Preparation for Natural Disasters Critical for People With Diabetes, Chronic Medical ...(ny related conditions so that auth...),Health

authorities can provide for proper medical care. Always wear medical

alert tags or bracelets that identify you as a person with diabetes

-- Ensure that a relative or close friend, living outside your city or

state, has a complete list of your medications and dosage instructions,

as well as contact information for your current physician(s)

TOOLS

Lilly and AACE first teamed up to offer these tips at the start of last year's hurricane season. This year, AACE and Lilly are also teaming up to provide AACE physician members with materials to help educate their patients on disaster preparedness. Posters and tip cards, developed through an educational grant from Lilly, have been distributed to AACE physicians nationwide.

Additionally, AACE and Lilly have developed downloadable tip sheets and other resources, available at http://www.aace.com.

About Diabetes

Diabetes affects an estimated 194 million adults worldwide(1) and more than 20 million in the United States(2). Approximately 90 to 95 percent of those affected have type 2 diabetes, a condition where the body does not produce enough insulin and/or the cells in the body do not respond normally to insulin(2). Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death by disease in the United States(2) and costs approximately $132 billion per year in direct and indirect medical expenses. Type 2 diabetes usually occurs in adults over the age of 40, but is increasingly common in younger people(2).

According to a 2005 report by the AACE, two-thirds of people with diabetes do not achieve target hemoglobin A1C levels (6.5 percent or less according to AACE recommendations) with their current treatment regimen(3). A1C is an average measurement of blood sugar over a three-month period.

The A1C is the best test to predict the risk for the development of serious diabetes-related complicat
'/>"/>