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Wednesday, July 2, 2008

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Legacy of help

Beards driving force behind screening for diabetes in area

By RENEE RICHARDSON

Senior Reporter

Rita Beard was 18 when she learned she had diabetes.

The diagnosis affected every day of her life. She was dating Bob Beard when she was diagnosed. They've been married 52 years. It was a different experience being a diabetic in the 1950s. In those days, the Beards had to special order diet soda from the drug store. Fifty-seven years after she first was diagnosed, Rita Beard has come through without major complications.

"I'm always amazed at her," Bob Beard said of his wife, saying the first 20 years he had little information about the disease because people didn't talk about it. Rita Beard said she kept much of it to herself. That is one of the things that has changed, along with greater access to information and education.

"We've seen a lot of change in all those years," Rita Beard said. "And I feel really fortunate and really blessed to be here to talk about it."

Jim Bergstrom, Garrison Lions Club past president and coordinator for the diabetes outreach program, pricked his finger for a blood glucose test. Bergstrom has diabetes and a passion to help others, particularly those who may not realize they have the disease. Early treatment is key in living with the disease, Bergstrom said. Brainerd Dispatch/ Kelly Humphrey
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The Beards were a driving force in establishing free screenings for diabetes in the area. And that legacy continues today with, perhaps, an even greater urgency. At issue is what has been termed an epidemic of Type 2 diabetes as American are less active and pushing past healthy weights.

When the Beards retired to the Outing area about 18 years ago they wanted to give back to the community. They started working with the Lions regarding diabetes and went to the state level. At the time, the International Diabetes Center in Minneapolis was finding it a challenge to reach people in rural and smaller communities in Minnesota.

The Beards said Lions clubs were in all those smaller communities and they offered to help with educational seminars and screenings. The Lions clubs embraced the effort and the partnership with the IDC was successful and grew.

Bob and Rita Beard of Outing helped start the diabetes outreach program with the Lions Club. Brainerd Dispatch/Renee Richardson
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During blood glucose screenings, Bob Beard said: "It was amazing the number of people we would find at risk."

Now that passion to help people with diabetes is firmly embraced by Jim Bergstrom, a man who didn't retire easily and still gets up in the morning ready to hit the ground running. A diabetic himself with a harsh family history, Bergstrom knows the disease from the inside out. Bergstrom's family has experienced early deaths and limb amputations driven by diabetes.

By the numbers

23.6 million - the number of people in the U.S. who have diabetes, which accounts for 8 percent of the population.

13.5 percent - the increase in the prevalence of diabetes between 2005 and 2007.

224,092 - the number of deaths diabetes contributed to in 2002.

$174 billion - the annual estimated cost of diabetes in 2007.

Type 2 diabetes is treated with nutrition, exercise and medication.

Diabetes may be prevented or delayed by losing 5 percent to 7 percent of total body weight and exercising 150 minutes per week.

Sources: American Diabetes Association, St. Joseph's Medical Center's Diabetes Education Program.

With the Lions, Bergstrom works with area hospitals in Brainerd, Aitkin, Crosby and Park Rapids. Lions volunteers work with licensed health professions, often nurses, who do the blood draws - a quick needle prick on the side of a finger - and blood glucose tests. Results come within seconds. No one is told they have diabetes after the free screenings. But people who post concerning numbers are directed to see their doctor.

The goal is to reach people who do not realize they have diabetes. Early treatment is key to avoiding complications that can lead to blindness, amputation of limbs and heart trouble. Preventing blindness is one of the Lions' key missions. The clubs works with grants and donations and pays for materials at the screenings right down to the cotton balls along with brochures and literature, including an informative booklet for newly diagnosed. The Lions also work with area hospitals and clinics to pay for staff training and equipment, which is typically used as part of diabetes education programming.

Jim Bergstrom, former president of the Garrison Lions Club, has a passion for volunteering his time for free screenings to help people who may have a ticking time bomb inside and not even realize it. Brainerd Dispatch/ Kelly Humphrey
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Donna Symanietz, from Pine River and with Johnson & Johnson, has helped Bergstrom get free test strips. A number of testing meter companies have assisted with equipment.

Bergstrom said with all the promising research going on, he is hopeful a cure for diabetes could be found in his lifetime with major strides coming in three to five years. Already advances in technology have helped to make living with diabetes easier.

Free screenings are offered at area festivals and this year at the Aitkin County Fair and planned on Senior Day at the Crow Wing County Fair in Brainerd. Next year, Bergstrom hopes to have enough volunteers to offer free screenings at all the area county fairs.

"Catch it early," Bergstrom said of diabetes. "You'll find out life is a whole lot better. Do it early. Find out and control it. It is controllable. You can live well."

Bergstrom said if 1,000 people are tested through screenings and just one seeks medical help when they need it, all the effort will have been worthwhile.

"That's money well spent," Bergstrom said. "It's people helping people."

RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.

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