Diabetes Prevalence

Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects about 1 in 10 Americans – and about 20% of those people with diabetes don’t know they have it. Managing diabetes may help reduce fatigue and other diabetes symptoms. Controlling diabetes can reduce your chances of experiencing vision problems, dementia, and other serious medical issues.

Diabetes can be managed in a variety of ways:

Self-monitoring: people with diabetes measure blood glucose. The reading is used for pattern management and so that treatement can be adjusted. Exercise, medication, diet, insulin and stress are all factors that can affect blood glucose readings.
Maintaining a healthy weight
Proper nutrition
Exercising regularly
Stop smoking
Taking medication regularly

Recent research has suggested that dietary interventions can actually lead to diabetes remission.

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine has issued a consensus statement on dietary strategies that have been shown to support the remission of type 2 diabetes. The statement is also supported by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and is co-sponsored by the Endocrine Society.

Type 2 diabetes remission means having normal blood glucose levels without taking any glucose-lowering medications. Recent studies have shown that diabetes remission may be more common than previously suspected. Bariatric surgery has been shown to promote type 2 diabetes remission in people with obesity, and certain dietary strategies — including low-calorie diets and low-carb diets — may also be effective.

Diabetes educators, like Julianne Downes of Walsh Nutrition Group, Inc., can help guide you in the following ways to manage diabetes and possibly achieve type 2 diabetes remission:

Learn basic information about diabetes and its management
Understand how to use diabetes devices, such as blood glucose meters, insulin pens, insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors
Adopt healthy eating habits through nutrition education, including diabetes meal-planning, weight-loss strategies, and other disease-specific nutrition counseling
Develop problem-solving strategies and skills to self-manage diabetes
Monitor blood glucose, and learn how to interpret and appropriately respond to the results
Understand how their medications work, including their action, side effects, efficacy, toxicity, prescribed dosage, and more
Develop skills for handling stressful situations

Make your appointment online with Julianne to help achieve diabetes remission! Click here to schedule online.

Adapted from the American Association of Diabetes Educators