Della Reese Touched By Diabetes
By John Morgan, Spotlight Health
With medical adviser Stephen A. Shoop, M.D.
On the long-running CBS hit Touched by an Angel, Della Reese was a party
to many miracles. Now in real life the actress hopes to create life-changing
results for those suffering from diabetes.
Reese's heavenly intervention began with what potentially could have been a
near visit from the Grim Reaper.
"We were taping Touched by an Angel and I was coming down the stairs
of my house in Salt Lake City and it felt like someone split my head in half
and I blacked out," Reese recalls. "I don't know how long I was there but when
I came to I didn't feel anything so I just went on to work."
During the taping Reese continued to feel dizzy
and unwell and was eventually rushed to the hospital where she was diagnosed
with type 2 diabetes.
"The thing was there were no symptoms," says Reese, who is an ordained minister
in Los Angeles, California. "I was feeling great. So I don't even know how long
I had had type 2 diabetes. I have no family history of diabetes whatsoever."
What Reese did know was she was scared.
"What was so upsetting was I didn't really know anything about diabetes except
that Ella Fitzgerald lost her legs and later died from it," Reese states. "So
I all knew was you lost your limbs and you died from it. I was scared silly."
But from darkness Reese turned to the light.
She is now compensated as the national spokesperson for an educational awareness
campaign called "Della Reese: Stronger Than Diabetes." Sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline,
the campaign is designed to help people with type 2 diabetes learn to manage
their disease. A free booklet and CD are available by calling 1-866-INFO-DIABETES
or by visiting www.delladiabetes.com.
Reese quickly learned that her problem was with
what doctors call insulin resistance, one of the underlying causes of type 2
diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is a condition characterized by high blood glucose
levels that occur when the body either cannot make enough insulin or does not
respond appropriately to the insulin present.
This latter condition is called insulin resistance.
While an estimated 16 million Americans suffer from type 2 diabetes, approximately
60 million have insulin resistance. More than 90% of diagnosed type 2 diabetics
is insulin resistant.
And the problem is getting worse as America loses its battle with the bulge
because of lack of exercise and over-eating. With more than 61% of the population
now overweight or obese, diabetes has also reached epidemic numbers.
"We're not precisely sure how fat affects insulin response," notes Robert Ratner,
an endocrinologist and vice president of scientific affairs for Medstar Research
"But as you gain weight, fat spills over from the sub-cutaneous depot to the
abdominal cavity, and ultimately into the liver and the insulin-secreting cells
of the pancreas. As a result, the liver fails to respond to insulin normally
and the pancreas fails to secrete insulin in response to a carbohydrate challenge."
It is the insulin resistance that concerns many experts like Ratner.
"You begin by having a situation where you don't respond to insulin as effectively
as you should," Ratner explains. "The compensatory factor is that you make more
insulin. However there are people who have a genetic propensity to be unable
to make enough insulin to overcome this insulin resistance. At which point the
blood sugar level goes up and we define diabetes."
Without proper management diabetes can seriously impair a person's health.
Microvascular (small blood vessel) complications of diabetes include:
- diabetic retinopathy - the leading cause of blindness
- diabetic nephropathy - the leading cause of renal failure
- diabetic neuropathy - one of the leading causes of impotence and pain and
numbness in the legs, and ultimately leg amputation
Macrovascular (large blood vessel) complications include:
- a two-fold risk of stroke
- depending on sex, a 1.5 to four fold increase in heart attack risk
- leg ulcers, exertional pain, and increased amputations
Once diagnosed through a random glucose test, a fasting glucose test or a glucose
tolerance test, treatment depends on the stage of disease an individual presents
Early on in presentation, lifestyle modification is recommended. This requires
an increase in physical activity which directly improves insulin sensitivity
and modifies body weight and fat, as well as a decrease in total calorie consumption.
"My doctor explained that exercise and diet changes might help and that I also
might need a medication," Reese says. "He told me to lose weight, to exercise
more and to watch what I eat. I can still enjoy the foods I like I just eat
much smaller portions now. And of course I've had to give up that southern style
way of cooking."
Getting under control
For Reese changing her diet wasn't nearly as difficult as exercising.
"The exercise I do now is a mammoth change for me because I never did any exercise
ever," Reese explains. "Now I walk every where I can. I also ride a stationary
bicycle for a total of 30 minutes. I do it three or more times a week now and
I have lost 20 pounds."
But for many who present late, medications as well as lifestyle changes are
"If someone is symptomatically ill, we will frequently go directly to insulin
injections," Ratner states. "Even for these seriously ill subjects, their diabetes
ultimately may be controllable with oral medications."
Among the many pharmacological interventions for type 2 diabetes are:
- Insulin secretogogues - these oral medications help the body make more insulin
and are part of a drug family called sulfonylureas. Essentially they help
beta cells to be more efficient in making insulin in response to glucose.
- Meglitinides - A new class of drugs that are also insulin secretogogues.
They are faster-acting and are taken whenever you eat.
- Biguanides -- This class of agents acts on the liver and turns off or limits
the amount of glucose produced.
- Glitazones - These work on the muscles and fat cells and improve insulin
Reese's doctor prescribed Avandia which targets insulin resistance by making
the body more sensitive to the insulin it is already making.
"The medication is helping me a lot," Reese says. "I don't have to take insulin
because I have been able to make these changes and take this medication."
With appropriate diagnosis and intervention Ratner says doctors have the means
of delaying or preventing the disease from occurring at all. But once diagnosed,
controlling diabetes is critical to minimizing the risk of complications.
Several studies show that for people at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes,
early intervention with lifestyle changes can reduce the development of diabetes
by as much as 58%.
"You don't have to wait to get diagnosed with diabetes," Ratner advises. "We
can stop it before it develops."
Reese agrees with Ratner wholeheartedly.
"I learned to do what was necessary because I am fighting for the quality of
my life," Reese says. "I don't want my husband to push me around in a wheelchair.
I don't want someone to lead me around because I'm blind. You don't have to
let your life be destroyed by diabetes. You can reclaim your life. You just
have to take charge and develop a maintenance plan with your doctor."
For Della Reese's diabetes information, click
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Created: 10/19/2003  - John Morgan & Stephen A. Shoop, M.D.
Reviewed: 10/19/2003  - Donnica Moore, M.D.