Representative Jim Neely's Capitol Report

Raising Awareness of the Dangers of Diabetes

November 14 is World Diabetes Day and the entire month of November is Diabetes Awareness Month, which is meant to raise awareness of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. This year’s theme is “Family and Diabetes” and families are urged to learn about the warning signs of diabetes and to find out their risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Raising awareness for families is extremely important because research has shown that parents would struggle to spot this serious life-long condition in their own children. Despite the majority of people surveyed having a family member with diabetes, an alarming four out of five parents would have trouble recognizing the warning signs. One in three wouldn’t spot them at all.

According to the American Diabetes Association, approximately 689,000 people in Missouri, or 13.4 percent of the adult population, have diabetes. Of these, an estimated 152,000 have diabetes but don’t know it, which greatly increases their health risk.

Additionally, 1,625,000 people in Missouri, which represents 35. 9 percent of the adult population, have prediabetes with blood glucose levels higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Diagnosed diabetes costs an estimated $6.7 billion in Missouri each year. The serious complications resulting from diabetes include heart disease, stroke, amputation, end-stage kidney disease, blindness – and death.

Some of the warning signs of diabetes can include frequent urination, increased thirst, a constant feeling of hunger, feeling tired, blurry vision, slow healing of wounds, tingling, numbness or pain in the hands and feet, patches of dark skin, and itching. The American Diabetes Association offers a “risk test” online at the following address: https://www.diabetes.org/risk-test

Missouri Hunters Encouraged to Share the Harvest

As firearms deer season is set to begin and Thanksgiving is just weeks away, Missouri hunters are being asked once again to donate a portion of their deer meat through the state’s Share the Harvest program.

The Share the Harvest program is administered by the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Conservation Federation of Missourians. Together they coordinate the efforts of thousands of deer hunters, as well as participating meat processors and local supporting organizations, to help feed hungry Missourians. Deer hunters can donate extra venison to participating meat processors, who process and package the meat and then give it to local food banks and food pantries.

Last deer season, thousands of Missouri deer hunters donated more than 259,400 pounds of venison to the program, including 4,855 whole deer. Since the program began in 1992, Share the Harvest has provided more than 4 million pounds of lean, healthy venison to help feed hungry Missourians.

Hunters interested in donating should be aware that processing fees are covered entirely or in part by numerous local sponsors, along with statewide sponsors. Hunters should contact individual processors to determine what funds are available. The cost of processing is the hunter’s responsibility when funds to help cover the full cost of processing are not available. To find participating Share the Harvest processors online, please visit mdc.mo.gov/share.

Hunters wanting to donate venison obtained from counties in the Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Management Zone should be aware they must use approved processors. CWD is a deadly illness of white-tailed deer and other members of the deer family. There have been no known cases of CWD infecting people, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly recommends having deer tested for CWD if harvested in an area known to have cases of the disease. 

The CWD Management Zone in Missouri includes the following 29 counties: Adair, Barry, Cedar, Chariton, Christian, Crawford, Franklin, Gasconade, Hickory, Howell, Jefferson, Knox, Linn, Macon, Mercer, Oregon, Ozark, Perry, Polk, Putnam, St. Charles, St. Clair, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Stone, Sullivan, Taney, Warren, and Washington.

Deer harvested within the CWD Management Zone may only be donated to approved processors participating in the Share the Harvest CWD Testing Program located within or directly adjacent to the CWD Management Zone. Find processors participating in the Share the Harvest CWD Testing Program online at mdc.mo.gov/cwd under “Share the Harvest.”

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, concerns, or suggestions you might have. As your Representative I am here to assist you however I can. I can be reached by email at Jim.Neely@house.mo.gov or by phone at 573-751-0246.