Duke University Health System, N.C.

— -- Hello, my name is Dr. Diana McNeill, and I am an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at Duke University Medical CenterDuke University Medical Center. I am pleased to share with you today some of the ongoing research that is going on here at Duke in the management and evaluation of diabetes, an epidemic disease affecting so many of our patients and our population, not only in the United States but around the world.

We are proud to be part of the ACCORD trial, a large, multi-center trial that is asking the question: How tight should blood sugar control be, blood pressure control, and cholesterol control be, in order to prevent the development of heart disease in our patients with diabetes? We are taking various regimens and trying to make a decision that can help you, the patient, manage your diabetes better and, most importantly, prevent the development of a complication that has become so prevalent in patients with diabetes, that of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

In addition to the ACCORD trial, we are very proud at Duke to be participating in a number of community projects that help you, the patient, feel like you are a member of the important team managing your diabetes. There is education occurring at schools, churches, in the offices, in groups. We even have a study where we are trying to help patients recognize the importance of decreasing something as simple as sweetened soft drinks in their diet and seeing the profound effect it will have on their diabetes control. It's an interesting concept that diabetes management has to be motivated by you, the patient, in order to help achieve good outcome. We're happy and proud to be participating in these projects at Duke University Medical Center.