Dear Friend of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation:
This is my last President’s Letter (more on that later), and
I want to take this opportunity to highlight, once again,
an issue that should be of tremendous concern to all of us.
Jane Brody is the highly respected health writer for The
New York Times, and I always enjoy reading her columns, many
of which are reprinted in the StarTribune. Although I like
to think that I have a fairly good understanding of what
the epidemic of obesity means to the health of our country – and
to our rapidly rising health care costs – I was still
stunned by the figures that she cited in her column on March
29.
For example, 18.2 million Americans now have diabetes,
and of that number 90% suffer from adult-onset or Type 2
diabetes, a form of diabetes which is highly associated with
obesity and lack of exercise. More disturbing is the fact
that 41 million Americans have blood sugar levels which are
above normal, a sign that usually precedes the onset of diabetes.
Ms. Brody quotes a pediatric endocrinologist, Dr. Francine
Kaufman, who believes that one important factor in the diabetes
epidemic is, as Ms. Brody notes, “the failure of schools
to set good examples by providing only healthful fare, a
loss of physical activity in schools and the inability of
many children to walk or bike safely to school or to play
outside later.” These are issues that we, as a society,
can and should address.
It is harder to address the issue of genes. Ms. Brody notes
that some ethnic groups are far more likely to develop Type
2 diabetes than others. Blacks, Hispanic-Americans, Mexican-
Americans and Native Americans are all more likely to develop
diabetes than are whites. Without any change in our eating
and exercise habits, more than two-fifths of blacks and fully
half of Hispanic-Americans will develop diabetes.
Diabetes is a leading cause of heart attack, stroke and
peripheral vascular disease in America and it already ranks
#1 in direct health care costs, consuming $1 of every $7
spent on health care, according to Ms. Brody.
August 1 of this year will mark my 10th anniversary with
the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, and it seems
like a very appropriate time for me to move on. I feel very
privileged to have spent the past decade working with the
outstanding physicians of the Minneapolis Heart Institute – cardiologists,
cardiovascular surgeons, radiologists and anesthesiologists.
And that is part of the reason that I wanted to begin this
letter by underscoring, once again, the tremendous need for
all of us to make a commitment to the health of our country
and, most especially, the health of our children.
To this day, I find it telling that a group of cardiovascular
physicians made the commitment, 23 years ago, to create an
independent heart health organization as a way of giving
back to the community in which they live and work. Today,
the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation is the largest
provider of community heart health information in Minnesota,
and one of the very largest in the country. We are the only
organization that is working on a statewide basis to promote
awareness of heart health, exercise and a healthy diet through
programs in elementary schools, community centers, churches
and work sites. We are the only health organization dedicated
to working on a broad scale with communities of color throughout
Minnesota, to provide them with information and choices that
will allow them to lead heart-healthy lives.
This is the very significant gift that the physicians of
the Minneapolis Heart Institute have given to our community – an
organization that is a recognized leader in this country
in clinical cardiovascular research, and that is leading
the way in exciting new treatments for heart disease of all
types. And, an organization that devotes itself, every day,
to helping people of all ages and all backgrounds take responsibility
for their heart health.
Thank you for your generous support of the Minneapolis Heart
Institute Foundation. It has been a tremendous pleasure for
me to get know many of you, and I hope that our paths will
cross often in the future. I am absolutely confident that
even greater successes are in store for this organization,
and I urge you to keep an eye on the work of the Minneapolis
Heart Institute Foundation. It is a great treasure for our
community.
I wish you all a happy and healthy summer.
Cordially,
Ford Watson Bell, DVM
President
Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation
