After dealing with both gestational diabetes and Type 2 diabetes, Health Minister Sabrina Turner is using her message for World Diabetes Day, held every 14 Nov., to urge the community to break the stigma of living with the disease and take ownership of their health.
Referring to her personal experience, Turner said that Type 2 diabetes affects from 90-95% of those already living with the disease, and added, “our first message needs to be that type 2 diabetes is largely preventable in about 90% of cases”.
Fighting the stigma
However, she said, it is equally important to ensure that those who have already received a diabetes diagnosis, whether it is type 1 or type 2, continue to educate themselves to better understand their condition and carry out the self-care necessary to stay healthy.
“Diabetes stigma is real, and it is often experienced in the form of prejudice and blame directed at persons with diabetes as a result of their condition. So, when we highlight the ability to prevent an illness like diabetes it is from a place of awareness, education and empowerment, as well as ensuring access to the right interventions and lifestyle changes that can help prediabetics, for example, reverse their prediabetes,” Turner said.
No person should ever be blamed for their health condition, she said, adding that “we know that stigma leads to low self-esteem, depression, anxiety and lowered self-efficacy”.
Self-care in diabetes management is a daily practice, and it is essential in ensuring that diabetics do not experience some of the complications of their condition, she added.
The theme for World Diabetes Day for 2022 is still ‘Access to Diabetes Care’, a three-year-long push that started in 2021, as well as an increase in investment in both diabetes care and prevention, a Health Ministry statement said.
It pointed out that globally one in 10 adults, or 537 million people over the age of 18, were living with diabetes in 2021.
“This number is expected to rise to 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045. As many as 1 in 2 adults with diabetes remain undiagnosed. Diabetes caused 6.7 million deaths globally in 2021 and was responsible for at least USD$966 billion in health expenditure – 9% of the global total spent on healthcare,” the statement added.
Diabetes symptoms
- Toilet – going for a wee a lot, especially at night.
- Thirsty – being really thirsty.
- Tired – feeling more tired than usual.
- Thinner – losing weight without trying to.
- Genital itching or thrush.
- Cuts and wounds take longer to heal.
- Blurred eyesight
- Increased hunger.
Source: UK Diabetes/British Diabetic Association
Turner said there is no denying that diabetes has had a significant, and “at times devastating, impact on local families, both Caymanians and non-Caymanians”.
She said the community has to stop thinking about diabetes “as simply an issue with sugar”.
Turner pointed out that complications from diabetes are serious and can impact multiple organs like the heart and kidneys, as well as cause nerve damage which can lead to vision loss, severe hip pain, stomach issues, and weakness in the hands that may make individuals drop things.
“While the Ministry of Health and Wellness is committed to better understanding the prevalence of (non-communicable diseases) like diabetes, and is working to address the barriers and gaps in services, our goal to prevent and manage diabetes cannot be reached by our efforts alone.
“As individuals we have to take ownership of our health, no matter how scary it may be. I encourage all of our residents to take advantage of free education and prevention programmes that are made available throughout the year, including free screening opportunities for the month of November,” the minister said.
To date, over 3,000 patients have been served by the Health Services Authority’s Diabetes Education Programme since it was launched in 2013.
The programme was created to facilitate access to diabetes education, including on lifestyle modification, foot care, prevention of complications, and adherence to medications, all of which result in improved outcomes for people with diabetes and is free to patients who access diabetes care at HSA.
Diabetes by the numbers
The ministry statement pointed out that the 2021 Cayman Islands Compendium of Statistics listed diabetes mellitus as the third leading cause of death among residents while the 2021 Census stated that diabetes was the most commonly self-reported illness relating to disability.
Rachel Corbett, Cayman’s national epidemiologist, said while it is important to note that the national prevalence of diabetes is not known, the few things that are known “should give us pause”.
“The first is that as the data is self-reported and there will be additional undiagnosed individuals with diabetes, the true prevalence is likely higher than 10% of the population. The second is that the full impact of diabetes likely extends well beyond the 27 deaths directly attributed to it in 2021,” she said.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, she stated, points out that over time high blood sugar can damage blood vessels and nerves that control the heart, meaning that diabetes can be a contributing factor to cardiovascular diseases, as well as chronic kidney disease.
“Cardiovascular diseases were the leading cause of death among residents last year, according to the 2021 Compendium of Statistics, and while the data does not provide us with a breakdown of contributing factors, it is likely that diabetes played a role in some of those deaths as well,” Corbett said.
The prevention of non-communicable diseases was identified as one of the key priorities for the Ministry of Health and Wellness and was a focus of the recently concluded 2022 National Healthcare Conference.
“This effort, which is part of the overall goal of strengthening public health nationally, is one that will focus not only on the collection, analysis and dissemination of data, but of implementing a data-driven approach to tackling Cayman’s health related problems,” the statement said.
Free diabetes screening throughout the week of 14 November:
Tuesday, 15 November: 9am-11am – General Practice Clinic, Smith Road Centre
10am-12pm – Bodden Town Clinic
10am-12pm – West Bay ClinicWednesday, 16 November: 10am-12pm – North Side Clinic
Thursday, 17 November: 9am-11am – General Practice Clinic, Smith Road Centre
Friday, 18 November: 10am-12pm – East End Clinic
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