Amber Hoover, RD, LD, of Roper St. Francis discusses important facts about Diabetes, and how to protect yourself from this vicious disease.
Diabetes continues to be an epidemic across America and one of the top 10 causes of death. It’s also a highly costly disease, both in terms of quality of life for the patient and in terms of economic impact to the tune of $245 billion in the year 2012 alone, and that’s just for the diagnosed cases. Here are some Diabetes facts and statistics that may help us understand why the disease is a serious concern, and what we can do to help prevent it.
Seeing Double
Since the year 2000, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that the number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the United States has nearly doubled, skyrocketing from 12.1 million to 22 million people. Linda Geiss, a researcher and statistician at the CDC in Atlanta, notes many factors are affecting this rise, including changes in diagnostic criteria, enhanced detection of undiagnosed diabetes, an aging population and an increase in the risk factors for diabetes, especially obesity and sedentary lifestyles.
Serious Complications
People with diabetes are at a greater risk for certain complications, including cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, loss of vision, wounds that won’t heal and subsequent risk for amputations. Maintaining good blood sugar control can help lower risk for diabetes complications.
Prevention
According to the 2016 American Diabetes Association Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, evidence supports that diabetes prevention starts with a healthy diet. To keep out of the diabetes danger zone, eat a diet with high quality fats (such as unsaturated fats), more whole grains, increased consumption of nuts and berries along with a diet high in vegetables and whole fruit. Also, individualized Medical Nutrition Therapy, a therapeutic approach to treating disease using dietary modification, has been shown to help lower A1c (an average of blood glucose over the last 2-3 months) in those diagnosed with pre-diabetes.
Classes Offered
Roper St. Francis offers classes taught by a Certified Diabetes Educator RN and a Registered Dietitian. Whether you are newly diagnosed or have had diabetes for a long time, the Diabetes Treatment Center (DTC) offers a Comprehensive Diabetes Class geared towards the newly diagnosed patients, or someone who has not had much formal diabetes education. The DTC also offers a Refresher Class and a Nutrition/Carbohydrate Counting Class, as well as a class that gives helpful preventive information for those diagnosed with pre-diabetes.
Our goal is to reduce the rise of diabetes and to create a healthier community. We’d love to help you prevent, manage and control diabetes. Please call to schedule your appointment today: (843) 402-1099.
Resources:
- http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6145a4.htm
- http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/suppl/2015/12/21/39.Supplement_1.DC2/2016-Standards-of-Care.pdf
By Amber Hoover, RD, LD at Roper St. Francis
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