New York proposes tracking diabetes, a non-contagious disease, raising pri

[Judi Lynn]

New York proposes tracking diabetes, a non-contagious disease, raising privacy questions

By DAVID B. CARUSO
Associated Press Writer

July 25, 2005, 8:09 PM EDT


NEW YORK -- At least half a million New Yorkers have diabetes, many of them at risk for blindness, kidney failure, amputations and heart problems because they are doing a poor job of controlling their illness.

The question is, how much privacy are they willing to give up for a chance at better health?

A century after New York became the first American city to track people with infectious diseases as a way to halt epidemics, officials here propose a similar system to monitor people with diabetes, a non-contagious foe.

Conceived after a sharp rise in diabetes deaths over the past 20 years, the plan would require medical labs to report to the city the results of a certain type of test that indicates how well individual patients are controlling their diabetes.
(snip/...)

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--trackingdiabetes0725jul25,0,4442849.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

[LisaL]

1. And what do they propose to do with people who

aren't controlling their diabetes well? Lock them up in prisons?
:shrug:

[whistle]

2. Have you heard of the newest illness? RLS....

...restless legs syndrome:

<snip>

Restless Legs Syndrome is an overwhelming urge to move the legs usually caused by uncomfortable or unpleasant sensations in the legs. The sensations have the following features:

Occur during periods of inactivity
Become more sensitive in the evening and at night
Are relieved by movement of the limb
Often cause difficulty staying or falling asleep, which leads to feelings of daytime tiredness or fatigue
May cause involuntary jerking of the limbs during sleep and sometimes during wakefulness

If you do have restless legs syndrome (RLS), you are not alone. Up to 8% of the US population may have this neurologic condition. Many people have a mild form of the disorder, but RLS severely affects the lives of millions of individuals.

<link> http://www.rls.org/

[tibbir]

3. What about reporting on people who won't give up smoking?

Talk about a drain on the public health system - and think of the deaths!

Or overweight people for that matter?

Or menatlly ill people who keep going off meds?

Or we could get teachers to report on kids who waste school district finances when they don't take full advantage of the system by doing their homework.

There's no end to the people we could track.

[SoCalDem]

4. and a chance at not being hired for a job? denied insurance?

not being promoted?

[caligirl]

5. Hemoglobin A1C 7.5 and below is good Above that and Risks go up

But it only measures the amount of glucose left on red blood cells covering a short period of time. Two months earlier you could have great or poor control and it wouldn't show.Lots of lows can reduce it even if your BG's ran much higher during the time just before the test.