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Researcher Helps Hispanics Find Better Ways to Live With Diabetes |
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Written by Administrator
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University of Texas at Austin nursing researcher says diabetes among
Hispanics has reached epidemic levels. Her research in south Texas
helps them deal with the disease through education and support systems.
Dr. Sharon Brown, professor of nursing at The University of Texas at
Austin, has conducted research on Hispanics and diabetes with federal
grants totaling $6 million since 1992. Her research focuses on helping
Hispanics in South Texas manage their diabetes through education and
support. "The problem of type 2 diabetes among Hispanics who live along
the Texas-Mexico border is at epidemic levels," says Brown, adding that
Hispanics in many U.S. communities are still being misadvised in terms
of what they need to do to manage their condition on a day-to-day
basis. Her goal is to improve health behaviors, particularly dietary
factors and glucose self-monitoring through education, and group
support for diabetic adults and their family members. Starr County, the
site of the study, is a community that holds the record for the highest
number of diabetes-related deaths in any county in Texas. Fifty percent
of residents over the age of 35 have diabetes or have a first-degree
relative with diabetes, which means they are at high risk of getting it
themselves.
About Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is also referred to as non-insulin
dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), or adult onset diabetes mellitus (AODM). Type 2 diabetes affects nearly 21 million in the United States
and nearly 200 million people worldwide. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by high levels of
blood sugar, caused by the body's inability to utilize insulin to move blood sugar into the cells
for energy. In type 2 diabetes, patients can still produce insulin, but do so relatively inadequately
for their body's needs, particularly in the face of insulin resistance as discussed above. In many cases
this actually means the pancreas produces larger than normal quantities of insulin. Diabetes is a major cause of heart disease and stroke, as well as the most common cause
of blindness, kidney failure and amputations in U.S.
adults.
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Health and Medical 
