Free, year-long diabetes prevention program available through King’s Daughters

King’s Daughters is offering the Centers for Disease Control’s PreventT2 program, a free, year-long program for those with prediabetes. The goal is to help patients make lasting lifestyle changes that can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes. The program is delivered through weekly online meetings with healthcare professionals.

With the PreventT2 lifestyle change program, patients can receive:

• a CDC-approved curriculum
• the skills needed to lose weight, be more physically active, and manage stress
• a trained lifestyle coach to guide and encourage their progress
• support from other participants with the same goals
• a year-long program with weekly meetings for the first six months, then once or twice a month for the second six months

Those interested in joining the program can register for an online information session from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Monday, March 13. To register, contact Kim Bayes, KDMC’s Center for Healthy Living, at (606) 408-1560 or via email at kim.bayes@kdmc.kdhs.us.

One out of three American adults have prediabetes, and most do not know it. Prediabetes means someone’s blood glucose (sugar) level is higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. This raises the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

Without weight loss or moderate physical activity, many people with prediabetes can develop type 2 diabetes within five years. Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition that can lead to health issues such as heart attack; stroke; blindness; kidney failure; or loss of toes, feet, or legs.

Risk factors for prediabetes and developing type 2 diabetes include:

• being 45 years of age or older
• being overweight
• a family history of type 2 diabetes
• being physically active fewer than three times a week
• having diabetes while pregnant (gestational diabetes) or giving birth to a baby that weighed more than 9 pounds

An online quiz, “Could You Have Prediabetes?” is available at: www.cdc.gov/PreventT2. If the score shows a high risk for prediabetes, patients are strongly encouraged talk to their health care provider or contact our program.