Diabetes prevention program begins March 25 - Lifestyle - Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise - Bartlesville, OK - Examiner Enterprise

Sunday

Mar 15, 2020 at 12:01 AM

Your doctor tells you to eat better and move more to lower your odds of diabetes. Modest changes, better choices, but how exactly do you start putting the advice into practice?

It is crucial to find a group that helps inspire you to create healthy, lasting habits. Research shows that when you engage in a yearlong lifestyle change program that includes, diet, exercise, and support, you will cut your risk of diabetes by over half.

To assist you, Ascension St. John Jane Phillips presents the Diabetes Prevention Program, a yearlong class led by certified lifestyle coaches. Weekly sessions run March 25 through July 1 from 5 to 6 p.m.; sessions then become monthly for the year.

The cost is $5 a month. Classes are held at the Medical Park Center, 3400 SE Frank Phillips Blvd., Suite 200 in the Ascension St. John Jane Phillips Diabetes and Nutrition Education classroom.

Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. More than 88 million American adults — that is 1 in 3 — have prediabetes. The majority of those don’t even know they have it. Without taking action, many people with prediabetes could develop type 2 diabetes within five years.

Diabetes is a serious disease that can cause heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, or loss of feet or legs.

The good news is Type 2 diabetes can be delayed or prevented in people with prediabetes through effective lifestyle programs. With modest lifestyle changes – including healthy eating and increased physical activity – men and women can decrease the likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes.

For questions or more information, call 918-331-1143.

— Information supplied by Ascension St. John