(NAPSA)—Hollywood stars have it. So do several accomplished authors, musicians and athletes. People in all professions live—and act and write and sing and play— with diabetes. They've won Oscars, authored bestsellers, received Grammys and hit home runs. For people in high profile professions and for the other 190 million people around the world who also have diabetes, technology advances are making it easier than ever to manage the disease so they can concentrate on living—and succeeding—in their everydaylives. That's not to say, however, that having diabetes doesn’t present challenges. It does, but companies such as BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), are finding ways for people with diabetes to meet those challenges more easily, more comfortably and faster than ever before. Needles made by BD were used to deliver the first insulin injections in 1924, and since then BD hasbeen a leader in advanced technology in the diabetes care industry. “For some people, managing their diabetes is a matter of making sure they exercise regularly, eat right and check and adjust their insulin levels every day, establishing a schedule so they ean eat and take their insulin at the proper time” says Susie Johnson, R.N., a clinical diabetes educator in the Houston, Texas, area. What that means for many people, however, is that several times a day they haveto stick their finger with a lancet, drawing a small droplet of blood onto a test strip so they can monitor the level of glucose in their bloodstream. It may sound simple enough, but if children are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of five, based on blood sugar testing alone, by the time they’re 18 they will have stuck themselves as many as 18,980 times. And that’s not counting insulin injections. “Thankfully, advances in needle technology have made insulin injection less and less painful through the years,” says Johnson. BD’s latest advances, including new, thinner insulin syringe needles, greatly increase comfort by nearly eliminating the pain associated with insulin injections. Advances in insulin injections that lessen pain, paired with thinner lancets, blood glucose monitors and other technologies that make testing faster, easier and more comfortable, can encourage people with diabetes to strive to more tightly control their blood glucoselevels. For instance, BD Logic”, a blood glucose monitor for testing blood sugar levels, and the BD Latitude”, a diabetes management system, combine the thinnest lancets available with test strips that require a very small amount of blood and deliver accurate readings rapidly—in only five seconds. Insulin syringe needles like the BD Ultra-Fine™ II, a short needle about the size of a strand of thread, lessen the pain of injection. And tools, like BD” Diabetes Software, let patients download and analyze data from their BD blood glucose THE DETAILS ON DIABETES Whatis it? Diabetes is a chronic disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, the hormonethat “unlocks” the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them. How many people haveit? Around the world, 190 million people,including approximately18 million in the United States. Type1 diabetes:People with type 1 diabetes do not produce anyinsulin of their own and must take daily insulin injections to lead active, healthy lives. Type2 diabetes:People with type 2 generally don’t produce enough or properly use their own insulin. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes, accountingfor 90 percent to 95 percent of all cases, depending on the country. People with type 2 diabetes can sometimes controltheir diabetes with diet and exercise, but most often must use oral medications or insulin injections. How many people take insulin to control diabetes?It’s estimated that more than 4 million Americans takeinsulin to control their blood glucose levels. For additional information,visit www.B Ddiabetes.com. monitor directly on their home computer. “It’s never going to be a joy to have diabetes,” says Johnson. “But with advances like these, people are able to live fuller lives than ever before.” For more information, please visit the BD Website at www.BDdiabetes.com.
