Wellness workshop provides information on diabetes

If you go ...
What: Sixth annual Diabetes Prevention and Wellness Workshop
When: Thursday, Oct. 23, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Dothan Civic Center
Cost: Free admission.
Info: Call 615-3700
Other: Break-out sessions held during day — Ask the Expert, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., Room B; Lower Extremities and Food Assessments, 8 a.m. to noon, Room C; Healthy Cooking Demonstrations, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., Room D.

Each day, Gloria Robertson checks her glucose meter a couple times. If her blood sugar level is high, she’ll take a quick walk before eating something.

She watches what she eats and drinks mainly water and caffeine-free drinks.

Sometimes her eyesight gets blurry in the afternoons.

Robertson, the administrative assistant for Dothan’s leisure services director, was diagnosed seven years ago with type 2 diabetes. She controlled her diabetes with diet for five years. But now, she has a pill she takes once a day and another she takes twice a day to keep her illness in check.

“It’s not a fun thing to have to deal with,” she said.

She’s certainly not alone in her plight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that diabetes affects close to 24 million people in the United States. Another 57 million people have pre-diabetes — a condition that puts them at greater risk for developing diabetes, according to the CDC.

The City of Dothan is doing its part to bring information about diabetes to the public. For the sixth year, Dothan Leisure Services will host its Diabetes Prevention and Wellness Workshop on Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Dothan Civic Center.

The event is free and includes break-out sessions, free health screenings and recreation demonstrations. Breakfast and lunch will even be served on a first come, first-served basis.

Diabetes causes high levels of glucose, or sugar, to build up in the blood stream because the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Glucose comes from the food we eat and is needed for energy; insulin is produced by cells in the pancreas and moves glucose from the blood stream into cells, according to the Alabama Department of Health’s Diabetes Program.

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the CDC, and can lead to heart disease, blindness, kidney failure and lower-extremity amputations.

There are different types of diabetes. Type 1 usually occurs in children or young adults. Type 2 diabetes is associated with older adults and obesity, and begins as insulin resistance. Other types can occur during pregnancy or from genetic conditions, pancreatic disease and even medications, according to the CDC.

For Robertson, there was a history of type 2 diabetes in her family. She also developed gestational diabetes when pregnant with her third child in 1994.

Robertson developed type 2 diabetes in 2001. She also believes her weight contributed to her illness.

As long as she takes her medicine, eats right and exercises, her diabetes remains under control.

“I tell them at work, if I eat grass and drink water, I’m OK,” Robertson said.