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Home News Tribune Online 10/17/06

By CARMEN CUSIDO
STAFF WRITER
ccusido@thnt.com

Andrew P. Mandell, 61, or Mr. Diabetes as he is more commonly known, is walking through parts of Middlesex County this week as part of his nationwide campaign to raise awareness of diabetes and its preventability.

Mandell, the executive director of the nonprofit Madeira Beach, Fla.-based Defeat Diabetes Foundation, has walked 7,750 miles of his 10,000-plus-mile walk of the perimeter of the United States, raising awareness about diabetes prevention and treatment by putting a human face on the disease. By walking along the perimeter of the United States, he is also demonstrating that having diabetes has not prevented him from living an active life.

"If an insulin dependent senior can do (the walk), anybody can do it, and can become more aware of diabetes," said Mandell, who checks his blood sugar six to 10 times a day and injects insulin four to six times daily on average.

He started his walk in Middlesex County yesterday in Edison, and traveled south through Highland Park, New Brunswick and Franklin. He averages about 10 to 15 miles per day.

Diabetes affects 20.8 million people, about 7 percent of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, increasing steadily since 1980.

"Prevention and early identification are the message," said Mandell. "Conventional wisdom (on diabetes) has failed miserably. The number of people with diabetes is increasing every year."

He would like to see some of the millions spent on research for a diabetes cure to be spent on prevention of the disease.

The sixth leading cause of death in the United States, diabetes may also cause adult blindness and kidney failure, and at times, people may have to get amputations of their lower extremities. The disease costs the nation an estimated $132 billion in direct medical costs as well as indirect costs, such as disability and premature death, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

After Mandell was diagnosed with diabetes in 1985, he and his brother co-founded the nonprofit foundation in 1990. Mandell started the 10,000 mile Wake Up and Walk Tour in January 2002, but had done a 450-mile trial walk in Florida in late 2000. He estimates he will be back home in Madeira Beach, Fla., in late 2007 or early 2008.

Mandell spent two years of his life almost bedridden because of the disease, and carries a walking stick on his walks because his legs and feet are numb due to diabetes.

He also said it's important for diabetics to see an endocrinologist regularly, to eat healthy and exercise regularly. "We need all three; treatment is incomplete without it," Mandell said.

On the foundation's Web site, DefeatDiabetes.org, Mandell provides up-to-date information on the treatment and self-management of the disease, along with medical, government and other resources for diabetics.

Traveling with Mandell are Russ and Shirley Barriger, a married couple from Unionville, Mich., who are his tour managers. The Barrigers are responsible for Mandell's safety on the road and they also map out his walking route and document the tour on video.

"(Mandell) wants to be an advocate. People with diabetes are not helpless or hopeless, and through management, you can prevent type 2 diabetes," said Shirley Barriger, whose 27-year-old son has diabetes.

Mandell is living in a recreational vehicle and camps each night after his walk.