Skiff Medical Center: Take steps to prevent Diabetes

Let’s Prevent Diabetes. In honor of Diabetes Month, every column during November will address diabetes issues. Because of age, obesity or sedentary lifestyle, 1.4 million Iowans are at increased risk for pre-diabetes or undiagnosed diabetes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 41 million U.S. adults — ages 40 to 74 — already have been diagnosed with prediabetes and one of every 10 boys and one of every 25 girls, ages 12 to 19, have it. Risks for prediabetes include family history, inactivity, age, race, overweight or obesity, sleep apnea, history of gestational diabetes and high birth weight. Research has shown that long-term damage to the body, especially the heart and circulatory system, already are occurring during pre-diabetes. Most people with pre-diabetes develop Type 2 Diabetes within 10 years. Among adults with pre-diabetes, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors was high. In fact: • 94.9 percent had high blood cholesterol. • 56.5 percent had high blood pressure. • 13.9 percent had microalbuminuria, a protein found in blood plasma and urine that can signal kidney disease. • 16.6 percent were current smokers. So if you do not know you have prediabetes how do you find out? It is very simple. A visit to your health care provider and a blood draw or finger stick will tell us. If that blood contains glucose (sugar) between 100 to 125 mg/dL at a fasting level (nothing to eat for at least eight hours) you have prediabetes. If it is 126 mg/dL or above, you have diabetes. If you are not fasting, a random blood sugar check can be done regardless of what and when you ate last. If your value is 140 to 200 mg/dL, that meets a diagnosis of prediabetes. Greater than 200 mg/dL is a diagnosis of diabetes. If you have prediabetes, it is not too late. In the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), it was found that weight loss and physical activity offered a greater benefit for delaying diabetes than medication. This strongly suggests that lifestyle modification should be the first choice to prevent or delay diabetes. Modest weight loss (five to 10 percent of body weight) and modest physical activity (30 minutes daily) are the recommended goals. This intervention not only has been shown to prevent or delay diabetes but also has a variety of other health benefits. Once you have been diagnosed with diabetes, it doesn’t go away. The 2004 Health Needs Assessment & Health Improvement Planning (CHNA & HIP) indicated that in 2004, 60.9 percent of the Jasper County population is either overweight (37.8 percent) (BMI greater than 25) or obese (23.1 percent) (BMI greater than 30). This presumes a long trend of increasing overweight and obesity. It also found that 49.2 percent of the Jasper County population had an insufficient physical activity level as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.) To have achieved recommended levels of physical activity, a person must have reported engaging in moderate-intensity physical activity greater than five times per week for greater than 30 minutes each time, vigorous-intensity physical activity greater than three times per week for greater than 20 minutes during the month. These statistics show that we, as a county, are at a high risk for prediabetes and diabetes. We have some work to do. Skiff Medical Center is offering a free program on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. For more information, call 787-3070.