The good news: Type 2 diabetes can be prevented.
“If you’re told you have pre-diabetes – or you know there is a strong family history of diabetes – now is the time to act,” said Debby Duchesneau, RN, MSN, FNP-BC, BC-ADM, Columbus Regional’s diabetes educator. “With lifestyle modifications of diet, exercise and weight loss, you can prevent Type 2 diabetes.”
Without changes in lifestyle, pre-diabetes may become diabetes within five years, warns the Whiteville resident.
Getting tested is crucial. The American Diabetes Association recently released its new standards of medical care and now recommends all adults over 45 years of age be tested – regardless of weight. It’s a simple blood test that can be done in your doctor’s office and should be part of a yearly physical. If you’re 45 and your physician doesn’t order it, you should ask him or her to.
Testing is also recommended for asymptomatic adults of any age who are overweight or obese and who have one or more additional risk factors:
Source: Centers for Diabetes Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
The not-so-good news is that Columbus County is at the top in the state for incidences of diabetes. But that fact just makes Duchesneau more determined to educate people on the risks and on what they can do to prevent developing the condition in the first place.
“Early diagnosis, initiating and sustaining lifestyle changes, following up with the doctor and adhering to prescribed monitoring and medication are the main ways we can decrease the number of newly diagnosed diabetes cases and diabetes complications in Columbus County,” she says.
Duchesneau, like all her medical colleagues, advocates prevention over medical maintenance. But when someone does develop the condition, CRHS is here to help.
”If someone is admitted to CRHS with diabetes, they will receive timely and up-to-date care from the hospitalist group and/or their provider,” she says. “They will receive diabetes education while they are an inpatient”
Diabetes patients can also follow up with the hospital as an outpatient. Columbus Regional offers a Diabetes Education Program through the hospital Education Center and also a FREE Diabetes support group. A physician referral is required for the outpatient program.
For more information about the outpatient program or diabetes support group at CRHS contact Sonja Green, BSN, RN, CDE at 910-642-9454 or Shauna Treadaway at 910-642-9458.
