Delaying or preventing type 2 diabetes, preventing diabetes complications, and improving the health and quality of life for all persons with diabetes is one of our Integrated Medical Service Team's (IMST) top objectives at Naval Health Clinic (NHC) Corpus Christi.

If you are a diabetic you can take steps to control the disease and prevent complications, but with our help you don't have to do it alone or feel like you are faced with an impossible goal.

To assist you, we currently offer four alternating diabetes conversation map classes in the Wellness Room #1313 each Wednesday at 11 a.m.

The informal discussions are conducted in a friendly atmosphere. Attendance has grown as the word has spread, so you will be in good company while exchanging notes with others as well as building a great support network.

Just to give you an idea, we average 3-6 patients a week, and 50 have already attended since we began offering the program in March this year.

For starters, if you are interested in knowing what diabetes is and how patients feel about having the disease, our introductory class. On the Road to Better Managing Your Diabetes, is the perfect place to begin. This forum focuses on behaviors, life stressors, and coping skills.

Our dietician explains, Diabetes and Healthy Eating, going into more specifics about what foods will increase blood sugar. Portion size and healthier options is emphasized, and who among us could not benefit from increased awareness there?

And if you have wondered when you should check your blood sugar and how often, our class, Monitoring Your Blood Glucose, will address signs and symptoms of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia.

Finally, in Continuing Your Journey with Diabetes, our clinical pharmacist discusses the different medications patients take for diabetes, including what insulin is and how it works. It also touches on long term complications associated with diabetes.

Positive attitude towards diabetes management and support from friends and family can be associated with adequate diabetes management - something we believe we can definitely help you with.

An as an aside, many of our patients have already achieved some pretty impressive results after attending our classes. One of our patients was a new diabetic and was determined to get her A1C under control. A hemoglobin A1C blood test provides a 3-month average of your blood sugar levels to see if your diabetes management plan is working.

In March her A1C was 9.3, and by June she brought it down to 6.0. She said that much of her success was because of the classes, learning about the disease and discovering what lifestyle modifications she needed to make.

Another patient's wife attended the classes for him because she does all the cooking. His A1C improved from 12.1 in April to 8.0 in June! Furthermore, he was on two oral medications and now only has to take one. According to him, his A1C improved so much because his wife now understands how to make healthier meal choices.

One other patient achieved significant weight loss, cut his daily insulin intake in half to 45 units - still coming down, and improved his A1C from 7.3 to 6.1.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a normal A1C is below 5.7 percent. If your score is between 5.7 and 6.4 percent, the diagnosis is prediabetes. Having prediabetes puts you at risk for developing type 2 diabetes within 10 years.

Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90%-95% of all cases of diagnosed diabetes in the United States, can be prevented through lifestyle changes, such as weight loss, healthy eating, and increased physical activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

We are here to help, and we want you to feel comfortable during the process. We look forward to seeing you very soon, and if you would like more information please call 361-961-2616 or 361-961-6094. No registration is required for the class. Just cruise on in the Wellness Room at 11 o'clock on Wednesday!



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