Health experts spread
the word on ‘silent killer’

Having diabetes makes
people more likely to suffer
strokes and heart disease

Myrtle Nyuha, 65, of Pearl City gets the message loud and clear from the American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association.

She was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2000, putting her at high risk for cardiovascular problems, and she had a triple bypass in 2002.

Nyuha said she has made lifestyle changes, which heart and diabetes professionals urge to prevent or control diabetes and reduce heart risks.

Diabetes contributes to heart disease, which is the No. 1 killer in America, and to stroke, the third killer and a leading cause of severe long-term disability. Diabetes is known as "the silent killer disease."

"About 75 percent of patients with diabetes will end up dying of a cardiovascular event, be it a heart attack or stroke," says Dr. Laurie Tom, endocrinologist in private practice and University of Hawaii assistant clinical professor of medicine.

Many times people think a heart attack or stroke caused a death "when the main risk factor started early on, which is diabetes, associated with hypertension and high cholesterol," she said.

Emphasis should be on preventing diabetes, but though there is more awareness of obesity as a cause, "it hasn't translated into behavior changes," Tom said.

February is American Heart Month and the American Heart Association is sponsoring a series of events to promote heart health.

Diabetes experts also will give patients the latest information to improve their care at a "Taking Control of Your Diabetes Conference & Health Fair" Saturday in Honolulu and Sunday in Lihue.

The diabetes association is trying to partner with heart and cardiology organizations to deliver common messages, said Tom, co-director of the conference with Viola Genadio, certified diabetes educator and diabetes clinical nurse specialist at St. Francis Medical Center.

"We're all trying to do the same thing on a lot of levels in terms of having patients become more knowledgeable and take better care of themselves," Tom said.

Nyuha, who has three children and three grandchildren, said both of her parents had diabetes and heart problems, so it wasn't much of a surprise when she was told she had diabetes. "But then my heart got really bad and I needed a triple bypass. I was very concerned at that point."

She said she started walking 10 minutes a day because of the diabetes and did stair-climbing at Pearl City High School, where she was a special education assistant. "That is how I found I was getting dizzy and lightheaded.

"My doctor said I was getting old and it was old age creating lightheadedness and dizziness. Getting old was a matter of fact but I was not getting dizzy because I was old," she said.

She went to the Holistica Hawaii Health Center for tests that showed she needed a triple bypass, and she changed doctors, she said.

About eight months after the bypass, she began having mini-strokes and her neurologist recommended that she go to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio for evaluation. She underwent an intervention procedure there last June to unplug her main artery that "was a miracle for me," she said.

She has stepped up her walks from 10 minutes to at least 30 minutes a day.

She's also eating more chicken and fish, but acknowledges, "I could get a few more pounds down ... I'm trying to become a vegetarian. It's a hard deal."

But her diabetes is under control and a recent heart examination was positive, she said.