Published: November 23, 2008 11:38 pm      

Diabetes: Doctors aim to stop disease early

WINDBER — If people don’t get sick, how can the hospital make any money?

Finding answers to that question is at the heart of an initiative Windber Research Institute leaders are developing to address conditions such as diabetes.

“It’s a strategy to identify patients with chronic illness and direct them to programs that reduce or eliminate the risk of disease,” Chief Wellness Officer Dr. Matthew Masiello said at the institute.

While the state and nearby Conemaugh Health System are working out a chronic illness strategy based on limited preventive programs, Windber’s team is using the World Health Organization’s health promotion and disease prevention model, which starts with all patients completing a simple health survey, Masiello said.

“We can use that to monitor their health risk, follow the patient and refer them to programs,” Masiello said. “If you have the documentation and you are able to code for those health risks, that’s the tool the insurance companies and government needs to address the issues of diabetes and other chronic illness.”

Prevention is an important part of the WindberCare organization’s array of programs for chronic disease. Windber Medical Center offers treatment and support to control the disease, while the research institute has begun studying some risk factors at the molecular level.

“Prevention, treatment and research are three important components,” Masiello said. “We have them all here.”

Prevention starts young, Masiello said, citing KidShape, the Windber-led childhood obesity program proven to help promote healthy living and reduce disease. The elementary school program is funded by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, which has contracted with Windber to develop a new program for older children.

TeenShape will debut early next year for high school and junior high students referred by school nurses or doctors.

Highmark also is helping its adult members work on diabetes prevention through the hospital’s wellness program, which teaches at-risk patients how to change their lifestyle by eating better and exercising more. It is one of several classes Windber offers, diabetes educator Tina Friewald said.

Exercise programs at Windber HealthStyles, heart disease intervention through the Dean Ornish Program, and nutrition and disease management classes address different areas faced by those with diabetes.

“I think everyone who goes to the class gets some benefits,” she said.

On the research end, Windber Research Institute scientists are looking at genetic factors that contribute to successful weight loss. They are studying patients who receive lap band weight control surgery from Dr. Kim Marley.

“It has been shown that the treatment is very effective for treating diabetes,” researcher Darrell Ellsworth said.

Scientists are looking for cell markers in tissue and blood samples. The markers are microscopic characteristics common among patients with similar levels of success with weight loss.

“We are looking for gene expression profiles that correlate to reducing the risk factor, predicting which patients are likely to do better with that type of treatment,” Ellsworth said. “For people with trouble, is there a marker, or panel of markers, that tell us these people are going to have trouble losing weight?”