Investment in diabetes research will payoff
Image via WikipediaEvery day in this country, there is a silent killer among us. It's more deadly than breast cancer and AIDS combined. Unless we join together and continue to fund our nation's effort to stop this epidemic, we will be unable to stop it.I was diagnosed with diabetes about 20 months ago and needless to say it was a life changing experience. Getting used to a new diet and taking a tackle box full of medications has gotten the disease under control, but there are constant reminders that things are not as they should be. I see a diabetes specialist, an eye doctor, a foot doctor and a primary care physician as well as various testing specialist. The care I have received has been excellent, but at the story suggest finding a cure for this disease would save money that is now spent on all this treatment.
Nearly 26 million Americans are living with diabetes, and an additional 79 million have prediabetes and are at high risk for developing this terrible disease. Diabetes is serious, costly and deadly — and a threat to our nation's health care system and economy. One out of every five health care dollars is spent caring for someone with diagnosed diabetes, while one in ten health care dollars is attributed to diabetes. The national price tag for diabetes-related costs, including undiagnosed diabetes, prediabetes and gestational diabetes is a shocking $218 billion per year. Costly complications such as amputations, blindness and kidney disease will continue to grow unless we fund diabetes programs aimed at finding a cure and preventing needless tragedies.
Given this magnitude, our nation can no longer afford to ignore the facts. Congress must join us by supporting critical investments in diabetes research and prevention in fiscal year 2012 and providing the highest possible funding for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. In addition, Congress needs to support diabetes prevention activities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Diabetes Translation and provide funding from the Prevention and Public Health Fund to scale up the proven, community-based National Diabetes Prevention Program. These programs produce incredible returns on investment: saving lives, improving the future for people with diabetes and moving us closer to finding a cure.
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I am not one to complain about what life has given me, but he biggest problems have been double vision in one eye and difficulty in keeping my balance. I have to limit my time on a ladder and have taken a few spills.
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