Controlling Diabetes
Successfully Managing Diet, Exercise and Lifestyle Is Key
Diabetes Risk Factors
- Family history of diabetes
- Obesity
- Age greater than 45 years
- Certain ethnic groups (particularly African- Americans and Hispanic Americans)
- Diabetes during pregnancy or infants weighing more than 9 pounds
- High blood pressure
- High blood levels of triglycerides (a type of fat molecule)
- High blood cholesterol level
The American Diabetes Association recommends that all adults be screened for diabetes at least every three years. A person at high risk should be screened more often.
For more information, please call one of the Memorial Diabetes Centers:
Memorial Regional Hospital
(954) 265-5889
Memorial Hospital West
(954) 844-6801
Memorial Hospital Pembroke
(954) 963-8013
November 2006 — Diabetes is a growing health care concern in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 1980 through 2004, the number of Americans with diabetes more than doubled, from 5.8 million to 14.7 million. Last year, 1.5 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years or older.
Particularly striking, however, are estimates that as many as a third of the people who have diabetes – perhaps more than 6 million people – have never been diagnosed.
Diabetes is a serious disease, which, if not controlled, can be life threatening. It is often associated with long-term complications that can affect every system of the body. Diabetes can lead to blindness, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, neurological problems, amputation, and impotence. Once diagnosed, however, patients can play a major role in managing the disease. With proper medical care, symptoms and complications can be successfully treated and controlled. One reason some people avoid learning about diabetes is that a diagnosis would involve change – in diet, exercise, and lifestyle.
That prospect does not have to be overwhelming. At the Memorial Diabetes Centers, certified diabetes educators complement the patient-physician relationship with personalized lessons on nutrition, insulin therapy and other topics. Known for their personal approach, they educate patients and their loved ones in fresh and creative ways.
Managing Diabetes with New Technology
Another factor that sometimes deters people from learning more about diabetes is fear that a diagnosis would require daily injections of insulin. But that’s not necessarily true. Many cases of diabetes can be controlled through diet and oral medications. And even in cases in which the patients are insulin-dependent, new technologies are being developed to offer alternatives.
Memorial Healthcare System physicians, for example, helped test a new system that uses an inhaler to deliver insulin, a method recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This means millions of people with diabetes may have the option of avoiding the needles and injections. Memorial Healthcare System’s inpatient and outpatient diabetes programs focus on ways to improve the quality of life for diabetic adults and children, as well as on self-care skills.
If you are concerned about diabetes and would like a referral to a physician, call Memorial Physician Referral Service toll-free at (800) 944-DOCS. We’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.