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Parents are encouraged to bring their children in for the free screeningif they recognize any of the seven most common symptoms of diabetes in theirchildren: frequent urination, excessive thirst, extreme hunger, sudden weightloss, increased fatigue, blurred vision or if the child is overweight.
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"Diabetes is a debilitating and life-shortening disease whose most seriouscomplications can often be effectively treated with early detection. We hopethat making this test available to school age children will result in earlierdiagnosis of undiagnosed diabetes and pre-diabetes, and help to mitigatecomplications later in life. Awareness at an early age is key," said CarolynGalloway, MD, chief medical officer of RediClinic LLC.
The BIOSAFE Diabetes Risk Assessment is a two-part process comprised of animmediate fasting glucose reading and a mail-in laboratory analysis forhemoglobin A1c, a blood glucose marker for the previous 90-day period. Samplesfor both tests are collected through a simple finger-stick collection kit.Taken in combination, these two results are a reliable indicator of diabetesor a pre-diabetes condition.
For best results, a child should fast for 12 hours before having thescreening administered. The instant glucose results will be available a fewminutes after the test is administered. If the glucose result is elevated, theblood sample will be sent to a lab for further analysis and the results of theBIOSAFE Diabetes Risk Assessment will be shared with parents approximately twoweeks after the clinic visit. As part of the process, RediClinic clinicianswill educate patients about diabetes, and refer patients to their medical homeor an appropriate provider for follow-on care.
"Despite decades of medical advances for the treatment of diabetes,millions of people remain undiagnosed or at risk for the disease. We areconfident that those who are identified as being in a pre-diabetic state willwork with their physicians, school nurses and diabetes educators to implementdietary and healthy lifestyle changes to avoid the onset of diabetes and itscatastrophic complications, such as heart disease, blindness and kidneyfailure," said Jack Maggiore, Ph.D., president of BIOSAFE Laboratories.
Type 2 diabetes (non-insulin dependent diabetes) affects more than 20million Americans and is the most common form of the disease. However, becausediabetes exhibits few, if any, symptoms until its advanced stages, millionsmore are unaware that they are in danger of developing the disease. When bloodglucose (sugar) levels are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to beclassified as diabetes, a condition known as pre-diabetes exists. Ifdiscovered early, a person with pre-diabetes can avoid the disease througheducation, diet, exercise and appropriately prescribed medications.
Glycemion, Inc. is participating in the program by marketing anddistributing the BIOSAFE Diabetes Risk Assessment kits in the United States.
Funding for this program is being provided, in part, by the NationalCenter for Public Research (N.C.P.R.). The N.C.P.R., in partnership with theMari Gallagher Research & Consulting Group, has conducted extensive researchon the identification of and solution to the Food Desert and its link todiabetes. A Food Desert is a reference to a large or isolated geographicalarea with limited, or no, access to
