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Diabetes Prevention, Ep. 2
Jan Stankiewicz and Nikki Johnson from NDSU Extension talk about Type 2 diabetes, how to reduce the risk of getting it, and how the Diabetes Prevention program can help.
Resources
- Find out more about the Diabetes Prevention Program
- Connect to a community health class or program through the ND Community Clinical Collaborative
Transcript
Jan Stankiewicz: Welcome to Thriving on the Prairie a podcast exploring issues concerning families and communities that inspires North Dakota movers, shakers, and community difference makers to engage in lifelong learning. I’m Jan Stankiewicz, community health and nutrition specialist, and I with my colleague and friend, Nikki Johnson also a community health and nutrition specialist. Nicki is here to lead us in a conversation about the diabetes prevention program. A national program that is truly changing people's lives. Nikki, it's so nice to have you here today.
Nikki Johnson: Thanks for having me, Jan.
Jan: Yeah. Great. So we’re just going to again be talking a little bit about, umm, diabetes in North Dakota and something that's called pre-diabetes. And then a program we have that Extension offers that you, kind of, are in charge of, called the diabetes prevention program. So if you just want to kind of, like, open up a little bit about what diabetes is, the current state of diabetes in North Dakota, or maybe even the nation. So, what kind of information do you have to kind of start us off with?
Nikki: Sure, so maybe let's just start off thinking nationally. So in the U.S. right now there are over 34 million adults with diabetes. On a more localized level, there’s over 54,000 North Dakotan adults that have diabetes.
Jan: 54,000. Okay.
Nikki: 54,000. And if you put it into perspective, that’s about 1 in 10 people. So when you think about going to the grocery store and you know standing in the produce aisle or in the produce section there, you know 1 in 10 people that you are being surrounded by likely has type 2 diabetes.
Jan: And then I guess that's something to clarify it’s Type 2 Diabetes right, Nikki?
Nikki: Yes. Type 2 diabetes and that’s going to be a little bit different than type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, nothing you can do about developing type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes on the other hand has some preventable factors to it and it's more linked to lifestyle rather than genetics.
Jan: Yeah and that’s where the term chronic disease comes in, right?
Nikki: Yes. So, type 2 diabetes is considered one of those chronic diseases. It’s longer term. It has some adverse health effects if you're not managing it or you're not controlling it. And like I said, it is something that is preventable.
Jan: Yeah, so when we’re talking about type 2 diabetes what does that mean? So we've got a large amount of people in North Dakota with type 2 diabetes. What does that mean for those individuals, and then what does that mean for, you know, community members or the state? Why are we concerned about those kinds of things?
Nikki: You know, it's going to be different for every individual, of course. Everybody’s journey with any chronic condition is going to look a little bit different but there's a couple common pieces. So, an individual with type 2 diabetes is going to have to be very diligent about their health. Type 2 diabetes is categorized as having blood glucose are blood sugar levels that are outside of the normal range. And if you're not watching those your body can experience some very adverse health effects, right? And so they have to be very concerned. So that means they're going to have to go to the doctor more frequently. They're probably going to have to have a team of physicians that they're going to need to work with or of healthcare providers. So thinking they’ll have to work with a dietitian. They need to get their eyes checked regularly. They need to have their feet checked. They’re going to need to talk to their regular family care physician just to make sure that their blood levels are where they need to be. And that's going to mean that not only higher medical cost for them, but it's also going to affect their employers and potentially family members and things like that. Just thinking about the amount of days you have to be out of work, or maybe there's days that your blood sugar you just can't get it under control and say you have to miss because you're not feeling well. And if you're not feeling well you know who's taking care of you? You might need that support person in your life to help you out. So there are a lot of implications to developing type 2 diabetes. And maybe i’ll go back just to the money piece for a second there. You know nationally, we spend over $327 billion on diabetes.
Jan: And billion with a B?
Nikki: Billion with a B. $327 billion. And that's not all direct medical costs. A good chunk of it is medical cost. I think a person spends 2.3 times more money annually if they have diabetes versus if they do not have diabetes.
Jan: Okay.
Nikki: And that's on a personal level, but you have to think about all those other medical costs and implications for that for your employer or health insurance companies, the healthcare system and things like that. And then part of that is going to be those indirect costs. So thinking about absenteeism from work or presenteeism for that matter.
Jan: Umm hmm. Yeah. So the impacts kind of build upon each other and then you feel them further and further down the line, yeah. So our healthcare system is set up in a decent way to treat these kinds of things. So there's medications that folks can get on. But again taking a step back, looking at it, you know, more from a preventative side. So that's where pre-diabetes comes in right?
Nikki: Yes. So prediabetes, I would say, is this newer….newer term. And maybe I use that in quotations. But it’s one of those newer terms and it's really just stating that people are getting close to having type 2 diabetes. They've got these elevated blood sugar levels but they're not quite to the point of type 2 diabetes. And it's this stage in a person's life where you can make some lifestyle modifications and actually prevent developing type 2 diabetes. So you can prevent eventually getting that chronic condition.
Jan: Yeah that is really something, especially going back to, you know, thinking about the numbers of people who are impacted by type 2 diabetes and the dollars that are associated with it. So if there's things that we can do to stop that from happening, yeah I think that would really peak some people's interest and I, yeah, I just find it it's so interesting that you know when the terms come up and I can...you know when you said…. you had your air quotes and we could hear it in your voice.
Nikki: Laughing
Jan: When we, even if we can't see it. So yeah, so how does somebody know if they have prediabetes?
Nikki: And that’s the tricky part. So, prediabetes is not something that you're just going to all the sudden feel all of these symptoms. You know if you've got... you got a cold or you're running a fever you can…. you can feel those... those symptoms, right? Prediabetes, you're not going to... you're not going to notice those. The way you're going to be able to tell is really by going to see your healthcare professional and getting your blood glucose levels checked. But there are certain risk factors that you might be able to check off, that would maybe push you to go see a healthcare professional to get tested. You do need to have a blood glucose test to know whether or not you're not you have pre-diabet...
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By NDSU Extension - Family & Community Wellness
5
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Jan Stankiewicz and Nikki Johnson from NDSU Extension talk about Type 2 diabetes, how to reduce the risk of getting it, and how the Diabetes Prevention program can help.
Resources
- Find out more about the Diabetes Prevention Program
- Connect to a community health class or program through the ND Community Clinical Collaborative
Transcript
Jan Stankiewicz: Welcome to Thriving on the Prairie a podcast exploring issues concerning families and communities that inspires North Dakota movers, shakers, and community difference makers to engage in lifelong learning. I’m Jan Stankiewicz, community health and nutrition specialist, and I with my colleague and friend, Nikki Johnson also a community health and nutrition specialist. Nicki is here to lead us in a conversation about the diabetes prevention program. A national program that is truly changing people's lives. Nikki, it's so nice to have you here today.
Nikki Johnson: Thanks for having me, Jan.
Jan: Yeah. Great. So we’re just going to again be talking a little bit about, umm, diabetes in North Dakota and something that's called pre-diabetes. And then a program we have that Extension offers that you, kind of, are in charge of, called the diabetes prevention program. So if you just want to kind of, like, open up a little bit about what diabetes is, the current state of diabetes in North Dakota, or maybe even the nation. So, what kind of information do you have to kind of start us off with?
Nikki: Sure, so maybe let's just start off thinking nationally. So in the U.S. right now there are over 34 million adults with diabetes. On a more localized level, there’s over 54,000 North Dakotan adults that have diabetes.
Jan: 54,000. Okay.
Nikki: 54,000. And if you put it into perspective, that’s about 1 in 10 people. So when you think about going to the grocery store and you know standing in the produce aisle or in the produce section there, you know 1 in 10 people that you are being surrounded by likely has type 2 diabetes.
Jan: And then I guess that's something to clarify it’s Type 2 Diabetes right, Nikki?
Nikki: Yes. Type 2 diabetes and that’s going to be a little bit different than type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, nothing you can do about developing type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes on the other hand has some preventable factors to it and it's more linked to lifestyle rather than genetics.
Jan: Yeah and that’s where the term chronic disease comes in, right?
Nikki: Yes. So, type 2 diabetes is considered one of those chronic diseases. It’s longer term. It has some adverse health effects if you're not managing it or you're not controlling it. And like I said, it is something that is preventable.
Jan: Yeah, so when we’re talking about type 2 diabetes what does that mean? So we've got a large amount of people in North Dakota with type 2 diabetes. What does that mean for those individuals, and then what does that mean for, you know, community members or the state? Why are we concerned about those kinds of things?
Nikki: You know, it's going to be different for every individual, of course. Everybody’s journey with any chronic condition is going to look a little bit different but there's a couple common pieces. So, an individual with type 2 diabetes is going to have to be very diligent about their health. Type 2 diabetes is categorized as having blood glucose are blood sugar levels that are outside of the normal range. And if you're not watching those your body can experience some very adverse health effects, right? And so they have to be very concerned. So that means they're going to have to go to the doctor more frequently. They're probably going to have to have a team of physicians that they're going to need to work with or of healthcare providers. So thinking they’ll have to work with a dietitian. They need to get their eyes checked regularly. They need to have their feet checked. They’re going to need to talk to their regular family care physician just to make sure that their blood levels are where they need to be. And that's going to mean that not only higher medical cost for them, but it's also going to affect their employers and potentially family members and things like that. Just thinking about the amount of days you have to be out of work, or maybe there's days that your blood sugar you just can't get it under control and say you have to miss because you're not feeling well. And if you're not feeling well you know who's taking care of you? You might need that support person in your life to help you out. So there are a lot of implications to developing type 2 diabetes. And maybe i’ll go back just to the money piece for a second there. You know nationally, we spend over $327 billion on diabetes.
Jan: And billion with a B?
Nikki: Billion with a B. $327 billion. And that's not all direct medical costs. A good chunk of it is medical cost. I think a person spends 2.3 times more money annually if they have diabetes versus if they do not have diabetes.
Jan: Okay.
Nikki: And that's on a personal level, but you have to think about all those other medical costs and implications for that for your employer or health insurance companies, the healthcare system and things like that. And then part of that is going to be those indirect costs. So thinking about absenteeism from work or presenteeism for that matter.
Jan: Umm hmm. Yeah. So the impacts kind of build upon each other and then you feel them further and further down the line, yeah. So our healthcare system is set up in a decent way to treat these kinds of things. So there's medications that folks can get on. But again taking a step back, looking at it, you know, more from a preventative side. So that's where pre-diabetes comes in right?
Nikki: Yes. So prediabetes, I would say, is this newer….newer term. And maybe I use that in quotations. But it’s one of those newer terms and it's really just stating that people are getting close to having type 2 diabetes. They've got these elevated blood sugar levels but they're not quite to the point of type 2 diabetes. And it's this stage in a person's life where you can make some lifestyle modifications and actually prevent developing type 2 diabetes. So you can prevent eventually getting that chronic condition.
Jan: Yeah that is really something, especially going back to, you know, thinking about the numbers of people who are impacted by type 2 diabetes and the dollars that are associated with it. So if there's things that we can do to stop that from happening, yeah I think that would really peak some people's interest and I, yeah, I just find it it's so interesting that you know when the terms come up and I can...you know when you said…. you had your air quotes and we could hear it in your voice.
Nikki: Laughing
Jan: When we, even if we can't see it. So yeah, so how does somebody know if they have prediabetes?
Nikki: And that’s the tricky part. So, prediabetes is not something that you're just going to all the sudden feel all of these symptoms. You know if you've got... you got a cold or you're running a fever you can…. you can feel those... those symptoms, right? Prediabetes, you're not going to... you're not going to notice those. The way you're going to be able to tell is really by going to see your healthcare professional and getting your blood glucose levels checked. But there are certain risk factors that you might be able to check off, that would maybe push you to go see a healthcare professional to get tested. You do need to have a blood glucose test to know whether or not you're not you have pre-diabet...