Upham’s provides information & Primary Care services for those at-risk or living with Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic, long lasting disease that effects how your body turns food into energy.
Different types of Diabetes include Type 1, Type 2, and Gestational diabetes. Another condition, known as Prediabetes, can also occur, when blood sugar levels are elevated, but not high enough to be considered Diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes happens through an organ-specific autoimmune disease where the body attacks healthy pancreatic cells, causing the pancreas to stop making insulin. People with this condition need insulin every day to survive. Gestational Diabetes can occur when women who normally don’t have Diabetes develop the condition during pregnancy; this develops in about 2-10% of pregnancies in the United States.
Prediabetes can lead to Type 2 Diabetes, which occurs when your body does not use insulin well and cannot keep blood sugars at normal levels. About 90-95% of people with Diabetes have Type 2, while one in three adults have Prediabetes, some of whom are unaware that they have the condition. Without action, people with Prediabetes could develop Type 2 Diabetes in as few as 5 years.
Some people are predisposed to develop Type 2 Diabetes or Prediabetes due to certain risk factors they may possess. Risk factors like older age, race/ethnicity, family history, history of gestational Diabetes, or polycystic ovarian syndrome are factors that cannot be changed, while factors such as smoking, weight, activity level, diet, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels are factors that can be controlled.
According to the Massachusetts Bureau of Community Health and Prevention, changing dietary patterns are highly effective and usually necessary to reduce risk of Prediabetes. Making lifestyle changes including 30 minutes of physical activity 5 days a week and losing 7% of body weight have shown to reduce the risk of Diabetes. Whether starting a lifestyle change program or incorporating more vegetables to your diet, monitoring your weight can be the most effective effort in preventing Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes.
If Diabetes is left untreated, serious health complications can occur. High blood sugar can affect many organs and nerves in your body. This can cause vision damage, leading to blindness; kidney damage, which may need dialysis; and an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Chronic conditions such as neuropathy, a condition causing weakness, numbness, and pain from nerve damage, or gastroparesis, a condition where your body is unable to empty your stomach because damaged and weakened nerves are unable to function with their normal strength, can occur and are damaging to your health.
At Upham’s, we offer a team of providers who tailor health care for you. You and your provider can discuss your risk for Diabetes and Prediabetes or monitor you for complications of Diabetes. Upham’s Primary Care services are offered by a team of adult medicine, family care, and pediatric providers who are accepting new patients for regular visits.
Additional support services are also offered, such as Nutrition Counseling, to guide lifestyle changes and can help with management of blood pressure, cholesterol, and Diabetes through food choices. Those who are eligible for nursing home care but choose to live in their home may benefit from Upham’s PACE team (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), who provide continuous care and services to help community members, including those who may need insulin administration.
Upham’s Corner Health Center offers medical, behavioral, dental, eye, pediatric, elder care as well as urgent care, WIC, home health care and Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) to the residents of North Dorchester and its surrounding neighborhoods in Boston, Massachusetts.
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Upham’s Corner Health Center
415 Columbia Road, Boston
617-287-8000
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Languages spoken: English, Cape Verde Creole, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese
Additional translations services are available.
