World Diabetes Day is Saturday, Nov. 14. It’s an awareness day for a disease that in some ways remains hidden because many who have it, or who have pre-diabetes, don’t realize it, said Linda Hoffsis, a registered dietician and exercise physiologist with St. Elizabeth Physicians Regional Diabetes Center.
“About 347 million people worldwide have diabetes, and it’s predicted to become the seventh leading cause of death in the world by the year 2030,” Hoffsis said. “One in nine Americans have diabetes, about 29.1 million people, and many of them don’t know they have it. And there are many more people who have pre-diabetes.”
One way to observe the day, especially if you’re overweight or older than 45, or if you experience some of the symptoms of the disease, would be to schedule a diabetes test, under which your fasting blood-sugar levels are measured, she said. Other than being overweight, signs you may have diabetes include fatigue, thirst, frequent urination and a family history with diabetes.
Diabetes is a disease in which the body has an inability to produce enough insulin, causing elevated levels of sugar in the blood.
“About 50 to 80 percent of the people worldwide who have diabetes die of heart-disease-related illnesses, according to the World Health Organization,” Hoffsis said.
“A woman should have a waist size under 35 inches and a man under 40 inches,” she said. “Otherwise, they are at increased risk of diabetes.”
Another way to mark the day would be to exercise or eat better, because those are two ways people who have pre-diabetes can avoid becoming diabetic, she said.
“Ninety to 95 percent of diabetes is Type 2 diabetes, and that can often be prevented by getting regular exercise and by weight control. If somebody’s overweight, if they even lose 5-7 percent of their body weight, they can often prevent diabetes, and also by dietary changes,” said Hoffsis.
“You don’t need special foods to manage diabetes,” she added. Instead, control your portions, limit or eliminate sugary drinks, and “spreading your calories throughout the day, eating something within an hour or two of waking up and eating every four or five waking hours,” she suggested.
“If someone is overweight, they want to gradually work toward 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a week, but they can start with less time and gradually work toward that,” Hoffsis said. “By keeping the blood-sugar levels in the correct range and avoiding big fluctuations, it can help prevent the complications that can occur from head to toe, from dementia to kidney failure, amputation, heart attacks, stroke, etc. Those are all preventable. And a healthy lifestyle can help, and medication is sometimes also needed.
“There is additional help people can get if they have diabetes. You can go on the American Diabetes Association’s website. It’s a good idea to see a certified diabetes educator. We’re available here at the St. Elizabeth Physicians Regional Diabetes Center. There’s physician help, of course. And if they need additional help they can go to an endocrinologist, a hormone doctor, who can help with further treatment of diabetes, as well.”
