Living with Diabetes
Millions at risk could avoid living
with diabetes with preventative diet and exercise.
December 5, 2004
By Brynn Grimley
Lynn Nicholas, CEO of the American Diabetes Association
(ADA), although not diabetic, will change her lifestyle
for 11 days to mirror the life of a diabetic to gain
an understanding for those who live with the disease.
"I'm doing this to help in my personal life so
I do have a better understanding of the physical demands,
and have more empathy to the regimen and routine of
what people have to do," said Nicholas.
To start the program Nicholas set up an appointment
with two diabetes health care professionals at INOVA
Fair Oaks Hospital's diabetes center to discuss how
to live with the disease.
"It's an interruption in your routine, in normal
life," said Mary Archer, registered dietitian with
the diabetes nutrition education program at INOVA Fair
Oaks Hospital about the rigors of maintaining the disease.
Nicholas met with Archer and Cathy Tibbetts, INOVA diabetes
nurse educator and president of health care and education
at ADA, going through the same routine a real patient
diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes would go through.
ACCORDING TO THE ADA, 18.2 million people in the United
States have diabetes, the majority of those diagnosed
— 17 million — have Type 2 diabetes.
Although roughly 13 million of those cases have been
diagnosed, about 5 million people are unaware they have
the disease, said Tibbetts, adding that without treatment
it can cause major health problems and even death.
"The ADA tries to offer professional education
for physicians to reach out and be up to date,"
said Tibbetts, adding within the last year they discovered
some pre-diabetes patients could prevent the disease
if they knew they were more susceptible to the disease.
"There are new guidelines with pre-diabetes,"
she said. "We now know in almost 60 percent of
those cases of having abnormal blood sugar, if those
people get involved in a program, they can avoid diabetes."
During the appointment, Tibbetts explained that diabetes
is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly
use insulin — a hormone used to convert sugar,
starches and other foods into energy for daily life.
Although Nicholas, having worked in the medical field
for years and as CEO of ADA, knew many of the symptoms
that diabetics face, Tibbetts ran through the symptoms
as if Nicholas knew nothing.
The four major types of diabetes are: Type 1, Type
2, Gestational diabetes and pre-diabetes.
In the session, Tibbetts focused on the most prominent,
Type 2, which results from a body's insulin resistance
— the body fails to properly use insulin, combined
with a relative insulin deficiency.
Tibbetts listed the various symptoms which include
frequent urination, excessive thirst, extreme hunger,
unusual weight loss, increased fatigue, irritability
and blurry vision.
Along with educating Nicholas about the disease, Tibbetts
had Nicholas run through testing her blood sugar, explained
the reason for taking medication (Nicholas will take
Tic Tacs) and how to give herself a nightly insulin
shot — which some diabetes patients need.
"We're trying to develop a treatment plan to counteract
the Type 2 symptoms and reactions," said Tibbetts,
adding people tend to resist insulin shots, but once
they begin the shot realize the benefits. "We don't
encourage others to give the shot, we want you to do
it to be self-sufficient."
Tibbetts explained to Nicholas and her husband who
was there for support, that staff at the diabetes center
also sympathizes with their patients about the inconveniences
the disease creates.
"We're required to do the same diabetes exercise
once a year," said Tibbetts explaining INOVA diabetes
personnel will get a surprise email telling them for
the next week they have to live their life like they
have diabetes to better empathize with patients.
WHILE NICHOLAS WAS learning how to monitor her glucose
levels through a drop of blood and the proper levels
her blood sugar should be between, Archer was in another
room creating a meal plan.
"The easiest way to do this is through carb counting,"
she explained to Nicholas. "There are no food restrictions
any longer because a carb is a carb, is a carb ... basically
carbohydrates are what you're tracking."
Archer took the list of meals Nicholas had recorded
over a week when she was traveling and assessed a meal
plan that she thought she could maintain with her hectic
lifestyle.
"We try to individualize it without making major
changes in types of foods," said Archer about the
initial stages of planning meals for diabetics, adding
the less they change the food the easier it is for patients
to follow the plan.
"This is going to be the hardest part for me,"
said Nicholas about the meal plan.
Although overwhelming at first with the plastic food
displays and trying to guess the amount of carbohydrates
in each meal she ate, by the end Nicholas realized she
would have to change little, if any, of her eating habits.
"Just think about what you like to eat so you
can work it into your plan," said Tibbetts.
"People hear so much in class that by the time
they are here they are OK," said Archer about the
process of learning a healthier meal plan that includes
a separate class dedicated to food. "They may feel
overwhelmed when they leave class, but they're better
once they get used to the pattern."
Because a majority of people who are susceptible to
diabetes could reduce their risk by altering their eating
and exercise habits, Tibbetts emphasized the importance
of regular diabetes tests.
"We recommend that adults 45 and older that have
a family history of diabetes and are obese get checked
once every three years to see if they are high risk,"
she said. "We also encourage them to be active
consumers and ask for their papers and make sure the
family doctor is aware of their situation."
FORTY-ONE MILLION Americans are in the pre-diabetes
classification, said Tibbetts.
If those pre-diagnosed make the necessary changes to
their lives they can reduce their risk, but Tibbetts
emphasized they are still more susceptible to develop
the disease and recommend they be checked annually for
the disease.
Source:www.connectionnewspapers.com
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