As many as 38 million people in the United States have diabetes, and according to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 5 of them don’t even know it.
How is this possible and could you be one of them? Type 2 diabetes often develops gradually, experts say, so symptoms may not be noticeable in the early stages.
This is why we observe Diabetes Alert Day annually on the fourth Tuesday in March to help make people aware of the risk factors for diabetes and the symptoms to watch for.
“The sooner you know your risk, the sooner you can take steps to prevent or even learn to manage the disease,” says Dr. Colette M. Knight, chair of the Inserra Family Diabetes Institute and director of the Hackensack University Medical Center’s endocrinology division. “It is possible to prevent Type 2 diabetes and even reverse it.”
At Hackensack University Medical Center’s MOLLY Diabetes Education/Management Center for Adults and Children patients receive the most up-to-date, effective methods of diabetes treatment and management including the information, skills, and tools needed to live a healthy, productive, and satisfying lives.
“You don’t have to cut everything that you love out of your diet, you just have to learn the portion size of what you love to eat and drink and where to fit in to your meal plan,” explains Toni Isabella, Manager of the Center, who says it is also important for people to learn how stress and sleep can also impact diabetes. “Working with the specialists at the MOLLY Center, the knowledge and advice they provide, can actually help put diabetes into remission.”
Advice that includes how to be smart with snacks; cut down on added sugars; add exercise to your daily routine, choose healthy carbs; and so much more to help manage healthy blood sugar levels.
Click here to learn your risk of diabetes through this 60-second assessment and if you or someone you love may have prediabetes or if you could use help managing type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, prediabetes or gestational diabetes call and book an appointment at the MOLLY Diabetes Center today by clicking here.
For more information on diabetes management services offered at Hackensack University Medical Center or for an interview with an expert or patient, contact Mary McGeever, PR manager, mary.mcgeever@hmhn.org.
