The National Diabetes Education Program, Changing the Way Diabetes Is Treated

The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) was initiated in 1997 jointly by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to promote early diagnosis and to improve the treatment and outcomes for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This partnership now involves over 200 public, voluntary, and private organizations dedicated to improving the lives of people with diabetes. Because of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) findings that improved blood glucose control markedly reduces the risk for retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy, the NDEP initially focused on blood glucose control (1,2). This month, the NDEP and its partners are launching an expanded initiative to promote optimal control of lipids and blood pressure, in addition to optimal control of blood glucose. The impact of cardiovascular disease on mortality and morbidity in people with diabetes has been known for years. Approximately two-thirds of people with diabetes die from cardiovascular disease (coronary heart disease, stroke, and other vascular diseases). Recently, data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed that over the past 30 years there was a 27% decline in age-adjusted heart disease mortality in women without diabetes, but in women with diabetes, there was a 23% increase (3). In men without diabetes, there was a 36% decline compared with a 13% decline in men with diabetes. …