Student organization turns focus to diabetes

November 9, 2009 by Victoria Gonzalez 

Spreading the word about the increased number of those affected, the UNLV Hormone and Disease Group and the Las Vegas chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation will host events for Diabetes Awareness Week through Nov. 14.

Starting today, anthropology graduate coordinator Daniel Benyshek will host an event titled “Nutrition, Metabolism and Anthropometry Lab.” The lecture will cover the current research Benyshek and his students are working on, which includes experimental animal research and studies with human research participants to explore the effects of diet on maternal and child health, especially during and immediately after pregnancy.

“As a diabetes researcher, it is probably no surprise… that I think it is incredibly important,” Benyshek said. “Diabetes Awareness Week is one way to turn a spotlight on this major health threat and provide useful information to the general public about ways to prevent, recognize and treat diabetes.”

Taking place right after Benyshek’s lecture will be Lauren Emes’ lecture on tea consumption and diabetes.

Emes, founding member of the HDG, is currently conducting research that is funded by the National Science Foundation on the effects of tea consumption on insulin levels and type 2 diabetes.

Colleen Saca, executive director of the JDRF Las Vegas chapter, said this disease is devastating and staggering statistics now show that one in three children will be affected by type 1 diabetes.

She also said there has been an increase in type 2 diabetes as unhealthy habits have been retained and increased in the population.

Emes said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently found that 40 percent of people with diabetes have not been diagnosed, leaving them at risk for stroke and cardiovascular disease, among other risks.

Everyday, about 4,384 people are diagnosed with diabetes. It is currently labeled as the fifth deadliest disease in the U.S.

HDG secretary Heidi Manlove said giving the public information may be a useful tool in fighting diabetes.

“It is important to raise awareness about diabetes since more and more people are affected by it every year,” she said. “We also want to help raise money for research and act as a resource for people with diabetes.”

Manlove added that she believes the world is experiencing a diabetes epidemic and that this is commonly associated with Western diets and sedentary lifestyles.

One identifying characteristic of diabetes has in common is chronically elevated blood sugar, or glucose, Benyshek said.

He said that while the American Diabetes Association recognizes more than 50 types of diabetes, the three most common are type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes.

Type 1 is caused by an autoimmune response, usually found in childhood or adolescence that destroys insulin producing cells in the pancreas, resulting in the need for lifelong insulin therapy for those diagnosed.

Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90 percent of all cases, is related to overweightness and obesity in adulthood.

Gestational diabetes occurs if a woman’s blood sugar increases abnormally during pregnancy. Though the problem often fades immediately after birth, the mother and baby are at increased risk for diabetes thereafter.

“Diabetes has many serious complications and places an enormous burden on our health care system. Cost estimates are in the many billions of dollars,” Benyshek said.

He said that the complications include blindness, kidney failure, cardiovascular disease, nerve damage and depression.

“Diabetes awareness and education is not something that should only be limited to a single month. Good diet and exercise are becoming more difficult to attain among the vast majority of the U.S. because people often cannot afford the time or finances to live a healthy life,” Guillermo said. “Research and government programs can only work effectively if the community wholly acknowledges that this is a challenge that merits a great amount of effort.”

The Las Vegas chapter of the JDRF will hold their 2009 Walk to Cure Diabetes on Nov. 14th, beginning at 9 a.m. in North Field.

Saca said the walk, which raises funds for type 1 diabetes, has a $600,000 goal this year with more than 4,000 walkers expected to participate.

“It’s very empowering for children to see… people walk to raise money for something they have to battle and live with everyday,” said Saca. “Diabetics don’t have an option.”