As we celebrate Black History Month this February, DHEC would like to take this opportunity to honor the past and present achievements of African Americans who have and are making a difference in the environmental, health care and public health fields.
Whether working for clean air, training midwives, or increasing the health literacy of underserved communities, these individuals and many others have made efforts to enhance equitable access to critical public health services, patient safety support, and a clean, safe, and healthy environment for every South Carolinian.
We also wanted to use this opportunity to share some of the important work being done by DHEC to help to address existing health and environmental disparities and improve the quality of life for African Americans and other South Carolinians across our great state.
June 14th through the 20th Men’s Health Week, and we wanted to take the opportunity to see how preventing or managing certain conditions can go a long way toward keeping you healthy.
Blood pressure
High blood pressure raises your risk for heart disease and stroke. Your doctor examines your systolic and diastolic pressures, which are measured in millimeters of mercury (abbreviated as mmHg).
The normal range is:
Systolic: less than 120 mmHg; and
Diastolic: less than 80 mmHg.
High blood pressure can also damage the tiny blood vessels in your eyes and restrict blood flow to your retina, leading to blurred vision or blindness. It can cause fluid to build under your retina, which distorts and sometimes impairs vision.
And if high blood pressure completely blocks the flow of blood to your optic nerve, it can kill the nerve cells and cause temporary or permanent vision loss. High blood pressure also can lead to stroke.
If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may prescribe medication and lifestyle changes.
You can have your blood pressure checked during a preventive screening, which is available at no cost to State Health Plan primary members. To learn more about the preventive screening benefit, visit www.PEBAperks.com.
Diabetes
About 15 percent of men in the U.S. have diabetes, according to National Diabetes Statistics Report. There are several types of blood-sugar tests to determine if you have prediabetes, Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. Normal, nonfasting blood glucose readings are between 70 and 140 milligrams per deciliter.
If you’re diagnosed with diabetes, a diabetes educator can help you:
Develop a healthy eating plan.
Learn to test your blood sugar and record the results.
Recognize the signs of high or low blood sugar and what to do about it.
Monitor your feet, skin and eyes.
Manage stress and deal with diabetes care.
Diabetes can also affect your vision. With this diagnosis comes a chance of developing retinopathy, a disease that results when high blood sugar levels damage the blood vessels in your eyes. It can harm your vision and result in blindness. Diabetes also increases the risk of other serious vision conditions, such as cataracts and glaucoma.
Talk to your network physician if you have diabetes or think you may be at risk. Let your doctor know you’re interested in meeting with a diabetes educator, and he or she can refer you.
You can also get one-on-one coaching from a health coach to help you manage diabetes. For details, call 855.838.5897.
If you have diabetes, you may also qualify for No-Pay Copay, a program that provides certain generic medications to treat your condition at no cost to you. To learn more about diabetes education and No-Pay Copay, visit www.PEBAperks.com.
What you can do
Your risk of developing these common health issues and the potential vision complications that may result can be reduced with healthy lifestyle choices:
Maintain a healthy body weight
Stop smoking
Exercise regularly
Eat a healthy diet
Visit regularly with your physician and your eye doctor for thorough check-ups
November is American Diabetes Month. Let’s use this month to understand one of South Carolina’s most prevalent chronic diseases. There are three types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body does not produce insulin. Type 2, the most common form of diabetes, occurs when the body does not use insulin properly. Gestational diabetes occurs in some pregnant women when hormones may block the mother’s insulin, causing insulin resistance.
Common Symptoms of Diabetes
Frequent urination
Feeling very thirsty
Extreme fatigue
Blurry vision
Weight loss (type 1)
Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
Tingling, pain, or numbness in the hands/feet (type 2)
Feeling very hungry even though you have eaten
Diabetes can be very expensive to manage. Use these tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to find ways to save on medicine. By successfully managing your diabetes, you could prevent other onset chronic diseases and health issues, such as kidney disease, heart disease, or vision impairment, and amputation.
Diabetes in South Carolina
According to the 2018 South Carolina Health Assessment:
The prevalence of adults in South Carolina diagnosed with prediabetes increased from 6.7% in 2011 to 9.4% in 2016 (Figure 6.3).
Although there was not a steady pattern in the percentage of adults with diabetes in South Carolina from 2011 to 2016, South Carolina’s diabetes rates were consistently higher than the United States (Figure 6.4).
Adults aged 65 or older experienced diabetes at the highest rate of other age demographics with 26.1%.
In 2016, the prevalence of diabetes was higher in non-Hispanic Blacks (16.9%) than in non-Hispanic Whites (11.7%), and higher in those with an annual household income of less than $25,000 than those with an annual household income of $50,000 or more (9.4%).
What is Prediabetes?
Prediabetes, sometimes called “borderline diabetes,” is a condition that can lead to type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It occurs when your blood sugar (glucose) level is elevated, but not in the diabetes range yet. People with prediabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or experience a stroke. Your chances of having prediabetes increase if you:
Are 45 or older
Are Black, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Asian-American, or Pacific Islander
Have a parent, brother or sister with diabetes
Are overweight
Are physically inactive
Have high blood pressure or take medicine for high blood pressure
Have low HDL cholesterol and/or high triglycerides
Had diabetes during pregnancy
Have been diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Do you think you could have prediabetes? Take the risk test and find out. It only takes a few minutes and you can find the test online at https://www.cdc.gov/prediabetes/takethetest/.
There are ways to combat diabetes with lifestyle changes. By increasing physical activity, eating a balanced diet and quitting tobacco use, you may prevent your chances of getting diabetes. If your physician has diagnosed you with prediabetes, you can also enroll in a National Diabetes Prevention Program, which has shown to reduce your chances of developing diabetes by 58%. For more information and links to resources, visit https://www.scdhec.gov/health-professionals/clinical-guidance-resources/diabetes-data-and-reports.
Our next installment of the 2018 Live Healthy State Health Assessment summaries covers chronic disease and risk factors. Because this section lists many chronic diseases that affect South Carolina, we will summarize in three sections. In our first section we summarized South Carolina findings on obesity, prediabetes, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, heart disease, and stroke. Our next section will cover nutrition, physical activity, and cigarette smoking. Check out our previous posts: overview of the report, South Carolina demographics, leading causes of death and hospitalization, cross-cutting, access to healthcare, and maternal and infant health.
Nutrition
A healthy diet is essential to reducing the risk of chronic diseases and other health conditions, including obesity, malnutrition, iron-deficiency anemia, and some cancers.
The percent of adults who consumed vegetables less than one time per day was higher in those with an annual household income of less than $15,000 (37.8%) compared to those with an annual household income of $50,000 or higher (16.1%).
Men (52.3%) in South Carolina had a higher prevalence of not eating fruits than women (42.5%) in 2015.
The prevalence of adults who consumed vegetables less than one time per day did not statistically change from 2011 to 2015.
Physical Activity
The rate of adults who met physical activity guidelines for both aerobic and muscle training increased from 18.9% in 2011 to 23.0% in 2016, and surpassed the Healthy People 2020 objective of 20.1%.
In 2015, 23.6% of South Carolina high school students met the federal physical activity guidelines for aerobic physical activity.
The prevalence among non-Hispanic White students who met the federal physical activity guidelines for aerobic physical activity was higher than non-Hispanic Black students.
Adult cigarette smoking decreased from 23.7% in 2011 to 20.6% in 2016 in South Carolina.
In 2015, 9.6% of high school students (grades 9-12) reported cigarette use on at least one day during the past 30 days.
The prevalence of adult women (50%) attempting to quit cigarette smoking within the past year was higher than adult men (41.0%).
In South Carolina in 2015, 22.4% of adults reported being exposed to secondhand smoke while at the workplace.
The five counties in South Carolina with the highest prevalence of secondhand smoke exposure while a work were: Colleton, Hampton, Bamberg, Clarendon, and Marlboro.
In 2015, the prevalence of adolescents who reported being exposed to secondhand smoke in homes or vehicles was 40.8%.
South Carolina had the 12th highest adult obesity rate in the nation in 2016.
In 2016, the prevalence of obesity among non-Hispanic Blacks was 42.8% and was higher compared to non-Hispanic Whites (30.2%).
The prevalence of obesity was higher in adults with an annual household income less than $15,000 (40.8%) than among those with income $50,000 and higher (28.4%).
Prediabetes
Prediabetes, sometimes called “borderline diabetes” is a condition in which someone has a blood sugar (glucose) level above normal but not yet in the diabetes range. People with prediabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or experience a stroke. Without lifestyle changes to improve their health, 15% to 30% of people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within five years.
The prevalence of adults in South Carolina diagnosed with prediabetes increased from 6.7% in 2011 to 9.4% in 2016.
In 2016, the prevalence of prediabetes was higher in non-Hispanic Blacks (12.5%) compared to non-Hispanic Whites (8.5%).
The prevalence of prediabetes was higher in those with a disability (14.7%) than those without a disability (6.9%).
Diabetes
From 2011 to 2016, South Carolina adults with diabetes have remained higher than the median range of the United States.
The prevalence of diabetes was higher among adults aged 65 or older than among those under age 65.
In 2016, the prevalence of diabetes was higher in non-Hispanic Blacks (16.9%) than in non-Hispanic Whites (11.7%).
Hypertension
Hypertension, commonly known as “high blood pressure,” is often called the silent killer because, apart from extreme cases, it has no symptoms. Nearly one in three United States adults have high blood pressure.
More than one-third (39.3%) of adults in South Carolina had hypertension in 2016.
Seventeen counties had a prevalence of hypertension higher than the state average at 38.7%.
In 2016, the prevalence of hypertension increased with age.
Arthritis
Arthritis is the term used to describe more than 100 diseases and conditions that affect joints, the tissues that surround the join, and other connective tissue.
The percentage of South Carolina adults who have been told they have arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus, or fibromyalgia increased from 27.9% in 2011 to 30.1% in 2016. The median percentage of arthritis was 25.8% in the United States in 2016.
Over 57% of adults ages 65 years or older reported having arthritis in 2016.
The prevalence among disabled adults (56.2%) was three times higher than those adults who were not disabled (16.8%).
Heart Disease
About 610,000 Americans die each year from heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the United States.
South Carolina had a lower death rate compared to the United States (94.3 per 100,000) and met the Healthy People 2020 goal of 103.4 coronary heart disease deaths per 100,000 population in 2016.
Men (123.3 per 100,000) had a higher death rate than women (57.6 per 100,000) in 2016.
Non-Hispanic Blacks (96.0 per 100,000) experienced a higher death rate than non-Hispanic Whites (85.7 per 100,000).
Stroke
Stroke was the fifth leading cause of death in the United States in 2016, and is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States. About 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke each year.
In 2016, South Carolina had the sixth highest stroke death rate in the nation and is part of the “Stroke Belt,” a group of Southeastern states with high death rates.
Stroke was the fifth leading cause of death in South Carolina, resulting in 2,627 deaths in 2016.
Stroke resulted in 16,484 hospitalizations in South Carolina in 2016, with charges of more than $952 million.
Live Healthy S.C. 