November is National Diabetes Month

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of disability and death in the United States. If it’s not controlled, diabetes can cause blindness, nerve damage, kidney disease, and other health problems.

One in 12 Americans has diabetes – that’s more than 25 million people. And another 79 million adults in the United States are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The good news?  People who are at high risk for type 2 diabetes can lower their risk by more than half if they make healthy changes. These changes include: eating healthy, increasing physical activity, and losing weight. Here are just a few ideas:

• Make small changes, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator
• Get regular checkups
• Get blood pressure and cholesterol checked, and ask the doctor about diabetes risk

2015 FREE Pre-diabetes Seminars 

All begin at 3:30pm
Wednesday, January 21 
Wednesday, April 22
Wednesday, July 22 
Wednesday, October 21
To register, call (586) 493-2069

For additional information about ways to prevent type 2 diabetes or to take a diabetes risk assessment, open the links below.

Choose More than 50 Ways to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
Are You at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes - Diabetes Risk Test

The holidays are coming; can you still manage a heart-healthy lifestyle?

I ate how many holiday cookies?

The potluck luncheons. The fast-food bites after shopping. The family gatherings with cookies for the kids and cocktails for the adults.

There’s no way around it. The holidays are a challenge for anyone trying to stick to a heart-healthy lifestyle – or just about anyone trying to manage weight gain.

The goal for a heart-healthy lifestyle is to eat more vegetables, fruits, beans and foods with whole grains. It also means eating less meat and trying to avoid foods that are high in salt and fat.

But of course, the holidays are about celebrating and getting to enjoy some special foods and treats. So don’t beat yourself up if you stray off the healthy path a little.

When the diagnosis is diabetes, what’s next? FREE expo with panel of experts

The Diabetes Center at McLaren Macomb will host a free diabetes education event offering the latest information on preventing and managing diabetes to reduce complications. The annual Diabetes Expo will be held Wednesday, October 2, 2013,1 p.m. to 3 p.m., in McLaren Macomb’s medical education auditorium (on the hospital’s lower level, east tower).

A panel of physicians will discuss the latest information on how diabetes relates to other medical conditions, especially heart disease, the nervous system and the digestive tract.