by priya dharampuriya, Global Health Contributor

Demystifying Diabetes - For this week’s Women’s Health Wednesday, we are excited to share an informative and thought-provoking conversation on diabetes, a condition affecting over 10% of the US adult population. This piece was created by our Global Health Contributor, Priya Dharampuriya, a third-year medical school student with an interest in healthcare disparities, health communication, and more. She interviewed Dr. Mary Hawthorne, Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Massachusetts. They share what you need to know about Managing Your Diagnosis, Differences between Women vs Men, and Family History, and New Treatments and Innovations. Join us for Women’s Health Wednesday.

Type II Diabetes is a ubiquitous condition in the United States, affecting just over 10% of the adult population. An estimated 21.4% of those people are undiagnosed, and therefore are not receiving appropriate treatment. This high rate of diabetes in the US and much of the Western world is multifaceted, and has to do with education, food deserts, obesity, and an aging population. 

Primary care is on the front lines of this battle. I sat down with Dr Mary Hawthrone, an Internist and Associate Professor at University of Massachusetts Can Medical School.She focuses on Adult Primary and Preventive Care, Chronic Disease Management, and Community Internal Medicine. We discussed general questions about diabetes prevention and treatment, from individual changes to community-wide public health goals. We had an illuminating conversation, outlined below. 

1. What in your opinion is the most important thing for patients to remember when they start managing a new diabetes diagnosis? How about prediabetes? When are people usually diagnosed? 

People are often diagnosed with pre-diabetes when they have routine blood work in their doctor’s office.  Sometimes we follow someone with pre-diabetes and they develop full-fledged type 2 diabetes, but sometimes they develop symptoms of excessive thirst, excessive urination, numbness in the feet or changes in vision.  The most important thing to remember is that this is a life-long condition and requires permanent changes in lifestyle.

2. Is diabetes management different for women than for men? How are PCOS and diabetes related? 

The treatments are not significantly different.  PCOS may cause something called metabolic syndrome with obesity and insulin resistance.  Weight loss is an important part of management for anyone with diabetes who is overweight or obese.

3. What is the role of exercise in the management of diabetes? How about diet? 

Regular exercise is very important in the management of diabetes to help burn calories.  By engaging in regular exercise and carbohydrate restriction, patients may be able to get along with fewer diabetes medications (or lower doses of their medications).

4) What role does family history play in diabetes?

If you have a family history of diabetes, are there ways to prevent it?  Patients who have a family history of diabetes are more likely to develop diabetes.  The best way to prevent it is to maintain a healthy weight and to engage in regular exercise.

5) How has diabetes management changed over the years? Are there any new technologies or treatments that you feel have helped your patients? 

There are now many new medications to treat diabetes and they are much more effective than older medications. 
The focus in choosing a treatment is to find a treatment that

1. Is effective in lowering blood sugar and Hemoglobin A1c

2. Has tolerable side effects,

3. Is affordable (or covered by insurance)

4. Does not cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) on its own

5. Does not put weight on

6. Has a favorable cardiovascular risk profile

6) On a population level, what do you think are the most effective ways to curtail the high prevalence of diabetes in the US?  On a population level, the best way to curtail the high prevalence of diabetes is to stress maintaining a healthy weight and exercise.

As Type II Diabetes continues to become more common, it is important to bear in mind the relationships between weight, nutrition, and exercise in diabetes as well as overall health. Fortunately, there are steps one can take toward diabetes prevention and management in their own life, and the first step is awareness.

Thank you Dr. Hawthorne and Priya for sharing your insights with us! We are excited to have you both in our empowered women’s network!

Bios - Dr Hawthorne is an Internist and Primary Care Physician in Worcester, MA. She attended the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, where she now serves as an Associate Professor of Medicine. She is passionate about patient education, chronic disease management, and preventative medicine.

Priya Dharampuriya is a third-year medical student at Lincoln Memorial University, with a degree in Biology from Tufts University and a Masters in Medical Sciences from Boston University. She is interested in healthcare disparities, health communication, environmental issues, and interesting stories. Priya is very excited to join Women Who Win as a Global Health Contributor and use this amazing platform to foster important conversations about health!

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