Jennifer Johnston

When you hear references to a diabetes epidemic, that's no exaggeration. The most recent numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that more than 23 million Americans, or close to 8 percent of the population, have diabetes, and for nearly a quarter of them, the disease is undiagnosed.  

Obesity is one of the main precursors to developing the disease and more than 66 million Americans adults are now designated as obese. As obesity rates continue to rise, so will the prevalence of diabetes. In fact, the number of people with diabetes is predicted to double by 2050 to more than 48 million people. 

Diabetes-related products are a main component of home healthcare kits, which, according to national numbers from Information Resources, Inc., brought in more than $460 million dollars in sales in food, drug, and mass outlets (excluding Walmart) during the 52 weeks ending July 12, 2009. Eighty-six percent of those sales took place in drugstores.  

In the age of technology and consumer-driven healthcare, iPhone and iPod Touch users with diabetes can manage their illness with specialized applications ("apps"). AgaMatrix, maker of the WaveSense meter line, offers a free app featuring easy-to-use data entry; dynamic graphing of glucose data; automatic mealtime tagging of results; integrated data management of food intake, activity, and medication; insulin dose management; statistical analysis and integrated e-mailing of glucose results; help menus; and personalized settings.  

Sensei, a subsidiary of Humana, has launched My Diabetes Guide, an app that takes users step-by-step through the keys to healthy living with diabetes. According to Sensei, the user's mobile phone will inform patients about what to know, what to do, what to eat, and what to ask their doctors, as it personally guides users to better diabetes self-management. 

Drugstores have an advantage over other outlets: They offer the self-management items diabetes patients need, and they employ pharmacists who can educate these consumers about healthy choices and steps they can take. For this reason, retail pharmacists may choose to place their diabetes-care display near the pharmacy counter. Offering educational literature right in the aisle can really set the store apart. 

Categories to place near the diabetes-care section include weight control and nutritional foods and vitamins/dietary supplements. Weight loss can help patients avoid many of the complications of diabetes, so a nearby display makes sense. Also, many older persons with diabetes take vitamins and supplements daily, and this natural adjacency may increase their market-basket total. 

Jennifer Johnston is with Hamacher Resource Group, Inc. (

 which provides category management, marketing communications, and retailing strategies to the retail healthcare industry. 

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More than 23 million Americans, close to 8 percent of the population, have diabetes. For drugstores, the medical nature of their retail business makes them the outlet of choice for shoppers purchasing diabetes products. Retail pharmacists may choose to maximize patient awareness by placing their diabetes-care display and educational literature near the pharmacy counter.

Retail pharmacy and the diabetes epidemic

Why the sudden increase after several years of declining sales? Some believe the economic downturn has caused patients to forgo expensive prescriptions in place of less-expensive herbal alternatives. The increase in use may also be connected to the growing number of consumers who view herbal supplements as all-natural and safe to ingest. Yet other reasons for increased use may include the accessibility of herbal supplements and consumer dissatisfaction with prescription medications. 

Consumers are using herbs for a number of reasons. They want to lower cholesterol, shorten the duration of colds, improve memory or energy levels, reduce pain, lose weight, and protect vision. A Nielsen survey reported by 

magazine showed that 55 percent of North Americans take supplements proactively to boost their immune systems. 

Do herbal supplements work? Many shoppers believe that they do and are already taking them. This is illustrated by a 2008 Nielsen Global Online Survey that found that more than half of all U.S. consumers use supplements. Three quarters of those consumers say that they use supplements every day. 

The overall public perception is that because herbs are natural, they must be safe. In fact, a 2002 National Health Interview survey showed that half of the adults questioned did not disclose their herb use to conventional medical professionals, such as physicians, nurses or pharmacists. Not only do individuals who use herbal remedies risk therapeutic failure, they also risk dangerous side effects from unforseen drug-herb or herb-herb interactions. 

The reality is that more than 17,000 supplement-related health problems were handled by U.S. poison control centers in 2007. Unfortunately, many pharmacists neglect to ask what kinds of supplements patients are taking when they fill or refill a prescription. As reported by the open-access journal 

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

, a U.S. national survey found that only 7 percent of pharmacists agreed that they add herbs to their patients' profiles.  

Pharmacists can help clients avoid interactions

 also reported that approximately half the adults polled in one U.S. study preferred to purchase alternative healthcare products from a pharmacy. It also reported that 37 percent of respondents agreed that pharmacist advice about alternative therapies such as herbal supplements is important. Clearly, pharmacists are in the right position to help patients make good choices.  

which provides category management, marketing communications, and retailing strategies to the health and wellness industry. 

With the settlement of the class-action lawsuit brought against First DataBank and McKesson by third-party payors accusing the companies of conspiring to inflate average wholesale prices (AWP) of hundreds of drugs, AWP values will roll back from 1.25 to 1.20 times the drugs' wholesale acquisition cost (WAC).

Author | Jennifer Johnston

Articles

Retail pharmacy and the diabetes epidemic

Herbal supplements are hot sellers