The Dilemma of Diabetes for Low-Income Patients

Lisa Feierstein Diabetes Leave a comment  

Patients with diabetes know that managing their condition is a daily challenge of monitoring and medicating their condition. Some diabetics face an added hurdle because they face daily food insecurity; low-income diabetics wrestle with being able to afford medication and healthy food. A recent study looked at a group of Boston-based Type 2 diabetics of varying financial status. The group with food insecurity that also tried to cut back on their medication was half as likely as the more financially secure group to manage their diabetes.

Patients with food insecurity were 97 percent more likely to have high blood sugar and high levels of “bad” cholesterol, which indicates that their diabetes was not under control. Researchers determined that addressing access to both medication and food could play a role in improving patients’ ability to manage diabetes. Patients and doctors need to look at the whole picture and identify if a patient’s basic needs are being met in addition to having access to medication.

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