Diabetes and Prediabetes
What do you need to know?
November is National Diabetes Month and a great time to review diabetes and prediabetes trends, and more importantly, ways to reduce or prevent them. According to the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) over 30 million Americans (9.4% of population) have diabetes and over 84 million Americans over the age of 18 have prediabetes (33.9% of the population). Surprisingly, our state statistics are even worse. The CDC estimates 11% of New Hampshire adults have diabetes and 36.2% have prediabetes.
Diabetes is currently listed as the 7th leading cause of death in America. But having diabetes also increases your risk of having a heart attack (number 1 leading cause of death in America), stroke (number 5 leading cause of death in America) and Alzheimer’s Disease (number 6 leading cause of death in America). My dad died of a heart attack, but it was the diabetes that had the most impact on his health. In addition to having 5 blocked arteries, he suffered with severe neuropathy (like walking on crushed glass barefooted) and shortness of breath. His ongoing symptoms limited his joy and quality of life. His death certificate says “myocardial infarction” but I know it was the diabetes that killed him. He was my inspiration for becoming a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), in addition to being a dietitian.
The 2018 Standards of Diabetes Care encourages all persons with diabetes have access to a dietitian for Medical Nutrition Therapy (aka nutrition counseling). This is the first step when diagnosed with diabetes because a healthy diet is the foundation for all other treatments. If started earlier enough, some people may reverse their diabetes. A dietitian can help you set up a personal nutritional plan as well as discuss other lifestyle behavior changes that effect your diabetes. If diet alone doesn’t work to control blood sugars, then medications are commonly added. So how many of you with diabetes have seen a dietitian? How many of you also have annual follow up? Diabetes is a chronic disease with many potential complications and the best way to get your diabetes in control is through support and education. I welcome the opportunity to do just that.
As mentioned above, many more Americans have prediabetes. This condition increases your risk for developing diabetes, heart disease and stroke yet 90% of people with this condition don’t even know they have it. This is particularly sad as prediabetes is reversible with simple lifestyle changes. Go to the article tab on my website at www.ccdnwc.com to learn more about symptoms and diagnosis. Bottom line, reversing prediabetes improves quality of life and reduces health care costs. I am passionate about helping my clients with disease prevention.
Diabetes and prediabetes are not going away but we can work together to improve our local control. Please let me help.
Patty Walker RD LD CDE CLT
Patty is proud to serve her community’s nutritional needs for over 35 years. WIth deep knowledge in nutrition for diabetes as well as passion for plant-based diets, Patty supplies nutritional keys to unlock health by getting to the root of disease and helping others set a course for optimizing health. In addition to coaching individual clients and teaching classes, Patty provides education seminars to local businesses, writes monthly nutrition articles, is a key educator for the Lions Club’s Diabetes-Reduction Initiative and hosts “Nutritional Wisdom” cable show on WCTV. The goal is to reach as many people in my community that I possibly can with the truth about the power of nutrition and healthy living.
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