[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 10952-10953]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         THE DIABETES EPIDEMIC

 Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I want to tell you about a 
remarkable young man I met two years ago. His name is Cullinan 
Williams, he is 10 years old and he lives in the beautiful little town 
of Cazenovia in upstate New York. When Cullinan was 6, he was diagnosed 
with diabetes. He gives himself injections of insulin and pricks his 
finger to test his blood glucose level several times a day. Unless we 
find a cure for diabetes, he will need to do this for the rest of his 
life. Diabetes is a very serious disease but Cullinan is not sad or 
defeated. Quite the opposite: Cullinan is a strong advocate for 
increased diabetes research funding. I first met

[[Page 10953]]

Cullinan when he asked my husband and me to sponsor him in America's 
Walk for Diabetes. This year he served as the American Diabetes 
Association's National Youth Advocate. He traveled all across the 
country talking to patients, providers and legislators. Every year he 
lobbies Congress and he tells other young people that they too can have 
a voice on Capitol Hill and in the halls of their state legislatures.
  Cullinan has important things to say. There are 17 million Americans 
with diabetes; 6 million don't even know they have it. The prevalence 
of diabetes in the U.S. has grown by 50 percent since 1990; the Center 
for Disease Control has called it an epidemic. At the current rate, by 
the year 2010, 10 percent of all Americans will have diabetes.
  Diabetes is a very serious disease. Life expectancy for people with 
diabetes is reduced by 15 years. People with diabetes have health 
problems. Many go on dialysis or need a transplant because their 
kidneys fail. Some lose their limbs and others lose their sight. Many 
have a heart attack or a stroke. More than 200,000 people die of 
diabetes every year. It is the fifth leading cause of death by disease 
and it is the third leading cause of death for some minority groups.
  Diabetes costs a lot. In addition to human pain and early death, the 
financial cost exceeds $100 billion every year. Fourteen percent of all 
of our health care dollars goes to caring for people with diabetes; 25 
percent of medicare expenditures goes to diabetes care. If the epidemic 
of diabetes continues, the expenditures for diabetes care will become 
astronomical and bankrupt our healthcare system.
  Diabetes can be stopped but we need research to do it. While deaths 
attributed to diabetes have increased by 40 percent since 1987, the 
proportion of the NIH budget that goes to diabetes research has 
decreased by 20 percent.
  We also have to promote a healthy lifestyle across all ages. Obesity 
is reaching epidemic proportions in our country and is one of the 
reasons why Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes, is 
increasing. Type 2 diabetes used to be diagnosed in older adults. Now 
we see it in overweight children. This form of diabetes can be 
prevented by eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and 
maintaining a normal weight. As a society, we must face the fact that 
our sedentary lifestyle, fast food, and ``super size'' portions are 
killing us. Stopping Type 2 diabetes means we must make a commitment as 
a nation to encouraging and supporting a healthy lifestyle in our 
families, our communities and our work environment.
  Cullinan does not have Type 2 diabetes. He has Type 1 diabetes. 
However, both Cullinan and I know that Type 1 diabetes can be prevented 
or cured through research. Science has produced many recent 
breakthroughs in our understanding of this disease. We know how to 
identify the genes that put children like Cullinan at-risk for 
diabetes. Scientists are now searching for the environmental triggers 
that cause diabetes in genetically at-risk children. Once they identify 
those triggers, prevention of Type 1 diabetes will be possible. 
Scientists also understand that Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune 
disease; the body destroys its own insulin producing islet cells. 
Scientists are now studying ways to transplant islet cells or to 
regenerate islet cells. This will cure diabetes in people with the 
disease. We need to provide these scientists with the research funding 
they need to make a difference in Cullinan's life and to stop Type 1 
diabetes in future generations.

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