Mayors urge diabetics to control blood sugar
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Mayor Mike Coleman of Columbus, Ohio, is among 50 leaders nationwide who kicked off a public service campaign Thursday to encourage diabetics to regularly test their blood sugar levels and keep their readings low.
Coleman, a diabetic himself, said controlling his disease has given him more energy and helps him do his job as mayor of the nation’s 15th largest city.
More than 18 million Americans have diabetes, but of the 13 million diagnosed with the disease, 63 percent don’t have their blood sugar levels under control, putting them at risk for complications such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, kidney disease, heart attacks or amputation.
The public service announcements, filmed by mayors from Washington, Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Bartlett, Tenn., and elsewhere, urge diabetics to get regular blood readings called “A1C” tests.
This test measures a person’s average blood sugar level over a three-month period. It is the best way to determine if a person has the disease under control, says the American Diabetes Association. A person with a healthy blood sugar level should have an A1C reading of 7 percent or lower.
“Many people with diabetes aren’t aware of this test and even fewer are meeting this goal,” said Dr. James R. Gavin III, president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.
Most insurance plans, Medicare and Medicaid pay for this test.
Diabetes is a genetic disease in which the body doesn’t produce or properly use insulin, the hormone needed to convert food into energy. The disease can be triggered by obesity, though it is more common among blacks, Hispanics and American Indians.