As Carmen Vazquez made her morning coffee and prepared her breakfast, she made sure not to forget to take her medication. Keeping her diabetes under control before leaving for work is a dire necessity. Otherwise she’s at risk of a diabetic emergency.
Vazquez works as a custodian for the University of Texas at Austin. Originally from Mexico she immigrated to the U.S. for the American dream but like many Latinos in the country, she lives with Type 2 diabetes.
“After about 10 years living here is when I got diabetes,” Vasquez said in Spanish. “I was about 34 years old and I was very young then.”
Vazquez said her family has a history of diabetes but that her diagnosis came unexpectedly. At the time Vazquez worked at a hospital where she had the privilege of receiving frequent health exams. Therefore, when she found out she had diabetes she said it shocked her because neither her diet nor her lifestyle had changed.
“I went for a routine exam and I told the doctor that my glucose was very high and then he ran tests on me. From one month to the next, I was declared diabetic. I wasn’t even pre-diabetic and then they put me on metformin pills,” Vazquez said in Spanish.
Diabetes, a chronic disease, affects nearly 38.4 million Americans according to the CDC. Latinos suffer from diabetes at higher rates than non-Hispanic whites.
The three types of diabetes–Type 1, Type 2, and Gestational–affect the way the body uses insulin. Type 1 diabetes causes an autoimmune reaction where the body stops producing insulin while Type 2 diabetes does not allow the body to produce insulin efficiently, but can usually be prevented. Gestational diabetes forms during pregnancy and usually goes away although it can increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes developing in the mother’s and child’s life.
Furthermore, Latinos have more than a 50% chance of developing Type 2 diabetes within their lifetime, according to the CDC. Diabetes remains expensive to sustain. Vazquez said she considered herself fortunate to have insurance because if she didn’t, she would be worse off. She said she spends $150 every month on medication. She said for her, that is expensive, and she could only imagine how much more she would spend if she were uninsured. According to the 2021 Census, 34% of Hispanic working-aged Texas adults remain uninsured, making the medication more difficult to afford and posing an obstacle to managing diabetes efficiently.
“It would be a huge burden in order to afford diabetes medications without insurance,” said Julie Zuniga, Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of Texas at Austin. “Because you’re going to need to take it every day for the rest of your life,”
Zuniga said diabetes impacts the vascular system and its ability to carry blood throughout the body. Poorly managed diabetes can lead to health risks such as heart disease and stroke.
“So you might see vascular damage in your legs and the lower extremities because it takes a long time for the heart to pump down to your legs, which ends up impacting your heart,” Zuniga said.
While diabetes has no cure, a few groups in Austin help to combat the health issue. Jenny Fernandez, program coordinator of The Central Texas Diabetes Coalition (CTDC), said a program called Healthy Living is designed to educate Austinites on managing diabetes. She said the program consists of community health workers who work in a specific zip code to find different places where community people gather such as in public schools or neighborhood centers and present their Healthy Living program in a series of six classes.
“The class is geared towards teaching people how to manage Type 2 diabetes… by highlighting the importance of monitoring it, knowing your numbers, how to talk to your doctor about it, managing stress levels, and nutrition,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez, a Latina with diabetes, said she thinks a lot about her community since many do not have proper resources or access to proper medical care.
“We do a really good job at trying to provide services to those that are underserved and at risk. All our services are 100%, free. We don’t ask for any type of health insurance or anything like that,” she said.
For Vazquez, who works long shifts at the university, her message to the Latino community is to take care of themselves as best as possible because once diabetes develops, the disease can progress if not maintained.
“If right now it’s one pill, after a while they’ll give you two pills, then the insulin comes and it just continues,” Vazquez said in Spanish. “After diabetes, high blood pressure develops and after that, several things begin to overlap with diabetes. You just keep spending more money.”
Vazquez said her caution comes from 25 years of experience as her health has slowly deteriorated. She said she recently found out that she has fatty liver disease. She said she avoids telling her children how she feels about her health situation because she doesn’t want to worry them. She constantly denies herself treats like natural fruit juice, soda, and flour products because it will raise her glucose levels and affect her liver even more.
“In front of people I’m perfect,” Vasquez said. “But inside there is something that hurts.”
LEARN MORE:
For resources on how to manage diabetes or interested in joining the coalition contact Central Texas Diabetes Coalition.
Click here to find a diabetes support group.
