Re: Enron Business on diabetes ,
 Mary,

I would be happy to talk with anyone about this.  The story did have some 
mistakes.  Tom was correct in his statements.  By the way, I never saw the 
draft before it ran.  I think I would have caught the errors.   If I saw it 
before the printing, I must have simply said ok without reading it but 
neither Cathy nor i remember an email on it.

Mike





Mary Clark@ENRON
01/02/2001 10:47 AM
To: Mike McConnell/HOU/ECT@ECT, Cathy Phillips/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc: Sarah Palmer/HOU/ECT@ECT 
Subject: Enron Business on diabetes

Mike, see the employee feedback below on the JDF story in Vol. 6 of Enron 
Business.  It might be a good idea to talk with MaryAnn Roman de Meza 
(Wellness) about how we might communicate information about diabetes 
detection and treatment to employees.  What do you think?

Mary
---------------------- Forwarded by Mary Clark/Corp/Enron on 01/02/2001 10:44 
AM ---------------------------


Sarah Palmer@ECT
01/02/2001 08:51 AM
To: Mary Clark/Corp/Enron@ENRON
cc:  

Subject: Enron Business on diabetes

Should we forward this to Mike?
----- Forwarded by Sarah Palmer/HOU/ECT on 01/02/2001 08:51 AM -----

	Tom Halliburton@ENRON
	01/02/2001 07:44 AM
		 
		 To: enronbusiness@enron.com
		 cc: 
		 Subject: Enron Business on diabetes

Hi,
I'd like to suggest you publish something on diabetes to correct what I think 
are misconceptions or inaccuracies in the article "Enron employees set new 
record with walk to knock out diabetes" that appeared in the recent copy of 
Enron Business.  I am not an expert, so you should not publish any of my 
comments, but should contact an expert in the treatment of diabetes.

You quoted Mike McConnell as stating that weight gain is a normal symptom of 
untreated diabetes.  My experience is that weight gain is often a CAUSE of 
diabetes, whereas weight loss is often a SYMPTOM.  It would be useful to 
clarify this, as some people with undiagnosed diabetes could delay seeking 
help on the basis of the quotation made.

The quote "...insulin is not a cure nor does it prevent the development of 
complications.  It is merely life support."  is totally at odds with the 
experience of the diabetics I have known, and could be quite alarming to 
someone recently diagnosed.  Most people on insulin need make only very small 
changes to their lifestyle and diet.  Properly managed diabetes eliminates 
almost all complications - the body effectively functions normally with the 
addition of insulin.  damage caused prior to diagnosis can not be reversed of 
course.  The suggestion that insulin is merely life support is alarming - 
insulin is life support, but not "merely" life support.  Life can be lived 
fully, and while there are probably some activities that can not be 
participated in, I have not met a diabetic who has experienced this.  No 
complex equipment is needed, the treatment is very quick, portable, 
inconspicuous, etc.  It can not be compared to dialysis for renal failure, 
for example, which is much closer to "merely life support".  Even so, many 
people on dialysis still live good lives.

I think it would be very useful for you folks to publish something that helps 
people diagnose both types of diabetes, how they can avoid the adult onset 
type, and the effect on lifestyle of diabetes.  Perhaps you could find some 
nice statistics such as the most common method of diagnosis is when the 
patient goes into a comma due to high blood sugar (at least in some 
countries), diabetes is the leading cause of non-accidental amputations, 
adult blindness, renal failure, etc, and that the materials for a blood test 
cost about $1.

yours

Tom Halliburton
mary.clark@enron.com