Page 31 - Scene Magazine November 2023 47-11

Local Interest
BY T. R. SHAW JR.
prescription drug advertising and the booming number of diabetes medica- tions now being promoted. Diabetes medications appear to be the fastest growing medicinal ads in the media today.
For the past fifty years, Rotary has been in the forefront of eradicating polio through aggressive funding, research, and vaccinating around the world. Soon, polio will become our world’s second eradicated disease. Ro- tary hopes to move on and do the same with diabetes as the next major disease facing our world.
Recently the development of med- ications like Ozempic and Mounjaro are showing great promise for weight loss and have put a strain on the sup- ply chain for those who truly need it for diabetes. The good thing is many have found a way out of obesity, which is a large part of diabetes. The rise in technology and self-monitoring devices such as continuous glucose monitors (CGM’s) and insulin pumps, offer a way to manage and stay on top of the condition, previous generations could only dream of.
Rotary International is taking on diabetes as a new major worldwide health objective and created the Rotarian Action Group for Diabetes (RAG-D); working to highlight the condition as it sweeps not only Ameri- ca, but also the world.
The Cereal City Sunrise Rotary Club is proud to lead this effort in our community and region and believes
it can make substantial headway in dealing with this healthcare epidemic.
You might say that diabetes has come of age, as it should. Diabetes is now a pandemic and related to nearly every other chronic condition diag- nosed. It is changing the healthcare landscape as never before. The medical profession is catching up quickly and learning more all the time.
The Cereal City Sunrise Rotary Club here in Battle Creek, is making it a high priority and is a model club for how Rotary addresses diabetes. We have conducted several screen- ings and helped several individuals in the past year, but our work is just beginning.
For more information on Rotary’s work with diabetes and health issues and learn what Rotary is doing for humanity, visit. www.rag-diabetes.org and www.rotary.org.
The American Diabetes Association and other advocacy organizations, point out that diabetes will affect one in three of us in the next twenty years, and that’s a conservative estimate.
The Rotary Action Group
for Diabetes is working to address five areas of fo- cus: Awareness, Prevention, Treatment, Management, and Complications.
T. R. Shaw Jr. serves on the board of the Rotary Action Group for Diabetes, is a local author, business and com- munity leader; a past-president of the Cereal City Sunrise Rotary Club; and a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow.
November is Diabetes Aware- ness Month and you probably don’t know it.
because many don’t have access to quality, healthy food and live un- healthy lifestyles. It’s mental because many don’t understand the conse- quences of not properly dealing with this condition and may be in denial they may have it.
Once awareness is raised, the club hopes to move on to the other areas of focus; work with health care provid- ers; help the community deal with this growing epidemic; and advocate for more awareness, funding, research, and attention. The need is urgent and real.
You’ve prob- ably noticed the explosion of
Since World War II, American marketing has pushed fast and conve- nience foods and we’ve moved away from an agrarian society. The result has been an explosion in obesity, heart disease, and poor diets. Many say American’s are suffering from “afflu- enza.” With easy access to mass-pro- duced foods and drinks, diabetes is skyrocketing.
The good news is advancements are being made daily with new medica- tions and diagnostic devices. However, lifesaving insulin is a luxury for many people who desperately need it. Rotary hopes to address some of those issues on the local level as well.
Rotary Action Group Stepping Up for Diabetes
The problem is especially acute here in Calhoun County, which boasts one of the highest rates for both diabetes, and obesity in Michigan. In fact, Type 2 diabetes, which has been known for years as “adult onset diabetes,” is now being seen in young adults and teenagers.
The causes of diabetes are physical, cultural, and mental. The disease is physical in that many are predisposed to it through genetics, many don’t even know they may have it. It’s cultural
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