Endocrinology: Diabetes Care

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• Diabetes is one of the fastest-growing diseases in the United States.
• Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death by disease in this country.
• 15-30 percent of patients with pre-diabetes will develop Type 2 Diabetes within five years if they do not lose weight and exercise moderately.
• 29.1 million Americans have diabetes.
• 8.1 million people in America have diabetes and don't know they have it.
• Diabetes and its associated health problems cost $245 billion dollars annually.
• Cardiovascular disease death rates are 1.7 times higher with individuals who have diabetes and hospitalizations for strokes are 1.5 times higher in people with diabetes.
• In 2005-2008, 28.5 percent of diabetes adults over the age of 40 had diabetes retinopathy which may cause loss of vision.
• More than 60 percent of non-traumatic lower-limb amputations occur in people with diabetes.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure.
• Diabetes can be diagnosed through a simple blood sugar test. Ask your physician to perform one soon.

Signs and symptoms of diabetes

• Excessive thirst
• Frequent urination
• Dramatic, unexplained weight loss
• Tingling in toes or feet
• Wounds seem to be very slow in healing
• Extremely and chronically fatigued

Risk factors for developing diabetes

• A parent or family member with diabetes
• Women who have given birth to babies weighing more than nine pounds or have a history of gestational diabetes
• Increasing age
• Overweight
• Inactive lifestyle
• African Americans, Latinos, Asian and Pacific Islanders and Native Americans
• Low HDL cholesterol or high triglycerides

Acute inpatient program

There may come a time when you will be a patient in a Lee Health hospital. If you are hospitalized, we have diabetes educators that may become an integral part of your care team.

Diabetes Educators are at all hospital facilities: Gulf Coast Medical Center, Lee Memorial Hospital, Cape Coral Hospital, Health Park Medical Center, Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida, and The Rehabilitation Hospital.

If ordered by your physician, Lee Diabetes Care educators will visit you in the hospital to discuss your educational needs and any identified barriers to good diabetes self-management at home.

The educators will work closely with you and your physician to develop an individual education plan.

After an initial education assessment, the educators are trained to prioritize the education objectives to optimize your diabetes self-management, prevent readmissions and promote a timely discharge.

Our diabetes educators work closely with the hospital case manager to ensure that you have a primary care and any additional needed resources to promote successful ongoing diabetes care.

Outpatient diabetes care

The diabetes education outpatient program is designed to give you the education tools needed to promote a healthier lifestyle, improve your blood sugar control, and ultimately decrease your risk of diabetes complications.

Our diabetes offers a variety of outpatient education programs designed to meet your individual needs. Our most comprehensive program consists of 10 hours of education followed by quarterly individual follow-up. We also offer a pregnancy and diabetes education program, a pre-diabetes education class, and individual consultations.

A physician referall is required for all education programs. Just ask your physician for the referral and their office will take it from there.

Comprehensive diabetes education program

Our diabetes educators teach a 10-hour comprehensive course several times a month. Classes take place at Lee Memorial Hospital, Cape Coral Hospital, HealthPark Medical Center, and the Outpatient Center at the Sanctuary. We offer morning, afternoon and evening classes. The key patient education topics taught during our comprehensive education program:

• Nutrition
• Blood glucose management
• Physical activity
• Medications
• Complications
• Behavior change

Once you complete the program, our diabetes educators will meet with you quarterly to track your progress and assist you with any diabetes management concerns that you have.

This program is a covered benefit of Medicare (certain criteria apply). Additionally, most HMO, PPO and commercial insurances will cover the cost.

Pregnancy and diabetes program

If you have diabetes and become pregnant or are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, our diabetes educator team is ready to provide you with the tools to control your blood sugar throughout the pregnancy. Good blood sugar control is essential for the health of you and your unborn baby.

The gestational diabetes program consists of a 2-hour initial class where we will instruct you on how to follow a healthy meal plan, test your blood sugars and take any diabetes medication prescribed by your physician. This class has frequent telephonic follow-up after class to assess your progress in managing your diabetes during the pregnancy.

Diabetes prevention program

Did you know that even with mildly elevated blood sugars, you are at an increased risk for heart disease? Have you been told that you have prediabetes? Would you like to learn about a variety of tools that have been proven to prevent or delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes?

The program focuses on making long-lasting lifestyle adjustments to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes. This year-long program with weekly meetings for the first six months, then once or twice a month for the second six months, is part of the National Diabetes Prevention Program, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Learn about the benefits of modest weight loss and physical activity; manage symptoms of stress, make smarter decisions related to healthy eating, and tips to stay motivated. Participants will receive a participant guide to use as an ongoing reference tool once the classes are completed.

Individual consultation

Perhaps you have already completed a comprehensive diabetes education program, but you need more education with one particular aspect of diabetes management. Whether it is an insulin training, meal plan review, or assistance with blood glucose monitoring, our team of outpatient diabetes educators will provide you with this needed individual instruction.

Let us help you manage your diabetes. Call 239-424-3120.