November 9, 2007                              Connecticut Department of Public Health

           Contact: William Gerrish

                                               (860) 509-7270                         

Department of Public Health Partners with dLife and Connecticut’s Cable Access Stations on Diabetes Education Progam

HARTFORD – In a proclamation, Governor M. Jodi Rell declared November 14 as World Diabetes Day in Connecticut.  The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) encourages Connecticut residents to take this opportunity to become better educated about diabetes, its complications and what can be done about it.

“Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, if uncontrolled, can lead to heart disease, stroke, blindness, nerve damage and kidney failure,” said Governor Rell.  “Of particular concern is that when children are diagnosed with diabetes they risk getting complications at an earlier age.”

“The Governor’s recognition of World Diabetes Day gives us a chance to further educate both the general public and those diagnosed with diabetes about the disease, especially the disturbing trend of type 2 diabetes in children,” said DPH Commissioner J. Robert Galvin, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. 

DPH is partnering with Connecticut cable access stations across the state to air a series of commercial-free, episodes of the “dLife TV” television series, a program about living with diabetes.  The series is hosted by Nicole Johnson, Miss America 1999, who lives with diabetes.  Some of the topics include: what to do when diabetes emergencies strike, the past, present and future of diabetes treatment, and women and diabetes. 

According to the American Diabetes Association (www.diabetes.org), diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce insulin (type 1 diabetes) or properly use insulin (type 2 diabetes).  Type 1 was previously called juvenile onset diabetes and type 2 was formerly called adult onset diabetes.  However, in recent years more and more children are being diagnosed with what was previously called adult onset, so the term type 2 is now used.  In the United States it is estimated that type 2 diabetes now represents 45% of new cases of diabetes in children.  The increase in type 2 diabetes in children has been blamed on the increase in overweight/obesity.  In Connecticut 15% of high school students report being overweight and 11% are obese.

In Connecticut efforts are underway to address the growing diabetes epidemic in both children and adults.  On October 2, 2007 the Department of Public Health, along with partners, released the Diabetes Prevention and Control Plan for 2007-12.  This plan identifies problems with the current diabetes system as well as strategies to address these problems.  The plan will help address the diabetes epidemic among the 233,000 people with diabetes in Connecticut, one third of which are undiagnosed.  For more information on diabetes and the diabetes state plan visit our website at www.ct.gov/dph or call 860-509-8000.