A new government program is focusing attention on the impact that diabetes has on women's health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the burden of diabetes is particularly heavy for women.

• More than half of people with diabetes are women, an estimated 8.1 million.
• Diagnosed diabetes among women has increased almost 50 percent over the past decade.
• The risk for cardiovascular disease, which is a common complication of diabetes, is more serious among women than men. Women with diabetes are more likely to die from a first heart attack than men with diabetes.
• Women are at greater risk for blindness due to diabetes than men.

The new initiative is jointly supported by CDC, the American Diabetes Association, the American Public health Association, the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Women's Health and 80 other organizations nationwide. Under the program's auspices, brochures, wallet cards and recipe cards will be distributed through grocery stores and pharmacies in 10 cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans and Philadelphia. The materials focus on getting tested for diabetes and controlling blood sugar for those who are diagnosed with it.

The program got under way with the publication of a new monograph from CDC, "Diabetes and Women's Health Across the Life Stages: A Public Health Perspective." It examines the impact of diabetes on a woman's health over her lifetime:

• The adolescent years - A difficult time for anyone, the teen years are especially difficult for those with type 1 diabetes, whose lifestyle choices can affect their ability to control their disease.
• The reproductive years - This is the time of greatest personal growth and responsibility, and women with diabetes must achieve and maintain control of their condition during pregnancy. For some, gestational diabetes puts both the woman and her baby at risk.
• The middle years - This is a time when other chronic disease or complications of diabetes most often appear, along with many other social and psychological changes.
• The older years - At this time, women with diabetes become even more vulnerable to other chronic illnesses, disability, and loss of social support systems.

Sources:

• Beckles GA, Thompson-Reid PE, eds. Diabetes and Women's Health Across the Life Stages: A Public Health Perspective. October 2001.
• CDC. CDC convenes task force on diabetes and women. Press release, Oct. 22, 2001.
• Meadows M. Encouraging women to take change of diabetes. FDA Consumer magazine, November-December 2001.