New Diabetic awareness program helps pre-diabetics turn back the clock.

By Dutch O’Conner

Debnan’s blood sugar was getting out of hand, so he took matters in his own hands. He enrolled in the YWCA’s Diabetes Wellness Program. Debnam says that his experience was more than just a program. “It (DWP) was a spiritual, emotional, psychological, and physical journey. It was a journey worthwhile because it pretty much saved my life.”

The wellness program worked to increase Debnam’s exercise routine and level, offered classes on nutrition, and most important, it offered peer support groups and other educational opportunities to help him get on the road to avoiding full-blown diabetes.


Two years and eighty pounds ago, Lon Debnam received the news from his doctor that he had glucose intolerance and a diagnosis of type-2 diabetes.

Lon Debnam two years ago Lon Debnam today



Today,
a slimmer, healthier Lon is coordinating the Diabetes Prevention
Program. His goal is to help other low income and minority men and
women begin a healthier lifestyle and to ultimately avoid diabetes.


The YWCA in
partnership with Mission Hospitals, and funding from the Kate B.
Reynolds Charitable Trust, is enrolling minorities and low-income
individuals with a diagnosis of pre-diabetes in a two-year exercise and
diet management program. The Diabetes Prevention Program coordinators
will work one on one and in-group sessions with individuals to increase
exercise and change life-long food habits.



The goal is to
help prevent the onset of diabetes in participants through improved
diet, increased exercise and weight loss. Participants will also join
weekly peer support groups and connect with other individuals
undertaking the same challenges.



Debnam believes
that the peer support group is a vital component in this program
because of the session’s method of promoting change. “The group
sessions pairs pre-diabetics with full-blown diabetics, and they
(sessions) let the pre-diabetics see what will happen if they don’t get
their acts together,” he said.



Some things are
worth doing though they may not be easy. Changing a lifestyle is
difficult, but if you have diabetes in the family or your doctor has
told you that you are at risk of getting diabetes, starting an exercise
program and changing to healthier eating habits could save your life.



The Center for
Disease Control’s (CDC’s) 2005 National Health Interview Survey found
that 20.6 million people age 20 or older have some form of diabetes.
Ninety percent to 95 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes are
type-2 diabetes previously called non-insulin-dependent diabetes
mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes. Today, more young people are
diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. Diet and lack of exercise are thought
to be a major reason for this trend among the youth.



Obesity,
sedentary lifestyles and a family history, are some of the risk factors
for getting type-2 diabetes. The disease often begins without you
knowing about it. Your doctor may have told you that you have some
slightly high blood sugars or you may have been diagnosed with glucose
intolerance sometimes called pre-diabetes. If so, you are the person
the Diabetes Prevention Program wants to reach to stop the onset of
diabetes and help you begin a new healthier life.



Diabetes hits
the African-American community at almost twice the rate of the
non-Hispanic white community. It is also more common in Hispanic/Latino
populations. Avoiding diabetes and taking care of it present more of a
challenge to low-income families. This may be true because of the high
cost of caring for diabetes and the lack of access to information on
how to care for this life threatening disease, which is why the YWCA’s
Diabetes Prevention Program will focus on minorities and low-income
individuals.



If you have two
or more of these risk factors-obesity, family history, sedentary
lifestyle, and a pre-diabetes diagnosis, take action today and call Lon
Debnam at 254-7206 ext. 101 to find out more about a healthy approach
to avoiding a disease that is the sixth leading cause of death in the
United States today. It is definitely something worth doing.



Dutch O’Conner – a type1 diabetic for almost thirty years is a community volunteer, Mom, and a loyal exerciser.