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September 18, 2009
News Release from Danville News
Weight loss key to preventing diabetes
Dr. Daniel Addis, left, and Nathan Cleaveland, Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine student, participated in Danville Regional Medical Center’s seminar on preventing diabetes on Thursday. The key to preventing and treating diabetes is to lose weight, Addis said. |
One Yanceyville, N.C., woman grew concerned she was at risk for diabetes because her mother had it. Shirley M. Evans already exercises by walking, dancing and weight training, but Thursday she learned to eat smaller portion sizes to keep her weight in check. Evans repeatedly asked questions of Dr. Daniel Addis at the “Preventing (Type 2) Diabetes” seminar at Danville Community College for Danville Regional Medical Center’s weeklong Women’s Health Symposium. “I learned that diabetes can be caused by being overweight,” Evans said. “It’s up to me. The doctor is the second one to go to.” Addis, a general family physician, told a roomful of 37 people, including 10 diabetics, that their lives are in their own hands. Type 2 diabetes occurs when a person’s unhealthy weight and body mass index makes the body insensitive to the body’s insulin, Addis said. |
“Once you’re a diabetic, you’re always a diabetic,” he said. “The main cause can be prevented. Manage your weight. Lose the weight.”
Diabetes can lead to a number of complications, including heart disease, blindness, stroke and kidney damage. What strikes Addis is how doctors are now seeing overweight or obese children who are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, when proper diet and exercise could have prevented a lifetime of problems.
If patients already have diabetes, the best treatment is the same as the best prevention method: weight loss, he said.
“You can make a big change if you do your part,” Addis said. “It is you. You’re the best doctor for yourself.”
- Danville News, www.godanriver.com