Diabetes in Appalachia:- Just give me a pill

[Vympel]

http://www.salon.com/2012/08/08/diabete ... me_a_pill/

PRESTONBURG, Ky. — Here in the heart of Appalachian coal mining country, where black lung disease and TB used to be major killers of men, a new epidemic is sweeping through the dogwood-dappled hollows that’s even deadlier than coal dust. The new threat is diabetes. Ads for diabetes counseling and testing clinics have replaced supermarkets as a major revenue source in local papers. Billboards urging middle-aged people to get tested appear almost everywhere there’s a straight stretch of highway.

Nationwide, diabetes affects 15 percent of all Americans; more than a quarter of all people over 65 are diabetic, while half are borderline. But in Kentucky and across the broad Appalachian region, a third of the population is believed to be diabetic, and health workers here believe that most diabetics don’t know it. Gilbert Friedell, who spent his life as a nationally known cancer specialist before founding a statewide health reform committee in Kentucky, however, rejects the conventional wisdom that diabetes prevention and care is a “health” problem.

“We used to say with cancer control in eastern Kentucky that if we were to apply what we now know about cancer, we could cut mortality by half in 10 to 15 years. The same thing is true with diabetes. We know what we have to do to prevent Type II diabetes and how to maintain a reasonable level of personal performance. We know these things. But, if we’re so smart, how come we haven’t fixed the diabetes problem? The answer is we’re still relying on individual approaches where it really requires community action and support.”

That insight led Friedell and the 25-member citizens committee that bears his name deep into the hollows of Kentucky, where strip miners have bulldozed off the tops of the mountains, and where earlier this year, a fierce tornado laid waste to thick forests of trees, blocked roadways and shredded the walls and roofs of gas stations, barns and mobile homes. That’s where the Friedell Citizens Committee launched the Tri-County Diabetes Partnership, drawing together an alliance of doctors, nurses, dietitians, teachers, church people, local health departments and even USDA farm extension agents.

Just above a branch of the Big Sandy River, Lora Hamilton coordinates the Floyd County diabetes program. She guesses that 15,000 of the county’s 45,000 people are diabetic. A few weeks ago she went to the Stumbo elementary school to talk about diabetes to the eighth graders. “The first question I asked was, how many of you have diabetes in your family. Ninety percent raised their hands. They knew there was diabetes in their families.”

Wow.

[Aaron MkII]

My us geography is pretty rusty, this is near West Virginia right? The poorest area in America?

[SirNitram]

My us geography is pretty rusty, this is near West Virginia right? The poorest area in America?

Right. I don't recall the specific stats for this state, but I will put dollars on the table that the southern coalfield counties are the worst. The state as a whole is probably on par with Kentucky. And I doubt there will be much political will to deal with it, honestly.

[Block]

My us geography is pretty rusty, this is near West Virginia right? The poorest area in America?

Right. I don't recall the specific stats for this state, but I will put dollars on the table that the southern coalfield counties are the worst. The state as a whole is probably on par with Kentucky. And I doubt there will be much political will to deal with it, honestly.

I'm unclear from the article, is this something environmental or just because of obesity?

[Mr Bean]

I'm unclear from the article, is this something environmental or just because of obesity?

Both, West Virgina is pretty much vertical. Either your on the sides of a valley or at the bottom of one. Settlements are so far apart that cars are the only way to get anywhere. So to get anywhere you must go uphill both ways and local produce is non-existent. Combine that with the jobs, poverty and physical location and you combine a recipe for a large population of poor people who go to the store once a month if that and buy nothing but inexpensive food which can keep in a fridge which happens to be the exact same kind of food perfect for helping your diet push you directly into type II diabetes.

It was one said by a cousin of mine that the leading form of exercise in West Virgina was Satellite Television.

[Block]

Oh I grew up in Maryland, I know West Virginia is full of fatasses, and why, I just didn't see where they named a specific cause for this particular phenomenon in the article.

[Mr Bean]

Oh I grew up in Maryland, I know West Virginia is full of fatasses, and why, I just didn't see where they named a specific cause for this particular phenomenon in the article.

It's a combination it's always a combination with almost any sort of heath condition that can be acquired.

[cosmicalstorm]

Considering the enormous amounts of refined sugar that people with fairly healthy diets get in them, not to say anything about these people who literally eat candy for breakfast, it's surprising that not more people die from this.

[LadyTevar]

Diabetes in the Appalachian Region is a relatively new problem. Prior to WWII most Appalachians raised their own gardens and animals, hunted and foraged the woods for additional food, and purchased what the Company store offered in Dry Goods. Electricity and phones were still luxury items at this time, as was indoor plumbing in some of the more out-of-way areas. Cars were rare, as they had trouble getting over the mountains, so folks walked miles to town and to church. Farming, mining, manufacturing, and hunting also kept people moving and expending calories. A 'night out' meant walking to visit family/friends, sitting around gossiping, playing music, and then walking home. All this activity is why many who spoke of Appalachia pre-WWII referred to its people as lean & hungry folk.

Flash forward a few generations. The small plot farming fades as grocery stores offer frozen or canned foods, full of salt and preservatives. Cheap fast food replaces home-cooking as parents have to spend more time at their jobs. With better roads, cars are everywhere and people stop walking. A 'night out' is driving to the nearest large town with a movie theater or other entertainment. TV takes the place of going to visit. People simply stop being as active.

The good news is that there is an effort to get out and get Appalachians moving again. There is also another 'back to land' trend building, with home garden plots making a comeback, and more folks re-learning what foods can be found in the woods. However, it's slow going. It may be several more generations before the Appalachian people returns to the rail-thin folk we were pre-WWII.

[The Yosemite Bear]

your Okie cousins that moved to californication aren't immune either, theres a whole mess of us diabetics in this park. Well in good news I've got a bicycle that I'm hoping things will work out better. Yeah the car years were a serious downward spiral for me.

[Akhlut]

My us geography is pretty rusty, this is near West Virginia right? The poorest area in America?

No, the poorest area in the USA is in South Dakota in the Indian Reservations.

However, they also have large problems with alcoholism, obesity, and diabetes, for a lot of the same reasons as the people in Appalachia do, as described by Lady Tevar.