
Diabetes is the largest cost to Medicare and affects vision, nerves, circulation, heart disease/heart failure, kidney disease/failure and of course our quality/quantity of life.
My Father, Mother-in-Law and Father-in-Law are all affected by diabetes and its complications. I wish their doctors and insurance companies had promoted better lifestyle and prevention practices much earlier.
When I lecture to medical providers nationally I’ll sometimes ask:
What is the BEST way to treat diabetes and they’ll give multiple answers about medications and interventions.
And then I share my answer: the best way to treat diabetes is to PREVENT it.
Then I will ask OK then what is the Best Way to Treat Diabetes again the answers from them are medications and medical interventions):
My next answer? The next best thing is to SCREEN for it and IDENTIFY IT EARLY.
And the Next best thing? REACH target GLUCOSE levels within 3 months Quickly and Safely.
1. Prevent it before we have pancreatic failure
2. Identify it early before there is major damage
3. Reach glucose goals quickly and safely
For every 1 lb. people lose they prevent diabetes by 4%, thus 10-12 pound weight loss lowers their risk 50%. In addition, most people are prediabetic for 10-30 years before they develop overt diabetes. We have A LOT of time to identify and make healthy interventions.
We can also do insulin resistance lab testing at the office for those people worried about prediabetes. If you have a concern, bring it up in your next appointment.
In health and happiness,
Dr. Cobble