Hospital has helped make life a lot easier, and more understandable, for local diabetics. Established in 1990, the Diabetes Education and Counselling Centre operates on a referral basis, offering expert advice and counselling on every aspect of the disease. "Patients at the Centre must be referred by their doctor,'' said Debbie Jones, the facility's co-ordinator. "But they come because they want to, not because they are forced.'' The Diabetes Centre is open Monday through Friday with different groups visiting. According to Hume Martin, executive director of the Hospital at the time the Centre was established, community support played an important role in its inception. The Bermuda Diabetic Association, he said, not only provided the Bermuda Hospitals Board with a $100,000 grant for initial financing, but it also used its influence to secure approval of outpatient diabetic counselling as an approved insurance benefit. A 12-hour course is instrumental in helping patients understand just how lifestyle affects health. "The first hour of a course is spent understanding diabetes,'' said Mrs. Jones. "We start by taking the patient through the body to show them how food is broken down, then we explain what happens to a person if they have diabetes and what we can do to treat the disease.'' All patients that join the programme are shown a film about a small population in South America, said Mrs. Jones -- the Zunis. Diabetes there had no standing, but within 30 years it became an epidemic. What caused the change, she explained, was a major transformation within the culture's lifestyle. The Zunis, once physically active, began using modern equipment and eating fast foods after Western influences penetrated their civilisation.

"The film shows how a person's lifestyle is connected to diabetes,'' said Mrs. Jones. "And most people in Bermuda have diabetes because of unhealthy habits. We develop the rest of the programme on this basis and show patients how to adopt a healthy lifestyle. "Once a person has the disease, they will always have it but we can control it,'' she added. "Wholesome food and exercise is the key.'' There are two types of diabetes. But 80 to 90 percent of people in Bermuda with the disease have Type 2, which means they are non-insulin dependent; a condition which can be controlled by meal-planning, exercise and, at times, medication, according to Mrs. Jones. Aside from meal-planning and exercise regimens, diabetics are taught how to inject their own insulin. And the Centre tests patients regularly for blood sugar levels.

Also present at the Centre is the Body, a teaching model of a human body designed by an Australian doctor. "The physician thought that if people can understand how their bodies work, it would be easier for them to change their unhealthy eating habits,'' said Mrs. Jones. "Boehringer Mannheim began making the Body and distributing them around the world and they donated one to the Diabetes Centre...Since we've implemented the Body in our education programme, the success of patients who are able to change their lifestyles is unbelievable. And we have virtually no drop-out rate.'' After patients have completed the 12-hour programme, they return for refresher courses. "We take patients to a grocery store and teach them how to read food labels and make good choices. We also look at blood sugar levels and answer patients' questions. And the Centre keeps patients updated with regular newsletters as to what we're planning.'' Literature on diabetes and diabetes control management is available free of charge from pharmacies and the TB Centre, courtesy of Eli Lilly, an international pharmaceutical company and its local representative, Med Tech International. And, as always, check with a doctor, diabetologist or dietitian, where necessary. PHOTO Former Hospitals Board executive director, Hume Martin and Diabetes Centre co-ordinator Debbie Jones show one of the many posters that have been used over the years to raise public awareness of diabetes.

HEALTH HTH