Diabetes Awareness Month Offers Chance to Improve Health

Murphy, NC - Murphy Medical Center is one of many hospitals across the nation recognizing Diabetes Awareness Month in November, taking the opportunity to educate the public  on the danger of diabetes and the options for controlling it.

Diabetes diagnoses more than doubled among North Carolina adults between 1995 and 2009 according to NC State Center for Health Statistics, 2009. In the study, North Carolina ranked thirteenth highest in diabetes prevalence in the nation, and 9% of western North Carolina residents had diabetes.

The complications of diabetes include heart disease, stroke, blindness, lower extremity amputation and renal disease.  Diabetes related healthcare expenses are up to 3.5 times higher for people with diabetes than those who do not have the disease.

Susi Brown RN, BS Ed, CDE is a Certified Diabetic Educator at Murphy Medical Center and is responsible for its Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME) program which is accredited by the American Association of Diabetes Educators.  The DSME program promotes a collaborative process through which people with, or at risk for, diabetes gain the knowledge and skills needed to modify behavior and successfully self-manage the disease and it related conditions. 

“We follow the American Association of Diabetes Educators’ 7 Self-Care Behaviors which include healthy eating, being active, monitoring, taking medication, problem solving, healthy coping, and reducing risks,” stated Brown.  “This is an interactive, ongoing process involving the person with diabetes, their families and the diabetes educator. Under their health care provider’s orders, individuals learn skills to help them achieve optimal health, have a better quality of life, and reduce the need for costly health care.”

“This approach is also helpful in treating people with pre-diabetes,” added Brown.  Pre-diabetes is a condition in which individuals have higher-than-normal blood sugar levels, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed with diabetes.  People with pre-diabetes often develop Type 2 diabetes.

For more information about diabetes, contact Brown at 828-835-3659.