Wellness Wednesday is sponsored by Intermountain Health
November is Diabetes and Kidney Disease Awareness month, and a great time to find out how you can protect yourself from a disease that has become an epidemic in the Untied States.
“Some people don’t know that they have diabetes, or don’t know that they have pre-diabetes,” said Dr. Miriam Padilla.
Padilla works at Intermountain Health’s Utah Valley Hospital and specializes in obesity and lifestyle medicine as well as kidney disease, including diabetes. 136 million Americans have some form of diabetes or pre-diabetes. It’s a disease that can impact just about every system in our bodies.
“So, the food and the carbohydrates are not utilized to the extent that we should use them, and then the sugar stays high in the bloodstream. That sugar then causes inflammation, which can damage your eyes and increased risk of cataracts or retinopathy can increase risk of heart attacks, stroke, kidney disease, neuropathy, it really affects our whole body, so it's something that if we know that we're prone to diabetes, we really have to start focusing on that earlier on,” said Padilla.
Focusing on preventing diabetes is all about simple choices that will improve your overall health. Dr. Padilla has great recommendations for approaching things like shopping for for food.
“Definitely want to go with something in mind. I think it's good to go with a recipe that you have, that you're going to prepare for the week, and then buy what you need for that recipe,” she said.
And if you have trouble finding healthy snacks, you may be overthinking it.
“Things like carrots with hummus, or, you know, celery with peanut butter. There are things that are combining both carbs and some fats and some protein that don't have to take you an hour to prepare,” she said.
And how you approach daily tasks can make a big difference.
“There are ways that we can change our lifestyle to be healthier. Definitely, you want to try to incorporate more activity throughout your day. If you're sitting a lot of work, stand up, you know, every hour 30 minutes, even just for a few minutes, stretch, walk around your lunch break. Park farther away. If you're cleaning the house, put some music on and have fun and dance. You just want to find easy and sustainable ways of being more active and healthy throughout your day,” she said.
For those who have already developed Type 2 diabetes, there’s never been a more promising time for interventions.
“The great thing about diabetes, type two, at least, right now, is that there's a lot of options for treatment, many more options than we used to have, and now we know that if we can focus on the weight loss, that helps to also combat that insulin resistance that we find in type two diabetes,” she said.
Dr. Padilla said medicines like Ozempic, Wegovy and other semaglutides aren’t for everyone, but they are proving to be effective for millions of Americans. It’s just important to talk with a doctor who can review your medical history and your current prescriptions before you begin treatment.
