ABCs Of Prevention

The solution is prevention what doctors call the ABCs. A is for street attention to the A1C tests. B is for blood pressure control : A pressure no higher than 130/80 puts much less stress on blood vesels. And C is for cholesterol : Level of LDL ( the “bad” cholesterol ) should be below 100, a much lower limit than for most non diabetics.

Unfortunately, to meet these guidelines, diabetics may take up to ten pills a day, including : pills that lower blood glucose, ACE inhibitors and beta blockers for blood pressure, statins to control cholesterol and aspirin to help prevent clumping of the sticky platelets. It gets expensive, but insurance usually pays for most diabetics care.

For many patients, the real challenge is managing it all. Last year a national survey released by Washington Hospital Center in the nation’s capital found that most of the 200 primary care physicians queried did not correctly cite the ABCs as the most important regular test for diabetics patients. Moreover, a third didn’t have enough time to comprehensively care for a diabetic patient. “ That’s a tragedy “, says Richard Jackson, a physician at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, “because it means patients are out there on their own, trying to master some difficult medical problems”.

Gabriel Caro, 30, a Boston – based Web designer with diabetes, has met the challenges head – on. “You have to learn”, he says, “because the alternatives are just too terrifying”.

By : Josh Fischman