Texas A&M AgriLife Renewal Service of Counties Angelina, Harrison, Rusk and Shelby has teamed up to offer a comprehensive diabetes education course every Thursday from April 8 to May 6 at 10 a.m. There is no enrollment fee thanks to a grant .
To register, click this link: bit.ly/DWBW21. Even if students miss a class, a recording of the class can be provided. You can register for the class at any time.
The following topics are covered:
- Characteristics of type 2 diabetes
- Recommended blood sugar levels
- Coping with Diabetes with Diet
- Handling blood sugar medication
- Reading and using nutrition labels
- Exercise and diabetes
- Eating out and keeping diabetes under control
- Preventing and treating complications of diabetes (including foot problems)
- Resources for caring for diabetes
- Planned meals using the carbohydrate counting method
Diabetes occurs when the body doesn’t make enough insulin or the insulin it makes doesn’t work properly. While this chronic disease is incurable; it is manageable.
According to the Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) National Diabetes Statistics Report, approximately 29.1 million (9.3 percent) people in the United States have diabetes, with 8.1 million (27.8 percent) of those people undiagnosed . Similarly, in Texas, approximately 2.33 million (11.2 percent) adults have diabetes, of which 621,000 were undiagnosed, significantly increasing their health risks. Another 7.14 million people have prediabetes. Blood sugar levels are above normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.
According to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, the adult diabetes prevalence rate in Harrison County has increased steadily: 6.9 percent in 2008, 9.8 percent in 2009, 11.3 percent in 2010, 11.7 Percent in 2013 and 13 percent in 2018. In 2019 The Center for Disease Control reported the diabetes prevalence rate: 8.5 percent adults in the US, 10 percent adults in the state of Texas, and 15 percent in Harrison County. This reliable source also reported deaths from cardiovascular disease per 10,000 population (including coronary artery disease, heart attacks, heart failure, arrhythmias, high blood pressure and all strokes) 42.2 in the US, 43.4 in Texas and 51.3 in Harrison County.
If you or a loved one have diabetes or are at high risk of developing diabetes and you want to learn more about how diet and self-care can treat this chronic disease, Do Well, Be Well with Diabetes is the perfect five week long Diabetes education program for you.
You don’t want to miss the very first speaker, Renae Smith, RN, CDE. She’s here in Marshall and works for Genesis Prime Care. To kick off the series, she shares how food affects your blood sugar levels.
Louraiseal McDonald is a Family Community Health Specialist for the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service. She can be reached by email at ldmcdonald@ag.tamu.edu or by phone at (903) 935-8414.