to 74 years old. And, although diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death listed on Texas death certificates, experts caution it is grossly under-reported.

As grim as these statistics are, Texas faces even more daunting prospects as our fast-growing state becomes increasingly populated by ethnic minorities who have been identified as being at higher risk for developing the disease. At the same time, Texans increased reliance on fast food and increasingly sedentary work and lifestyles contribute to a population that is growing more overweight or obese leading contributors to type 2 diabetes. And now Texas must grapple with the troubling trend of increased risk for type 2 diabetes in adolescents. More Texas youth are being diagnosed with what was once viewed as an adult disease, giving rise to potentially serious complications by the time these children reach their thirties.

Early identification and diligent disease management can delay the development of complications for years. But left under-treated, diabetes can take a destructive course with disabling effects on the body's major organs and systems.

Education and efforts to encourage Texans to maintain healthy eating habits and become more physically active and fit bring the biggest return in terms of prevention. With that impetus, the Legislature last session passed several bills aimed at promoting healthier, more active lifestyles for Texans including the requirement that Texas elementary school students participate in physical activity 30 minutes daily or at least 135 minutes weekly.

In pursuing its vision of a Texas free of diabetes and its complications, the Texas Diabetes Council has established goals in six priority areas to achieve its mission of reducing the health and economic burdens of diabetes in Texas. Underlying each priority is the need to educate Texans the health care team professionals who treat diabetes, patients with the disease, schools, community organizations, and statewide policy makers about both the dire consequences we face should we fail to act to prevent this worsening spiral of diabetes and the promising strategies that can delay or prevent the onset of some cases and most of the complications. For those in whom diabetes cannot be prevented, we must marshal Texas talents and resources self-care education, adequate supplies and medications, timely and thorough checkups, and care to help them live well with diabetes.

Until research provides a cure for diabetes, constant efforts to increase awareness, knowledge, and skills in our health sciences schools, our private and community health centers, our schools, and our local and state government are crucial to our success in controlling this destructive disease.

We have brought diabetes out of the shadow of obscurity and now focus on actions to limit the ravages that diabetes can bring. The economic costs of lost productivity, the health care costs of life-threatening complications, and the personal costs of limited fulfillment are costs our state can ill afford to pay.

Lawrence B. Harkless, DPM, Chair
Texas Diabetes Council