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Hannon wants diabetes database He sponsors bill to track afflicted kids By JESSICA SMITH Five years ago, Sen. Lenn Hannon learned his granddaughter had diabetes. This year, he's sponsoring legislation that would require the state to track children with the life-threatening disease. "It's a serious problem," said Hannon, a Republican from Ashland, who has suffered from diabetes for 18 years. "There's a lot of children who are diabetic. This is an attempt to try to determine what is the best way to treat these children properly." Hannon's granddaughter, 7-year-old Grace, gives herself shots every day to control the disease, which is caused by the destruction of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Grace suffers from type I diabetes. Hannon, who has type II, manages his diabetes by controlling his diet. It's unknown how many Oregon children have the condition, although researchers estimate that one in 300 children under age 18 are afflicted. Under Senate Bill 769, doctors would report cases of diabetes to a statewide database that would be made available for scientific and medical research. Lawmakers also could use the database to help them make decisions about whether to allocate funds to fight the disease. "We've been hearing anecdotally that the number of diabetes cases is on the rise, yet we haven't had any meaningful data to tell us whether this is a growing problem," said Katherine Cowan, a volunteer organizer for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. "This bill will help us understand the incidence and prevalence of diabetes in kids." Diabetes experts say they are most alarmed by the growing number of children with type II diabetes, a condition more typical of adults that may be controlled through diet and methods other than insulin shots. Obesity and genetics may play a role in type II diabetes, but experts say other factors could be involved as well. It remains unclear what causes type I diabetes in children, though viruses such as chickenpox and influenza have been associated with diabetic outbreaks. Creating a register to track children with diabetes may provide clues about what triggers the disease, Cowan said. "The database takes a preliminary step toward ascertaining the nature and extent of the problem," she added. "Then we can take steps from there to find out what to do about it." Though doctors would supply information for the database, SB769 also would require the Oregon Health Division to conduct an annual survey of public schools and registered private schools to collect data about students with diabetes. A financial analyst for the health division said he expects the database to cost the state $60,000 in the 2001-03 biennium, which begins July 1. Each child's name, age, date of birth, diagnosis and date of diagnosis would be recorded. The information would remain confidential. The bill, now in the Joint Ways and Means Committee, for which Hannon is a co-chairman, is expected to head to the Senate floor for a vote in the next two weeks. If it passes the Senate, it would move to the House floor for a vote there. Reach reporter Jessica Smith at 776-4481, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.