Soul Pitt’s Healthy You! Health and Wellness Resources in Pittsburgh

By: Jude A. Lauffer, BSEd., RN, BC, Gateway Health Plan^®

How many times have you heard those words? Do you know what a “touch of sugar” means? Your life or the life of someone you know may depend on knowing that answer.

Diabetes is quickly rising to the level of an epidemic and causes major complications when it is untreated or poorly managed. A lifestyle with limited or virtually no activity coupled with poor choices in diet are leading to obesity and increasing the risks for diabetes. Most people can name at least one individual they know with diabetes, but can you name the things that put people at risk?

Risk factors that cannot be changed are age and race. African American adults face a serious and disproportionate likelihood of developing diabetes. They are twice as likely as non-Hispanic white adults to have been diagnosed with diabetes by a physician.ⁱ

If you are African American, you already have a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. This list from the American Diabetes Association identifies other risk factors and notes the first four also pertain to children. The more risk factors you can check off, the higher your chance of developing diabetes; and, type 2 diabetes is rising steadily in the pediatric population.

• Certain racial and ethnic groups (e.g., Non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanic/Latino Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and American Indians and Alaska Natives)
• People with a family history of diabetes
• People who are overweight
• People who do not exercise regularly
• People over age 45
• People with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and/or impaired fasting glucose (IFG)
• People with low HDL cholesterol or high triglycerides, high blood pressure
• Women who had gestational diabetes, or who have had a baby weighing 9 pounds or more at birth

Personal empowerment comes from the awareness of risk factors with emphasis placed on prevention. Personal empowerment also motivates family and friends. The first step to empowering you is to make a doctor visit for an annual physical and follow through with lab tests the doctor orders. The reason is: A Touch of Sugar.

In reality, there is no such thing as a “touch of sugar” or a “little bit of sugar.” You either have diabetes or you don’t. Just because a family member developed it does not mean it is your destiny.

If you do not have diabetes, you may not be in as safe a place as you think, depending on your lab test results. Your doctor will talk to you about food choices and physical activity AND will have you retest within a few weeks if:

• Results from a fasting glucose test come back between 100-125

• Results from an A1c test are 5.7 to 6.4. This test shows an average blood sugar level over the last 2-3 months. This is a non-fasting test.

If your rates fall in these ranges, it means you might have pre-diabetes, a warning sign that diabetes is hiding around the corner. Knowing these numbers allow you to take aim at preventing diabetes by making better food choices and increasing physical activity for weight control.

Once diabetes develops, complications that cannot be reversed develop as well. Too many times, someone learns they have diabetes when a complication takes them to the doctor or hospital. Many know about heart disease, amputations, blindness and kidney problems but many do not know diabetes can cause erectile dysfunction.

It’s projected, 35% to 75% of all men, regardless of race, who have diabetes will develop erectile dysfunction within their lifetime. Also, they tend to develop it 10 to 15 years before men who do not have diabetes.ⁱⁱ

Did you know that help is available through the American Diabetes Association, specifically for African Americans with diabetes?

The Live Empowered/African American Programs were designed for all people of African descent, regardless of how they identify themselves. Workshops and events are, or can be, scheduled in your community.

Project Power is a faith based program that offers six educational workshops and engages the church in year round activities. This is a powerful workshop that discusses the seriousness of the disease, risk factors and risk reduction. Physical activity, healthy eating demonstrations and heart disease and stroke prevention are discussed.

Choose to Live is a separate program designed for the 35-55 year old age group. Heart disease is the #1 killer of African Americans with uncontrolled diabetes and yet many don’t recognize the close ties between diabetes and heart disease.

Most importantly, we need to protect our children and provide the tools they need to stay healthy. Train Up the Child is a workshop that teaches ways to help youth become healthier. Activities encourage involvement with all members of the family by increasing awareness of healthy living.

Just A Touch- A Lesson about Nerve Damage is offered and discusses all types of nerve damage, including “autonomic neuropathy,” the nerve damage that causes erectile dysfunction.

To learn more about these programs, visit the American Diabetes website at: http://www.diabetes.org/in-my-community/ and click on Community Programs.

Scroll down to African American Programs and start a new year feeling empowered to help prevent and control this disease.

Filed under: Gateway Health Plan