For about two years, Douglass has worked with the ADA to raise money for research into prevention and treatment options.
View full sizeLaura Douglass of Easthampton displays an award she received in recognition of her work with the American Diabetes Association in a photo provided by Baystate Medical Center.EASTHAMPTON – Every 17 seconds, someone in America is diagnosed with diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association, and a local woman is doing her part to make sure they receive the care they need.
Laura Douglass was diagnosed with latent autoimmune diabetes of the adult in 2003 when she tried to get a life insurance policy before opening the Apollo Grill, which she co-owns with her husband. She wears a battery-operated insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor.
“My kids call me a cyborg,” she laughed, before becoming serious about the impact treating diabetes can have on the patient and on the nation.
“It’s probably about $250 a month out of my pocket and I have good insurance,” she said. Douglass is the nurse manager of a medical-surgical unit at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.
For those with little or no insurance, the prices can be dangerously high. For about two years, Douglass has worked with the ADA to raise money for research into prevention and treatment options.
She began in 2009 with the Tour de Cure, a fundraising bicycle ride, and served on the planning committee for the 2010 Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes. She received an “Outstanding Achievement in Fundraising” award from the ADA for her work on the walk.
In March, she became the first representative for the ADA’s Call to Congress ever to come from Western Massachusetts. She and about 250 other activists lobbied legislators to maintain or increase diabetes research funding.
“The costs of treating the symptoms are just astronomical,” said Douglass. “It’s an investment in the future of this country.”
She met with aides for Sen. John Kerry, D-MA, Rep. John Olver, D-Amherst, and Rep. Edward Markey, D-Malden. She said the congressmen showed support for the cause.
Sen. Scott Brown, R-MA, “didn’t give us the time of day or tell us if he supported anything,” but he showed up for a photo op, Douglass said.
“A lot of this money that we’re asking them to support ends up in Massachusetts,” she said. Diabetes research is conducted at hospitals and universities across the state, including the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Although the nation is struggling financially, this research is too important to cut, she said. About 26 million Americans have diabetes and one in three may have it by 2050 if current trends continue, according to the ADA.
If funding is cut, “it’s going to cripple this country,” Douglass said. “Just for practical reasons alone, we can’t reduce the funding for research and the funding for prevention.”
Diabetes does not have to be a death sentence. There are ways to manage it, such as eating properly, exercising and checking blood sugar levels. Preventive measures are also important, Douglass said, such as maintaining a healthy body weight.
Not all diabetes cases are the same, though, and it is crucial to work alongside a doctor.
“If you have diabetes, you should be seeing an endocrinologist,” she said. “It’s not hopeless. It’s absolutely not hopeless.”