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The INDEPENDENT, April 16, 2009
To Your Health!
Diabetics, learn your eye health ABC’s
By Judy Hargis, P.A., and Audeen Wagner
Growth Hormones
There is an ongoing contro-
versy regarding the use of
growth hormones to obtain
greater productivity in dairy
cows. Foremost in this debate
is a growth hormone called re-
combinant bovine growth hor-
mone (rBGH), also called rBST,
recombinant bovine soma-
totropin. This hormone is found
naturally in humans and all ani-
mals; the problems arise with its overuse.
The FDA approved the use of rBGH in the 1930s after a short
trial with laboratory mice. After decades of scientific studies that
indicate human health issues, the FDA “turns a deaf ear to the
pleas of consumers, food safety organizations, and scientists to
reverse its approval of the hormone, or simply to require labeling
of foods containing rBGH,” states the Center for Food Safety.
CFS is a public interest environmental advocacy group whose
mission is to challenge the harmful product technology and to pro-
tect the public. We do see some products these days labeled
“does not contain growth hormones” but it is not required univer-
sally, and you seldom, if ever, see a label that claims growth hor-
mone use!
In dairy cows treated with rBGH, a number of health problems
occur, including leg and hoof problems and serious reproductive
abnormalities. Birth defects in calves, for instance, can be direct-
ly linked to the use of rBGH. Most alarming, though, from the con-
sumer standpoint, is a dramatic increase in the frequency of mas-
titis, an infection of the udder that affects the quality of the milk,
making it unfit for human consumption.
As reported in a recent issue of To Your Health!, antibiotic re-
sistance in humans is becoming a huge health problem. Well,
guess what, antibiotics are used to combat mastitis in milk cows,
and residues of these drugs end up in milk and other dairy prod-
ucts. Scientists agree that this contributes to the increase in an-
tibiotic resistance, which makes the use of antibiotics used to treat
human infections less effective…it’s a vicious cycle.
In addition, studies have shown conclusively that the levels of
a hormone called “insulin-like growth factor-1” (IGF-1) are elevat-
ed in milk from dairy cows treated with rBGH, raising concerns
that this might be contributing to the increased incidence of dia-
Please see page 21
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Did you know that an esti-
mated 17.9 million Americans
have been diagnosed with dia-
betes and another 57 million
people are at risk of getting the
disease?
What many of these individ-
uals may not know is that all
people with diabetes – both
type 1 and type 2 – are at risk
for developing diabetic retin-
opathy, a leading cause of vi-
sion loss among adults in the
United States. In fact, people
with diabetes are 25 times
more likely to lose their vision
than those without the disease.
So this April, EyeCare Amer-
ica is asking Americans with di-
abetes to know the ABCs of di-
abetes and eye health.
A – Alert your Eye M.D. if
you have been diagnosed with
diabetes;
B – Be sure to have your
eyes examined regularly; and
C – Call 1-800-272-EYES
(3937) if you are 65 or older
and without an ophthalmolo-
gist, to see if you qualify for a
no-cost dilated eye exam
through EyeCare America’s Di-
abetes EyeCare Program.
By following these simple
steps, EyeCare America hopes
to help protect seniors from
preventable vision loss caused
by diabetes.
“Diabetes causes up to
24,000 new cases of vision loss
each year,” said C. Pat Wilkin-
son, MD, ophthalmologist and
chairman of EyeCare Ameri-
ca’s Diabetes EyeCare Pro-
gram. “What people don’t know
is that early detection, timely
treatment and appropriate fol-
low-up care can reduce their
risk of blindness by 95 percent
even for people with estab-
lished and significant diabetic
retinopathy.”
Diabetic retinopathy is
caused by changes in the
blood vessels of the retina. In
some people with diabetic
retinopathy, blood vessels may
swell and leak fluid. In other
people, abnormal new blood
vessels grow on the surface of
the retina. In its early stages,
diabetic retinopathy usually has
no warning signs. Over time,
however, the vision blurs and
everyday tasks become more
difficult. Vision loss cannot usu-
ally be regained.
EyeCare America’s Diabetes
EyeCare Program is designed
for people who:
· Are age 65 and older
· Are U.S. citizens or legal
residents
· Have not seen an ophthal-
mologist in three or more years
· Do not have insurance
through an HMO or the VA.
People eligible for a referral
through the program receive a
comprehensive, medical eye
exam and up to one year of
care at no out-of-pocket cost
for any disease diagnosed dur-
ing the initial exam. Volunteer
ophthalmologists
accept
Medicare and/or other insur-
ance reimbursement as pay-
ment in full. Individuals without
insurance are seen at no
charge.
For a Diabetes EyeCare
Program referral, those inter-
ested may call 1-800-272-
EYES (3937) toll-free, 24 hours
a day, every day, year round.
To learn more about diabetic
retinopathy, its risk factors and
treatment options; view inform-
ative videos; and to learn how
your vision would be affected
by diabetic retinopathy, visit
www.eyecareamerica.org.
Founded in 1985, EyeCare
America, a public service pro-
gram of the Foundation of the
American Academy of Ophthal-
mology, is committed to the
preservation of sight, accom-
plishing its mission through
public service and education.
EyeCare America’s (ECA) pub-
lic service programs provide
eye care services to the med-
ically underserved and for
those at increased risk for eye
disease, through its corps of
7,000 volunteer ophthalmolo-
gists. More than 90 percent of
the care is provided with no
out-of-pocket cost to the pa-
tients. Public service includes
programs for seniors, glauco-
ma, diabetes, AMD and chil-
dren. EyeCare America, the
largest program of its kind in
American medicine, has helped
more than one-million people
since its inception in 1985.
More information can be found
at: www.eyecareamerica.org.
No health insurance? You aren’t alone
Chris Thomas,
Oregon News Service.
About one in three Oregoni-
ans younger than age 65 has
gone without health insurance
for at least a portion of the last
two years, according to a new
report from Families USA, a
national health care reform ad-
vocacy group. The group is re-
leasing data by state to add
momentum to the push for re-
form. In Oregon, most of the
uninsured are working, and
Families USA executive direc-
tor Ron Pollack says their lack
of insurance is not just a tem-
porary situation.
“One of the significant things
to understand about this is that
the overwhelming majority of
these 1.1 million Oregonians,
75.8 percent - more than three
out of every four - were unin-
sured for at least six months.”
Pollack says Oregon’s unin-
sured figures are slightly higher
than the national average. His
group advocates making health
insurance available to every-
one in America – an idea that
some see as giving too large a
role for government to play, at
the expense of private insur-
ance companies.
Ellen Pinney, director of the
Oregon Health Action Cam-
paign, refers to it as “churning,”
when people move in and out
of the health care system
based on their inability to get –
or to afford – insurance for
months at a time.
“You don't have to scratch
too hard at the data that Fami-
lies USA has just released
about our state to see that it
proves that, more likely than
not, one-third of Oregonians
are churning. They do not have
the ability to establish a rela-
tionship with a provider.”
Pinney says the result is that
people don't seek regular med-
ical treatment, which ends up
See Health on page 20