NIH Radio
Fathers: Take Care of Yourself when dealing with CVD and Diabetes
Brief Description:
Dads of the world, it's time to put the sweets down and get physically active if you want to spend many healthy years with your family on father's day. Cardiovascular disease is a major complication and the leading cause of early death among people with diabetes.
Transcript:
Akinso: Dads of the world, it's time to put the sweets down and get physically active if you want to spend many healthy years with your family on father's day. Cardiovascular disease is a major complication and the leading cause of early death among people with diabetes. In fact, 2 out of 3 people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke. In the U.S., almost 11 million of all men aged 20 years or older have diabetes. Dr. Lawrence Blonde, Chair of the National Diabetes Education Program shared some ideas on how men can deal with diabetes.
Blonde: Men can learn to manage their diabetes by regularly seeing their health care professionals; making sure that they get diabetes education that is provided to them ideally by certified diabetes educators working as part of a diabetes team. And then they can go to resources like the National Diabetes Education program's website.
Akinso: Dr. Blonde said men with diabetes can lower their risk of having a heart attack, stroke or other diabetes complication by managing the ABC of diabetes, which are A1C — a measure of average blood glucose, while also keeping a close eye on their blood pressure, and cholesterol. Dr. Blonde said men should ask for support from their loved ones to make managing their diabetes a family affair.
Blonde: People with diabetes there's a greater risk that their family members may have diabetes and so it's important that those individuals also get appropriately screened for diabetes
Akinso: Dr. Blonde added that men should work with their health care team to develop a self-care plan, which includes eating healthy and being more physically active. The NDEP is apart of the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases. For more information, visit www.ndep.nih.gov or call 1-800-438-5383. This is Wally Akinso at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
About This Audio Report
Date: 6/15/2007
Reporter: Wally Akinso
Sound Bite: Dr. Lawerence Blonde
Topic: Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes
Institute(s): NIDDK
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