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Focus on Diabetes: American's Healthcare Nemesis
By Peter Rubino, Director of Continuing Education
Most healthcare professionals are increasingly aware that we are currently in the middle of a mounting global diabetes epidemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that by the year 2030 there will be over 366 million cases worldwide. The United States, with its increasingly overweight and obese population, is squarely in the middle of this emerging crisis. The data is mounting rapidly, as the facts below clearly indicate.
- Ninety to ninety five percent of all cases of diabetes are diagnosed as Type 2 and the US has the third largest number of cases globally, with an estimated 18.2 million people affected.
- Based upon the revised definition of Prediabetes by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), there are more than 50 million people with (prediabetic) metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance syndrome.
- Almost 2/3 of the adult population in the US is currently overweight as defined by a BMI of 25 and about 30% are obese, with a BMI of over 30.
- Pediatric and adolescent Type 2 Diabetes is increasingly more common.
- The costs of managing diabetes are staggering and estimated to account for over 10% of all healthcare expenditure in America. Direct and indirect costs now exceed 32 billion dollars a year.
- A study in Diabetes Care published in 2004, stated that more than 100,000 people are hospitalized for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) each year in the United States, accounting for cumulative annual hospital costs of over one billion dollars.
- Fast growing ethnic populations are at an even higher risk for developing complications of diabetes. The Latino population alone, with almost 40 million people (13.8% of the US population), has almost twice the prevalence of diabetes as the non-Latino white population.
The complexity of the etiology of Type 2 Diabetes has far-reaching implications which affect nearly every organ system of the body. Patients with diabetes are at increased risk of microvascular complications that include renal failure, retinopathy and neuropathy. In addition, the increased risk of macrovascular complications of stroke, ischemic heart disease and peripheral vascular disease are well documented. In fact, it is estimated that up to 20% of all patients over 45 with diabetes show evidence of coronary artery disease. Based on these statistics, both the ADA and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), now recommend aggressive standards for the control of blood glucose and levels of A1C.
The goal of course, is to limit diabetes-related complications through professional self-awareness (CE) and patient education. But so much has been said and written about this disease, it is difficult to know where to go for easily accessible and current information applicable to one’s practice. RxSchool (http://www.rxschool.com), a leading ACPE Approved Provider of continuing pharmacy education, now offers you the ideal solution by hosting a wide array of enduring online and virtual “live” CE programs. Our authors include leading diabetes experts from private practice and prestigious healthcare institutions who generously share their considerable experience and wealth of practical, insightful expertise. We invite you to log onto RxSchool and visit our section on continuing education. There you will find:
- One of the largest libraries of ACPE accredited continuing pharmacy education (CE) programs on the Internet
- CE management tools with professional development transcript documentation
- Convenient storage and printing of all educational statements of credit
- Easy access to the system from any computer with an Internet connection
- Topics ranging from pharmacy law to how to use a handheld computer in your practice. Among these accredited distance learning courses you will find topics such as:
The Emerging Crisis of Obesity in America: A Preventive Challenge to Pharmacists and Healthcare Professional
and
Oral Anti-hyperglycemic Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Also ask us about presenting one of these live CE programs to your group or association:
372-000-04-010-L01 - Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes in Children and Teenagers, 2 pharmacy credit hours (0.2 CEU’s)
372-000-05-001-L01 - Basic Drug Therapy for the Treatment of Diabetes and Related Morbidities, 3.0 pharmacy credit hours (0.3 CEU’s)
372-000-05-006-L01 - Diabetes Impact: Pharmacist's are the Insulin Experts, 1.5 pharmacy credit hours (0.15 CEU’s)
372-000-05-008-H01 - Oral Anti-hyperglycemic Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, 1.5 pharmacy credit hours (0.15 CEU’s)
372-000-05-011-L01 - Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy: Basics for Drug Selection , 1.5 pharmacy credit hours (0.15 CEU’s)
372-000-05-015-L01 - Diabetes Impact: The One Minute Consult, 1.5 pharmacy credit hours (0.15 CEU’s)
372-000-06-003-L01 - Focus on Medications Diabetes Now and Beyond, 1.5 pharmacy credit hours (0.15 CEU’s) and
372-000-06-005-L01 - Diabetes Medicine 2006 Update, 1 pharmacy credit hour (0.1 CEU)
We invite you to log on today to discover for yourself how RxSchool can become your leading resource for Continuing Professional Development.
For contact information, please contact RxSchool at info@rxschool.com or 1/888/682-4415.
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