(3/2/99)

More than 57,000 Utahns have diabetes but don't know it. Chronic disease experts today threw out the stat, warning residents the incidence of diabetes in Utah is going up. The story now, from Science Specialist Ed Yeates.

Seventy-four-year-old Howard Nielsen in the State Senate didn't know he had diabetes until someone ironically tested his blood on the day he was proposing diabetes related legislation.

Like more than half of the state's 115,000 diabetics, the former U.S. Congressman was undiagnosed - his blood sugar extremely high. "459 - very high - nearly cotosis. They were worried whether I would be able to drive home or not," Nielsen recalls.

The Senator had keto-acidosis - a condition which lands many victims in the hospital.

It's been only two weeks since Senator Nielson was diagnosed with diabetes, but in those few short days, he's already modififed his lifestyle. "I haven't had a candy or cookies or anything for two weeks now and I'm trying to lose weight. I've lost ten pounds."

Richard Cannon, M.D., of LDS Hospital, says, "It's going up in Utah. One, because as people age, as we get an older population, type two diabetes becomes more and more prevalent."

Not only is age a factor - but also the state's rising ethnic population. Dr. Richard Cannon says Native Americans, Hispanics and Pacific Islanders all have a high incidence of diabetes.

Experts say type II diabetes can go undiagnosed for many years. Dennis Dickerson, of the American Diabetes Association, says, "Those people have had the deterioration working for seven to ten years. So basically they've had diabetes seven to ten years before they're diagnosed."

Even people with a blood sugar at 110 to 126 are vulnerable. It's called impaired fasting glucose.

"We believe if you take people with this impaired glucose tolerance or very early diabetes and put them on an insulin sensitizer, that you can prevent them from ever going on to develop diabetes."

Those sensitizers include oral medications which balance the production of insulin in the body.

Early signs of diabetes include:

• Excessive thirst
• Frequent urination
• Unexplained weight loss