Am I At Risk for Type 2 Diabetes?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), millions of Americans are unaware that they have prediabetes or diabetes. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the US. If unmanaged, it can cause life-altering symptoms such as blindness, limb amputations, and kidney failure.
Learn the risk factors of Diabetes
The good news is that you CAN take steps to prevent T2 or manage your diabetes with healthy lifestyle changes.
What is Prediabetes?
Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Approximately 84 million American adults—more than 1 out of 3—have prediabetes. Of those with prediabetes, 90% don’t know they have it. Prediabetes puts you at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
(source: cdc.gov)
What is Type 2 Diabetes (T2)?
Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) disease that affects how your body turns food into energy.
Most of the food you eat is broken down into sugar (also called glucose) and released into your bloodstream. Your pancreas makes a hormone called insulin, which acts like a key to let the blood sugar into your body’s cells for use as energy.
If you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use the insulin it makes as well as it should. When there isn’t enough insulin or cells stop responding to insulin, too much blood sugar stays in your bloodstream, which over time can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.
(source: cdc.gov)
We can help you avoid or manage Type 2 Diabetes
The Paul H. Broyhill Wellness Center offers a diabetes prevention program and a diabetes management program. For more information, call the Wellness Center at (828) 268-9043 (ext 3) or (828) 262-8028.
Diabetes Clinic
For patients with T1 or T2, gestational diabetes, or glucose intolerance, this program includes a 60-minute 1 on 1 appointment to set diabetes-related behavior goals. Patients are then invited to four group visits from 4-5 pm on Thursdays. The program ends with a 30-minute 1:1 visit to reinforce their plan going forward.
