Dr. Dwayne Proctor, left, project advisor, health group, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, answers a question from the audience while other Foundation and Advocacy Panel members Dr. Ann Albright, center, president of health care and education, American Diabetes Association, and Dr. Dan Jones, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs and American Heart Association president, listen.
It is only fitting that leading experts in heart disease, obesity and diabetes gathered at the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Conference Center in the Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center to discuss the metabolic syndrome plaguing the country.
That’s because Mississippi is “ground zero” for obesity, heart disease and diabetes, earning the unfortunate distinction of ranking at the bottom nationwide in these areas.
University of Mississippi Health Care’s Diabetes and Metabolism Program and the Delta Health Alliance hosted the conference, “Engaging Minds, Bodies and Hearts: Successful Community-based Intervention in Diabesity and Cardiovascular Disease,” Feb. 11-12. More than 400 health professionals attended the conference.
Dr. Ann Albright, director of the Division of Diabetes Translation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and president of health care and education for the American Diabetes Association, said it’s critical for health care leaders to come together and discuss complex health issues like obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
“They’re all connected to each other and have a significant impact, for sure, in Mississippi,” she said. “This conference is an important opportunity for people to talk about solutions.”
Dr. Marshall Bouldin, UMMC associate professor of medicine and director of the Delta Diabetes Project, said national speakers who participated in the conference recognized the progress made in Mississippi through the work of the diabetes program.
“The folks that came here were putting us up on their slides during presentations. We’re actually doing things they’re interested in,” he said.
Bouldin’s work has not only helped residents in the Delta take control of their diabetes and improve blood sugar levels, but the program also showed lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure and better lipid control. That’s what has other researchers and health care professionals taking notice.
Diabetes costs this country $85 billion a year in total health care expenditures. Mississippi, where 11 percent of the population has diabetes, has the highest incidence of diabetes in the nation.
Dr. Herman Taylor, UMMC professor of medicine and principal investigator for the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), presented some early insights and the future focus of the largest study of heart disease in African-Americans ever undertaken.
Early JHS findings show low control rates for diabetes among participants, which predict persistently high cardiovascular death rates, Taylor said. Statistics have shown that 80 percent of people with diabetes die of cardiovascular disease.
Further study will prove helpful in the battle against preventable deaths, Taylor said. “We’re excited about what we’re doing and believe it will have significance for each and every American,” he said.
Dr. Phillip Brantley, director of the Division of Education at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, talked about successes and failures of community-based interventions in obesity. He said this country has gotten very good at helping people lose weight.
“It takes a lot of work to get overweight and obese people to lose weight. You’ve got to be willing to invest some resources to make that happen,” Brantley said.
The failure lies in maintaining that weight loss. Research continues to search for ways to motivate and encourage healthy eating habits over time. Brantley said the best solution is to intervene before weight becomes an issue, particularly as it relates to children.
Dr. Dan Jones, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs and president of the American Heart Association, said reaching children before they become overweight or obese has become his primary focus.
“Prevention of obesity will be a much healthier, much cheaper and more successful battle,” he said.
Dr. Dwayne Proctor, project advisor with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, agreed. He’s the childhood obesity team leader with the foundation, which has committed to dedicating millions of dollars toward eliminating childhood obesity by 2015.
He said one out of three young people in the United States is overweight or obese, and two out of three African-American and Latino children are overweight.
“Children are now experiencing what our older adults experience – diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol,” he said.
Diabetes prevention is possible and is accomplished by lowering body weight by changing eating habits and consistent, regular exercise. Diabetes prevention is the focus of a huge international research effort. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year to reach this goal. Diabetes prevention is the best way to also make sure that this disease gets under control and does not continue to plague our nation. And by approaching diabetes prevention with open arms, you will be encouraging others to take that same step.
Posted by: Alexis Kenne | May 01, 2008 at 04:51 PM