The ‘Most Diabetic Place in America’ begins the battle to change that label
Retha Dudley (left), APN, and Janet Walker (center), RN, perform a diabetes test for Linda Banks at a diabetes screening event in Newport, Arkansas on Dec. 13, 2021. Rory Doyle/MCIR
By Jerry Mitchell
Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting
NEWPORT, Arkansas — The “Most Diabetic Place in America” is fighting to erase that label.
A team of health officials and volunteers are leading the charge in hopes of transforming this Delta town of less than 8,000. Overall, diabetes affects 1 in 10 Americans, but here, it’s nearly 1 in 3 — the highest rate in the nation.
Nurse practitioner Retha Dudley and others had no idea they lived in the most diabetic place in America until MCIR informed them, but now they are determined to change that.
“It motivated us to try and decrease the incidence of diabetes here,” said Dudley, whose mother died of complications from diabetes. “That’s why we’re trying to catch them before they’re diabetic.”
She and others formed Jackson County Wellness and Screening, which has begun to speak to civic clubs, hold health fairs and test the blood sugar of employees, first at the city of Newport and then at local businesses.
Their goal? To reduce the rate of diabetes so they are no longer in the nation’s top 10. They even have a slogan: “Making a New Newport.”
Dudley and other volunteers plan to speak to more civic clubs in January. “Once we get the word out, we’ll be out there screening,” she said.
For now, the local hospital, Unity Health-Harris Medical Center, is allowing them to borrow its machine to test blood sugar.
By January, the group hopes to have its own machine, which the group purchased for only 3 cents. Supplies cost up to $10 a test.
Catching prediabetes before it develops into diabetes is critical in that battle, said Dudley, who ran a free medical clinic for several years with her husband, a retired internist.
Nationwide, more than 34 million Americans are battling diabetes, but more than twice as many – 88 million – have prediabetes, which is higher than normal blood sugar that has yet to develop into diabetes.
Dr. Bala Simon, state chronic disease director for the Arkansas Department of Health, called diabetes a “silent epidemic” that is intertwined with obesity, which affects 42% of those living in Jackson County. Nationwide, more than 84% of those with prediabetes don’t know they have it.
Prediabetes can bring long-term damage to the heart, blood vessels and kidneys. A study last year showed an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death. And half of those who have prediabetes develop Type 2 diabetes in five to 10 years.
In November, the Jackson County Wellness and Screening held a health fair where 15 people had their blood sugar tested. Dudley and other volunteers concluded afterward that they are going to have to go to the patients. “They’re not going to come to us,” she said.
Newport Doyle-3. Shiela McNeal, right, with Jackson County Wellness & Screening, speaks about diabetes with people waiting at a food bank in Newport, Ark., on Dec. 13, 2021. Rory Doyle/MCIR
Earlier this month, the group’s volunteers arrived at a food bank, which delivers boxes of food to families in need.
While residents waited in line in their cars, volunteers surveyed them, seeing who was at risk for developing prediabetes or diabetes.
Gaston Trejo, 36, discovered he was at risk and took volunteers up on the offer of free testing, which determined he was suffering from prediabetes.
The news worried him. “I’m going to start dieting and working out,” he vowed. “I’m going to try and keep it under control so that diabetes won’t get to me.”
When one of the volunteers took the test, her blood sugar tested high, falling into the diabetes category.
She was surprised. She had never tested for diabetes before. She has scheduled a doctor’s appointment for follow-up testing.
Volunteers invited those already diagnosed with diabetes to attend classes offered by the county Extension Service, aimed at helping them live healthier lives. Those diagnosed with prediabetes can attend similar classes.
Jackson County Wellness and Screening is now seeking to become a nonprofit so donations are tax deductible. The group has already received a $2,000 grant.
“We’re committed to catching prediabetes,” Dudley said, “before it becomes diabetes.”
A woman reads a diabetes risk test form while waiting in line at a food bank in Newport, Ark., on Dec. 13, 2021. Rory Doyle/MCIR
Do you have prediabetes? More than 84% of Americans who have the serious health condition don’t know it.
Take a test to learn your risk: https://doihaveprediabetes.org/take-the-risk-test/#/
Risk Factors for Prediabetes:
Being overweight
Being 45 years or older
Having a parent, brother, or sister with Type 2 diabetes
Being physically active less than three times a week
Having diabetes during pregnancy or giving birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds
Having polycystic ovary syndrome
Race and ethnicity are also a factor: Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Pacific Islanders and some Asian Americans are at higher risk.
Source: CDC
Email Jerry.Mitchell@MississippiCIR.org.
You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
This story was produced by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and funded in part by the Fund for Investigative Journalism. It was also produced in partnership with the Community Foundation for Mississippi’s local news collaborative, which is independently funded in part by Microsoft Corp. The collaborative includes MCIR, the Clarion Ledger, the Jackson Advocate, Jackson State University, Mississippi Public Broadcasting and Mississippi Today.
Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonprofit news organization that is exposing wrongdoing, educating and empowering Mississippians, and raising up the next generation of investigative reporters. Sign up for our newsletter.