Diabetes is a very common disease, so it would be difficult not to have a family member or close friend who has diabetes. Fortunately, the combination of modern medicine and a wise lifestyle allows people to lead full, active and healthy lives while preventing disease.
We also have good awareness campaigns such as National Diabetes Month, which is observed throughout November and promotes timely and relevant diabetes-related information.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 38 million Americans currently have diabetes and 88 million, or more than one in three adults, have prediabetes. Pre-diabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. 80% of people with pre-diabetes are not aware that they have diabetes.
Given these troubling statistics, Wright Community Health Center is committed to combating diabetes locally through primary care services and lifestyle medicine initiatives available at most health centers throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania.
While medications and cutting-edge treatments play an important role in our long-term health, we all need to do our best to take a more proactive rather than reactive approach to our health. With this philosophy in mind, lifestyle medicine works with individuals and families to improve their health and quality of life by adopting and maintaining lifestyle behaviors such as abstaining from tobacco use, improving eating habits, practicing stress-relieving techniques, increasing physical activity, strengthening interpersonal relationships and connections, and adjusting sleep habits for better, more restorative rest.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, we partnered with the Northeast Pennsylvania Regional Health Education Center and Quality Insights, a West Virginia-based leader in health care quality improvement, to offer the 26th annual National Diabetes Prevention Program, free of charge, designed to help people with prediabetes lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. To be eligible, participants must be 18 years of age or older. Body mass index (BMI) of 25 or greater (23 or greater for Asian American patients). Have no prior diagnosis of type 1 or type 2 diabetes or end-stage renal disease. And I couldn’t get pregnant.
The National Diabetes Prevention Program developed by CDC has been shown to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58% for people ages 18 to 59 and by 71% for people ages 60 and older. Specially trained lifestyle coaches led the program, teaching participants how to enhance their health through lifestyle changes, including improving their eating habits, increasing physical activity, and reducing stress levels. We were very pleased with the results of the program, and so were Quality Insights, which recognized the Wright Center’s annual review of diabetes and pre-diabetes care.
We also recently received a Gold Award from the American Heart Association (AHA) for improving the quality of care for patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors through our Target: Type 2 Diabetes program. This program addresses heart disease and stroke risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes and leverages the AHA’s expertise to health care organizations across the country to help ensure the care provided to patients is consistent with the latest evidence and research-based guidelines.
We are proud to have been recognized for our efforts and will continue to work diligently to reduce the impact of diabetes locally.
Melissa Germano-Ryczak, MS, RD, LDN is the director of Lifestyle Modification and Prevention Medicine at the Wright Center for Community Health. To make an appointment, visit TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019.
