110 HRES 830 IH: Urging health care providers to engage in a
U.S. House of Representatives
2007-11-15
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Whereas diabetes is a disease in which the body does not
produce enough of its own insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches,
and other food into energy;
Whereas diabetes is a chronic disease that has no
cure;
Whereas the serious long-term complications of high blood
sugar levels may include blindness, lower-extremity amputation, heart disease,
kidney failure, and premature death, and diabetes is the sixth leading cause of
death in the United States;
Whereas people with type 2 diabetes often have no
immediately discernible symptoms;
Whereas the United States is facing a diabetes epidemic
with an estimated 20,800,000 Americans living with the disease;
Whereas according to the Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality, the health consequences of diabetes are much greater for
minorities as minorities have a higher prevalence of diabetes resulting in
higher rates of diabetes-related complications and death;
Whereas all minorities, except Alaska Natives, have a
prevalence of type 2 diabetes that is two to six times greater than that of the
white population;
Whereas between 1997 and 2004 the number of cases of
diabetes has increased over 41 percent and 9 out of 10 diagnosed individuals
suffer from obesity;
Whereas the keys to reducing the incidence of, and
complications associated with, diabetes are education, early detection,
control, and proper treatment and the earlier a person is diagnosed with
diabetes and receives treatment, the better the person’s chances are for
avoiding complications associated with diabetes;
Whereas the first line of treatment recommended by all
treatment standards is diet and exercise because a healthy diet and the loss of
excess weight can have a positive impact on the body’s ability to fight off
disease, it has been shown that modest weight loss may help to lower blood
sugar, blood pressure, and improve the level of fats in the bloodstream, and
modest weight loss can be beneficial to the treatment of diabetes and other
metabolic diseases;
Whereas traditionally those at highest risk for diabetes
are older citizens in minority populations who have a family history of the
disease and who are overweight, but there is an alarming increase in recent
years in the growing number of younger people who are being diagnosed with
diabetes because of factors such as lifestyle and excessive body mass;
and
Whereas to reduce the rate of occurrence of diabetes and
its complications among high-risk populations, individuals are encouraged to
seek early screening and early treatment, health care workers are encouraged to
improve care for the control of diabetes and the treatment of major
complications associated with diabetes: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of
Representatives—
(1)encourages health
care providers to reduce the rate of occurrence of diabetes and its
complications by engaging in a strong program with their patients to prevent,
detect, and treat the disease, including through the use of a treatment regimen
that includes minimum clinical practice recommendations published by the
American Diabetes Association on January 1, 2007, and through the use of
measurements of body weight and other risk factors associated with diabetes;
and
(2)commends health care providers in the
United States for their commitment to countering the diabetes epidemic.