By Alyssa Devoe
Promoting awareness of social issues is not uncommon, but it is uncommon to have one”s cause promoted on postage stamps.
The United States Postal service has announced a new stamp to raise awareness of diabetes.
Diabetes is the leading cause of such medical problems as blindness, amputation, heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure, according to a press release.
For these reasons, the Citizen”s Stamp Advisory Commission chose to highlight diabetes, said Thelxi Hauenstein with the United States Postal Service.
The Commission reviews 50,000 proposals for stamps a year, and felt that it was important to choose diabetes because it can be such a debilitating disease and there is no cure for it, Hauenstein said.
The stamp is meant to help people think about diabetes.
“The diabetes stamp serves as a simple reminder to everyone to know the warning signs of this devastating disease. And it will help raise awareness that there is still no cure, but education and research offer hope for the millions of people who suffer from diabetes,” said Stephen L. Johnson, the Utah Postal District Manager in a press release.
The new stamp pictures a microscope and a test tube, which are used in diabetes testing and research, and was designed by the artist James Steinberg.
Scott Davis, a freshman from Brookfield, Wisconsin with an open major, has diabetes and thinks it is a good idea to try and raise awareness about the disease.
Diabetes is just like any disease and people need to know about it, Davis said.
People sometimes think that they will not get diabetes, but it can happen, Davis said.
“It can happen to anybody,” Davis said.
Davis said that it is important for people to know more about it so they can be better prepared if they are ever diagnosed with it.
“If you know about the disease and the risks involved with it, when you are diagnosed it won”t be as big of a deal,” Davis said.
Davis said it is important for people to know how to deal with diabetes so they can live a normal life.
“As long as it”s managed and you take care of yourself, you can go on with regular life,” Davis said.
Although diabetes is incurable, there are things that can be done to help prevent adult onset diabetes.
“Through proper diet and exercise you can try and prevent diabetes,” said Julie Molina, a senior diabetes information representative with the American Diabetes Association.
Molina said that exercising regularly and trying to keep at a healthy weight can help reduce the risk.
The diabetes stamps might be helpful in getting the name diabetes out there, but people probably won”t learn more about it from seeing the stamps, Davis said.
The stamps are part of a series that has featured other issues like breast cancer, adoption, organ donation, prostate cancer and hospice care, the press release said.
The new stamps are not available at the University Station post office yet, but will be available very soon, said Debbie Rowe, who works at the University Station post office.
The new stamps are available at the United States Post Office Web site, www.usps.com.
