ROCHELLE — November marked National Diabetes Awareness Month at Rochelle Community Hospital.
Locally, the month at RCH included promoting diabetes information on its website and social media regarding diagnosis, types and management in an effort to increase awareness and debunk myths and misinformation.
Over 37 million Americans have type-one or type-two diabetes. An additional 37 million adults have diagnosed prediabetes. Around 96 million adults have prediabetes, but roughly 80 percent aren’t aware they have the condition.
Type-one diabetes is an autoimmune condition in which the body mistakenly attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas which leads to little-to-no insulin in the body and causes high blood sugar levels. There’s no cure for the condition, and if left unmanaged it can lead to serious health complications such as amputations or vision loss.
Type-two diabetes accounts for up to 95 percent of diabetes cases and is mostly the result of obesity and a lack of exercise. But there can be other causes and risk factors that contribute to type-two diabetes. It is characterized by high blood glucose (sugar), insulin resistance, and a relative lack of insulin. Type-two diabetes is generally considered to be a lifestyle-related disease, but family history and genetics also play a major role in its development.
Prediabetes is a precursor to type-two diabetes if interventions are not made. Prediabetes symptoms include excessive hunger or thirst, weight gain, fatigue or frequent urination.
RCH Dietician Janelle Stein is the hospital’s point person for diabetes and prediabetes management. She talks with patients with a doctor’s order about diabetes and her work is covered by most insurances, except in some cases with prediabetes.
“Prevention is always better,” Stein said. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Prevention care is not always as well covered by insurance. It depends on each company. But I'm happy to talk to people one-on-one about prediabetes and we are trying to get our diabetes prevention program up and going again. We're hoping to have it in the spring. That's a program that we base on the CDC's prevent type-two diabetes program, where it's lifestyle intervention and course correction. People identify that they're at a high risk of developing diabetes and try to change how they eat and lose weight and be more active to prevent that diagnosis from happening or push it down the road a bit.”
Stein said that high blood sugar, if gone unrecognized for too long, can put people at risk of developing chronic, long-term health problems in any areas with tiny blood vessels such as the brain with a stroke, the eyes going blind, a heart having a heart attack, kidneys failing and requiring dialysis, and feet and fingers with nerve damage, where amputations can start to be seen.
The goal of diabetes management is to try to keep blood sugar as close to normal as possible to prevent all of those problems.
“Prediabetes is something we used to call borderline diabetes or something along those lines,” Stein said. “Pre-diabetes was settled on as a name, which is when blood sugars are a little higher than normal, but you're not quite meeting the diagnostic criteria of diabetes. That makes it a great time to identify that things are heading the wrong way and course correct and try to prevent or delay that onset of diabetes.”
Stein’s work as a dietician plays into diabetes management, and personalized dietary plans are made.
“Back in the day, we just told everyone to eat a certain way,” Stein said. “And then life happens, and we have things like holidays and people don't know how to manage it. I try to work very individually with people and their lives for their plans. That balance of nutrients, the carbohydrates, proteins and fats, can really affect the blood sugar. And also how we move our body and how physically active we are can affect the blood sugar, too.”
People can live with type-two diabetes undiagnosed for a long time, Stein said. RCH often sees patients come into the hospital for a different health issue and they leave with a diabetes diagnosis after high blood sugar levels are seen. Those patients have noticed less pain and better vision upon regulating their blood sugar.
Stein said diabetes treatment has improved over the years.
“Even 20-30 years ago, we didn't have a lot of options for really managing diabetes,” Stein said. “Now we have so many more drugs and continuous glucose monitors and so many more tools to do a better job. We don't hear about so many amputations anymore like we used to. We'd like to prevent those much more expensive problems down the road if we can be aware and course correct earlier.”
Stein said diabetes carries a stigma with it and patients can have a fear of the potential of being diagnosed with it. She wants patients to have that knowledge to put them in more control of their bodies and be proactive, not reactive.
“I've heard people say they're scared of being diagnosed with diabetes, due to things like their older loved ones passing away due to it,” Stein said. “We have better tools now. We can manage it by raising awareness and being aware of what your blood sugars are and how the foods you eat and the exercises you do, and your stress and medications all affect you individually. We can really manage it and have a good quality of life. I know some people are very overwhelmed and scared and it's almost like the stages of grief. And there's the stress of having to manage it every day. So many people, especially with type two diabetes, do have a lot of flexibility. The holidays are coming up. Those traditions are important, and you can analyze what's most important and how it can fit into your health goals. You can enjoy that slice of pie or whatever your holiday treat is, and then go for a walk. And then start again the next day. Usually that helps a lot of people.”
