JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Diabetes, the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States, has reached epidemic proportions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 26 million Americans have been affected.
The incidence of diabetes in the military, estimated at about 5 percent of the active-duty population, is likewise a cause for concern.
At the Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Medical Clinic, the health management team is calling attention to the disease during National Diabetes Awareness Month.
Deborah Jirinzu, 359th Medical Group health management registered nurse, calls diabetes "the military's most chronic illness."
"Diabetes is at epidemic levels," she said. "There are about 1,200 beneficiaries diagnosed with diabetes at the clinic."
The CDC defines diabetes as "a group of diseases marked by high levels of glucose resulting from defects in insulin production, insulin action or both."
Insulin is a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy.
Type 1 diabetes usually affects children and young adults, is characterized by the absence of insulin production by the body and affects people throughout their life. Type 2 diabetes, which usually begins as insulin resistance, accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes in adults. Gestational diabetes is a form of glucose intolerance diagnosed during pregnancy.
Common symptoms of Type 2 diabetes are frequent urination, unusual thirst, extreme hunger, unusual weight loss, extreme fatigue, blurred vision and frequent infection.
Type 2 diabetes, formerly called adult-onset diabetes, is mainly associated with lifestyle, Jennifer Wetzel, 359th MDG health management registered nurse, said. It is also associated with older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, impaired glucose metabolism, physical inactivity and certain racial and ethnic groups.
"Through routine screenings and good health choices, people can avoid or delay a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes," Wetzel said.
Doris Acuna, 359th MDG health management registered nurse, said physical activity is important for people who have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes as well as those who want to prevent it.
"We encourage patients to walk 30 minutes a day, five days a week," she said.
Wetzel said a healthy diet should include whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean protein; processed foods should be avoided.
People who do not control their diabetes over a long period of time face the possibility of stroke, eye problems, heart disease, kidney disease, sexual dysfunction and nerve damage to feet.
In addition to the care provided by the health management team, other resources are available to beneficiaries diagnosed with diabetes, including classes at the JBSA-Randolph Health and Wellness Center and diabetes education, management and prevention programs at other JBSA locations.
Starting next month, the JBSA-Randolph health management team will begin integrating pharmacists into a diabetes management program.
"The clinic will emphasize medication compliance," Yang said. "We will pick the patients who are at the highest risk for the program, which the pharmacists will co-manage with the providers."
For more information about diabetes, visit http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/.