Lifestyle change necessary to battle diabetes
When Doreen Bugai thinks about her future, she sees herself with a new pancreas and a new outlook. “There is more positive than negative, and I know I have a lot to live for,” she said.
The Connellsville woman, who has battled diabetes for more than 20 years, said she knows that she can’t determine when it will be her time to go, but she is determined not to give the disease she wars with the satisfaction.
“If it is my time, then it is my time, but I’m not going to let the diabetes get me.”
She said she is going to continue to work hard at following the rules of life for every diabetic: Eat right, exercise, monitor yourself and educate yourself.
It is that kind of dedication that area experts wish all their patients had and an attitude they think the nation needs if the current rise in diabetes is to be stopped.
“People have to recreate their lifestyle,” said Barbara Girod, vice president of clinical services at Greene County Memorial Hospital. “People not only have to eat better, they have to grocery shop better.”
According to local experts, no cure-all for diabetes exists.
However, a recent study done by the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, found that through transplants of insulin-producing stem cells, patients may be able to avoid daily insulin shots and be able to produce their own insulin. While the study said that the idea is just beginning to take shape, it may provide an answer to the 1.5 million Americans who are in need of a new pancreas. Only about 5,500 pancreases are available for transplant each year.
Local experts said that while research like the Alberta study sounds promising, more basic advancements in treatment, like the insulin pump and new prescriptions, are more helpful, and the best treatment remains preventative care. Even for those who have the disease, preventative care can help to keep complications at a minimum and functionality at a maximum.
“People need to change their diet, increase their activity and change their lifestyle,” said Dr. Tim Jackson, an endocrinologist who works in Fayette and Greene counties. “My hope is that with good care and people becoming more focused and attentive that we will see less of the disease.”
Sue Shearer, diabetes educator for Fayette Home Care, said that lifestyle change is the key, no matter what advancements in treatments are made.
“It is going to get really bad if our lifestyles don’t change,” she said.
According to a study done by Harvard University’s Joslin Diabetes Center, walking just 20 minutes a day helped reduce the incidence of diabetes by 50 percent. It is figures like these that keep Shearer hopeful that things can change and the rate can go down.
“People need to change their diet and exercise more,” she said.
She advises diabetics and non-diabetics to go for walks, swim and just do more physical activity, even if it’s just taking out the garbage or walking around the yard. She also said that programs are available at the YMCA and other organizations that allow diabetics to exercise and learn about preventative care.
In the end, experts agree that without a lifestyle overhaul, the diagnosis rate will continue to rise and diabetes will continue to win the battle.
And for Doreen Bugai, the fight against diabetes rages on. As part of this battle, she is determined to do all she can for others to help them and encourage them.
“Everything that we can do to help ourselves and to help others will help the next generation,” she said.
As for her personal struggle with diabetes, she said she won it when she disassociated herself from the disease that has tried to claim her life.
“I don’t call it ‘my’ diabetes anymore. I’m not claiming it. It is just diabetes.”