Diabetes in a Day
More than 100 attend health forum
By FRANK BRADLEY Sentinel Writer

Courtney Akin of Novo Nordisk works with a guest at the seminar.

Giving yourself shots everyday isn't exactly fun, but it's one of the ways many folks young and old take care of a chronic health problem that will be with them the rest of their life.

On Saturday, the Diabetes Foundation of Georgia put on a health clinic at North Georgia Technical College called Diabetes in a Day.

Most of the 100 plus attendees were Type II diabetics, which usually develops in adults most often in the latter years of their life. However, there was a sprinkling of Type I diabetics, often referred to as Juvenile Onset, which occurs in folks under 30 arising from genetic or environmental reasons.

About 12 percent of Georgians have Diabetes with perhaps a third of the population going undiagnosed. Diabetes is the sixth most common cause of death in Georgia and for every death where diabetes is the primary cause of death, there are at least another two for which it is a contributing cause.

For the past 25 years, more Georgians have become obese and continue to be physically inactive, which are two of the risk factors for the disease. Other factors include illness, stress, diet and hereditary. Diabetes is a disease that won't go away. It becomes harder to control as one gets older and it affects every part of a person's body. It can lead to nerve blood vessel damage as well as problems with the eyes, kidneys, feet and sexual problems.

Sentinel photos/Jared Putnam Keynote speaker Phil Southerland.

The good news about Diabetes is that it can be controlled, health problems can be avoided and one's life span can be lengthened. What is required is awareness and individual action taken in treating the disease. Actions include a self-monitoring of one's blood Glucose to keep them within target ranges. Also, meals need to be planned, medications checked and adjusted and the establishment of an exercise plan with four to six workouts a week. Anyone with Diabetes also needs to schedule frequent visits with a doctor and a certified diabetes educator.

The conference on Saturday offered an overview of Diabetes and medication, a discussion of carbohydrate counting, a talk on the importance of monitoring one's blood glucose and ways of prevention of complications.

Sentinel photo/Jared Putnam Those who attended the seminar had the opportunity to have their blood tested.

The program began with a welcoming by Bob Taylor, a Blairsville resident who established the Georgia Diabetes Foundation and Cheryl Williams, an educator with The Longstreet Clinic. The keynote speaker for the event, Phil Southerland, a 24-year old diabetic who was diagnosed when he was seven months old and has grown up learning to monitor and control his disease.

Phil said his first remembrance of coping with Diabetes was at his sixth birthday party when he wanted a bigger piece of cake. His mother told him OK, but he had to take a bigger shot. He said he told her he didn't want to take the shot, and that she said OK, but you're going to be blind. Phil said he learned then it was his responsibility to monitor the disease, and he asked his mother for the shot.

Perhaps, one of the amazing things about Southerland was his developed discipline with diet and exercise. He started riding a bicycle, then took tracing and became one of the top ten national racers. A couple years ago, he put together an eightperson team of diabetics and entered the Race Across America. His team finished 2nd, only three minutes behind the 1st place team, which consisted of bicycle professionals. The total race took five days and 16 hours and covered 3,053 miles.

Southerland's point was with proper monitoring and control, diabetics are not really limited in what they can do. He stressed the importance for diabetics to eliminate bad habits and to start good habits by making small adjustments throughout the day.

"If you do small steps, everything is going to be OK," he said. "Dr. Philip Marler, who is chairman of the Diabetes Foundation of Georgia and a specialist on Diabetes medications, told the group that one of the things we want out of life is to be well. He said life with diabetes is a lot tougher than it is without it, so you have to a lot tougher, a lot more disciplined than the average person.

Marler talked about the vast improvements in medications and other treatments of Diabetes in recent years.

He said there has been an enormous increase in information about treatment in Diabetes and most of it is on the internet. He said google.com is a great source to go to. He said that many doctors may not be up to date in the latest developments and urged folks with Diabetes to find out all they can. He discussed many different types of medications and their effects.

The forum on Saturday was the first ever in Blairsville; however, Taylor called it a success saying another one is planned for next year, probably in August.

Several sponsors were thanked including Bryan Lankford and Courtney Akin of Novo Nordisk, a pharmaceutical company than manufactures insulin.