Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tdinovo who wrote (10499)	10/31/1997 3:04:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

Ted, The diabetes increase was fairly widely covered. There was a story in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette from the LA Times: Friday, October 31, 1997 Diabetes Reaches Record Levels in U.S. Health: Disease affects an estimated 15.7 million people, officials say. The most dramatic increase has occurred among African Americans. By MARLENE CIMONS, Times Staff Writer PREV STORY NEXT STORY ASHINGTON--More Americans than ever before are afflicted with diabetes, with the most dramatic increases in recent years occurring among African Americans, the federal government reported Thursday. An estimated 15.7 million people--nearly 6% of the U.S. population--have the disease, with an average of 798,000 new cases being diagnosed annually, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said steady increases in the disease have been seen between 1980 and 1994, with a jump of 33% among African Americans during those years. The increase for whites was 11% during that period, according to the agency, which released the statistics in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports. Other minority populations, including Native Americans, also suffer disproportionately from the disease, the CDC said. "These data estimate the number of Americans who have diabetes. However, diabetes is a disease that often goes undiagnosed," said CDC Director David Satcher, who is President Clinton's nominee for surgeon general-assistant secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services. "Millions of Americans with diabetes do not know they have the disease." The CDC estimates that about a third of the 15.7 million Americans with diabetes, or 5.4 million, have not been diagnosed. Diabetes is a potentially serious disease that can result in major and life-threatening complications, such as heart disease, blindness and stroke. It is caused by the body's inability to produce proper amounts of insulin to regulate the storage and use of sugar in the blood. Type I diabetes, formerly known as insulin-dependent or juvenile-onset diabetes, occurs when the body does not produce any insulin at all. It most often develops in children and young adults. It accounts for 5% to 10% of cases and requires regular insulin injections two to four times daily. Type II diabetes, which accounts for more than 90% of all cases, is associated with aging, race, ethnicity and a family history of the disease. It results in the production of abnormal levels of insulin and is strongly associated with obesity, diet and physical inactivity. It is most often treated with diet and drugs to stimulate the body to produce correct amounts of insulin. "We are a country of older, fatter and less physically active people," said Dr. Gerald Bernstein, president-elect of the American Diabetes Assn., in explaining the reasons for the disturbing trend. "We need to get people moving again and eating right again." The CDC said the disease currently afflicts 11.3 million non-Latino whites, 2.3 million African Americans and 1.2 million Mexican Americans. Other Latino Americans are almost twice as likely to have the disease as non-Latino whites, although the current data are insufficient for a more specific estimate, the CDC said. The rates for Native Americans vary among tribes and communities, ranging from 5% to 50%, the CDC said. * * * The Clinton administration pointed to three new diabetes initiatives launched earlier this year after enactment of legislation intended to balance the federal budget, including expanded Medicare coverage for treatment of the disease, an additional $150 million over five years for Type I diabetes research and an additional $150 million over five years for expanded research targeting prevention and treatment of diabetes among Native Americans. HHS Secretary Donna Shalala called the prevention, diagnosis and control of the disease "a serious health challenge for our country, and especially for many minority populations."

To: tdinovo who wrote (10499)	10/31/1997 3:10:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

The AP also covered the story: By Tara Meyer The Associated Press A T L A N T A, Oct. 30 - The number of Americans living with diabetes has increased dramatically since 1958 to the highest level on record, and one reason is that people are too fat. That's the verdict of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reported Thursday that as of this year there were 10 million people alive who had been diagnosed with the disease, up sixfold from 1.6 million in 1958. "We are becoming a more overweight population, we are less active and we are also getting somewhat older," said Dr. Frank Vinicor, director of the CDC's diabetes division. "If you put all of those factors together, we are seeing a chronic disease epidemic occurring." Doctors have also gotten better at diagnosing diabetes, but Vinicor said that accounts for only a small part of the increase. Not Just a U.S. Problem And it's not just a U.S. problem. The CDC and the World Health Organization estimate that 125 million people worldwide have diabetes. That number is expected to double by the year 2025. The CDC estimates 15.7 million people in the United States currently have diabetes, a condition in which blood sugar levels rise out of control. But more than 5 million don't know they have it. In its early stages, the symptoms of diabetes aren't very apparent. Diabetes is caused by a deficiency of insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas that controls blood sugar. High blood sugar damages the nerves. Diabetes can cause blindness and kidney disease and force the amputation of the feet and legs from infections that lead to gangrene. Between 1980 and 1994, diabetes rose 33 percent among blacks, from 40.1 diagnosed cases for every 1,000 people to 53.5 cases per 1,000. Among whites during the same years, the rate rose 11 percent, from 23.8 cases per 1,000 to 26.4. Obesity and lack of exercise increase the risk of diabetes. So does age: The body becomes less effective at producing insulin and more resistant to it. The American Diabetes Association recommended in June that all people 45 and older get their blood sugar tested every year.

To: tdinovo who wrote (10499)	10/31/1997 3:13:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

Ted, If you think that today's press coverage of diabetes is raising the public's conciousness level regarding the LLY:LGND deal, wait until next week!

To: tdinovo who wrote (10499)	10/31/1997 3:18:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

Ted, The story really isn't that new. Here's what AP said last year: Rate of diabetes has tripled since '58 NEW YORK - The number of Americans with diabetes has risen almost 50% since 1983 and the disease rate has tripled since 1958 - in part because the population is getting older and fatter. About 16 million Americans now have diabetes, up from 11 million in 1983, Dr. Richard Eastman of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, Md., said Thursday. About half of people with diabetes don't know it because they don't recognize the meaning of symptoms such as unexplained thirst and frequent urination, Eastman said in an interview before presenting the figures at a briefing sponsored by the American Medical Association and the American Diabetes Association. The numbers come from several federal surveys, he said. Left untreated, diabetes can lead to blindnesss, kidney failure and nerve damage. "There has been just an inexorable increase since 1958," said Eastman, director of the institute's division of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolic diseases. In 1958, diabetes occurred in less than 1% of the nation's population, he said, but now it is up to 3% to 4 percent. The increase appears in type II diabetes, which makes up 95% of all diabetes cases. One reason for the increase is that more people are in the age range where type II is more prevalent, Eastman said. The disease is diagnosed on average at age 51, he said. Increased rates of obesity and of a lack of exercise, both of which raise the risk of type II diabetes, are also responsible, he said. Another reason is the growth of minority populations such as blacks, American Indians, Asian-Americans and Hispanics who have elevated diabetes rates, mostly because of their genes, he said. Eastman said the only blanket recommendations he could make for avoiding diabetes are to exercise regularly and watch your weight. By The Associated Press

To: tdinovo who wrote (10499)	10/31/1997 3:23:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

The diabetes epidemic is actually worldwide. This was reported earlier this year: Diabetes epidemic 'is here and now,' experts warn Developing countries to face 45% increase of disease By Maggie Fox / Reuter HELSINKI, Finland -- Diabetes is becoming a global epidemic that poses dangers for many developing countries, experts at a conference on diabetes said Monday. "I think we can truly say that the epidemic is here and now," said Paul Zimmett, chief executive officer of the International Diabetes Institute. "Unless we do something dramatic, I expect diabetes to be one of the major killers in the world in the year 2010," said Jack Jervell, president of the International Diabetes Federation "Developing countries will bear the brunt of this epidemic." Drug therapy for the illness has improved little since insulin injections were developed in 1921 and the best hope was to change the way people live, researchers said. Diabetes affects at least 135 million people worldwide. By 2025, that number will reach 300 million, the World Health Organization predicts. The rate of diabetes will rise by 45 percent in developed countries, but by 200 percent -- a tripling of the present rate -- in developing countries, the diabetes federation says. People who were not at risk before are now developing diabetes, Zimmett said. While diabetes used to hit mostly those over the age of 50, cases were becoming common among people in their 20s and 30s. Rates are soaring in populations that are suddenly becoming modern and westernized, such as Australian aborigines, Pacific islanders, native Americans and black children. But the traditional medical approach of controlling diabetes with a low-fat, low-sugar diet, moderate exercise, and careful monitoring did not work with these new populations. What to watch for Diabetes kills by causing heart disease or kidney failure. If untreated or poorly treated, diabetes can cause blindness or vascular problems. * Half of all people with diabetes do not even know they have it. Symptoms are vague -- tiredness, thirst and a need to urinate frequently are common as the body tries to flush away excess blood sugar that builds up as the pancreas fails to produce insulin. * Complications from diabetes kill 2.8 million people around the world every year. * 10 percent of victims have Type I, or insulin-dependent diabetes, which often is genetic in origin. The rest have Type II, or noninsulin-dependent diabetes.