Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 3, 1 March 2005 — Annual diabetes conference was informative, enjoyable, and a must for all diabetics [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Annual diabetes conference was informative, enjoyable, and a must for all diabetics

Aloha mai kākou. For the last few months, I have included reminders in my articles about the annual "Taking Care of Your Diabetes" Conference here in Honolulu and on Kaua'i this year. For my fellow diabetic friends who missed this event, please make an effort in 2006 to get to the next conference. You really are missing out on a very informative and educational opportunity to learn about living with diabetes. The conferenee announcement usually comes out in December, so stay tuned to my monthly articles to get your reminder. I did make my way to the Hawai'i Convention Center this year on Feb. 12 to join hundreds of other diabetics to gain more knowledge about diabetes. Eaeh year, this conference invites presenters to share their inspirational stories about how they live with diabetes and it is amazing to know that these people have diabetes. Guest speakers this year were singer and

actress Della Reese and the Honorable MayorMufiHannemann.Anothergreat aspect of the conference is the health fair. Many pharmaceutical companies and loeal vendors with interest in the world of diabetes participate. Many freebies and informational materials are given out. Lots of new information and medicines coming! All in all, an excellent event. One thing I have observed at the annual diabetes conference is diabetics are hard to piek out in a crowd. I would not have pegged many who attended the conference as diabetics. It brings me to ask, "how many of you know who in your family or at work have diabetes?" I'll bet not a lot of people really ean spot a diabetic unless they see them taking their insulin or medication. Even then, it would be hard to point out a diabetic. I'm a diabetic and a member of my staff is, too! We didn't know about eaeh other having diabetes until we were pondering over a dessert menu and the subject matter arose. Then

the conversation moved to finding out what medication eaeh other was taking and what we were doing to manage our diabetes. Most of the time having a fellow diabetic within one's work environment ean be helpful with one's will power to stay away from the foods that are not good for our diabetes. Diabetes has grown in leaps, and bounds in the United States and getting the word out to people to get themselves checked out is so very important. There are so many people out there who have diabetes but have not been diagnosed. According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 18.2 million Americans with diabetes and about one-third do not know it. Hawaiians are among those that diabetes is more eommon. More so, we need to get the word out to our families and friends to get checked. Not knowing ean be scary, but not doing anything about it is worse. Check out the American Diabetes Association's website: www.diabetes.org. It is a very

helpful and educational tool. Now, add young children to the growing list of diabetics and discussion now goes to epidemic. But there's hope for us all. Many diabetics have gotten there diabetes under control either with medication and/or with diet and exercise. Managing this disease has heeome a reachable goal for many. I have been lucky to have gotten my diabetes under control to the point that I no longer need to take diabetes medication. I have used diet and exercise to get my blood sugar under control and my blood sugar count has been in the normal range without medication for about a year now. But it's a constant challenge. As always, my staff and I invite your comments on the above or any other concems within our purview. My OHA access numbers are: phone 594-1854, fax 594-0210 and e-mail: dantec@oha.org. A hui hou, mālama pono. V

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Dante Carpenter Trustee, O'ahu