More than 25% of the diabetes population in South Texas is not insured

• The uninsured population rate is almost 30 percent higher than in Texas.
• It is more than double the national average.

A greater percentage of adult diabetics in South Texas visit the ER or hospital

A greater percentage of adult diabetics in South Texas visit the ER or hospital than the national average.

Uncontrolled diabetes is higher in South Texas

Uncontrolled diabetes is higher in South Texas than in Texas or the United States (as defined by hemoglobin A1C levels).

Differences in disease-fighting antibodies linked to genes

By Don Finley – dfinley@express-news: Study included test groups of S.A. Hispanics

A new study that included hundreds of San Antonio Hispanics found that that a person’s genes play a strong role in how the immune system responds to 13 common infections.

And while the findings might provide some clues to why some people are better able to resist certain infections and some are more susceptible, the researchers were cautious — saying it’s not yet clear.

The study, led by researchers at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, measured blood levels of antibodies that target flu, chickenpox, herpes viruses, hepatitis A, Epstein-Barr and several others.

“I think the most significant finding is that with the majority of these pathogens, the antibodies were significantly heritable,” said Rohina Rubicz, lead author of the study and a geneticist at Texas Biomed. “They are under genetic control to some extent. And we found that they were significant for all the 13 pathogens we examined except for two.”

While several studies have looked at how big a role genes play in how people respond to vaccines, few have looked at how they influence the body’s defenses against natural infection — particularly in minority groups, the researchers said.

The blood samples were collected from 1,227 Hispanic volunteers in the San Antonio Family Heart Study, a large, local study looking at the genetics of heart disease. In this case, researchers were looking at the link between inflammation and heart disease, and the 13 infections were chosen because they too might affect the heart. READ FULL ARTICLE

Thousands of American Indian adults are at risk of losing their vision as a result of complications from diabetes

By ICTMN Staff: All people with diabetes, both type 1 and type 2, are at risk for diabetic eye disease, a leading cause of vision loss and blindness.

“The longer a person has diabetes the greater is his or her risk of developing diabetic eye disease,” said Dr. Suber Huang, chair of the Diabetic Eye Disease Subcommittee for the National Eye Institute’s (NEI) National Eye Health Education Program. “If you have diabetes, be sure to have a comprehensive dilated eye exam at least once a year. Diabetic eye disease often has no early warning signs, but can be detected early and treated before noticeable vision loss occurs.”

Diabetic eye disease refers to a group of eye problems that people with diabetes may face as a complication of the disease and includes diabetic retinopathy, cataract, and glaucoma. Diabetic retinopathy, the most common diabetic eye disease, is the leading cause of blindness in adults 20 to 74 years of age. According to NEI, 4.1 million people have diabetic eye disease and its prevalence is projected to increase to 7.2 million by 2020.

While all people with diabetes can develop diabetic eye disease, African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Hispanics/Latinos, and older adults with diabetes are at higher risk of losing vision or going blind from it. All people with diabetes should have a dilated eye exam at least once a year to detect vision problems early. In fact, with early detection, timely laser surgery, and appropriate follow-up care, people with advanced diabetic retinopathy can reduce their risk of blindness by 90 percent.  READ FULL ARTICLE

Diabetes and the Hispanic American Woman

By Jody Smith – Empow Her: Hispanic American women are two or three times more likely than non-Hispanic American women to develop diabetes.  When the body is unable to create or use insulin properly, the result is diabetes. The body needs insulin to transform food into energy. When it’s unable to perform this function, a variety of health problems can begin to appear.

Diabetes may show itself through fatigue, irritability, vision problems or unusual weight fluctuation. Thirst, hunger and urination may all increase to exceptional levels. More serious chronic symptoms of diabetes are heart problems, poor circulation sometimes leading to amputation, and stroke. When left untreated, diabetes can end in death.

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes in Hispanic American women are obesity, lack of physical activity, family history of diabetes, and glucose tolerance problems.

Mexican American women are also more likely than non-Hispanic American women to have gestational diabetes. A history of gestational diabetes may also be a risk factor.  READ FULL ARTICLE

How Hispanics Will (Unintentionally) Bring About Significant Shifts in Healthcare

Stephen Palacio- Executive Vice President, Director Hispanic Practice –  Huffington Post: High sugar consumption is a large contributor to Hispanic diabetes. States may be forced to look at various “consumption” taxes to curb disease rates.

How will Texas, with 38% of Hispanics uninsured, and California, with 29% of Hispanics uninsured, handle the coming influx of Hispanic healthcare consumers? Truth is — no one really knows. The impact, however, will be enormous, and the system is not ready to handle it.

When the federal health care law is enacted in 2014, demand for services will dramatically increase. To meet the new demand, adequate supply must be available to avoid significant bottlenecks. That supply must include Spanish speaking doctors, nurses, administrators, and customer support networks. Without a long-range plan to care for Hispanics, people will be on the insurance rolls but will not be managing their health effectively, which will metastasize into costly situations.

Take a look at Massachusetts, which adopted the Universal Health Care Act in 2007:

“The largest increases in insurance coverage were among Hispanic respondents overall and Hispanic respondents who answered the survey in Spanish. Traditionally, a larger proportion of Hispanics in Massachusetts have lacked access to health care, compared with other racial/ethnic populations (9,10). The results showed an 18.4% increase for persons responding in Spanish and a 14.2% increase for Hispanics overall. However, despite these increases, Hispanics continued to have the lowest health insurance coverage and the lowest percentage of persons with a personal health-care provider than any other subpopulation……One reason might be that more time is needed for the effects of improved health-care access to be realized in these groups. Another reason might be that health-care providers are not equally accessible for certain groups or in certain areas of the state. Although the cost of a doctor visit might also be a factor, 2008 BRFSS data have shown that only 6% of all respondents reported that they were unable to visit a doctor during the past year because of cost, compared with 8% in 2006 (9). “