[Thorpe] Welcome to Beyond the Data.
I'm Dr. Phoebe Thorpe, and here
with me today is Dr. Ann Albright Director
of the Division of Diabetes Translation here at CDC.
Ann thank you so much for joining us.
[Albright] Great.
Thank you.
[Thorpe] The session today was amazing about learning
about preventing diabetes.
We know that about 30 million people in America have diabetes,
but more than well almost three times that have pre-diabetes.
[Albright] That's right.
[Thorpe] What is pre-diabetes and why is it important
to know whether you have it?
[Albright] Pre-diabetes is a condition
where your blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough
yet to constitute type 2 diabetes.
It is puts you at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
It also puts you at risk for developing heart attack
and stroke, so it is a very important condition for people
to know about and to be aware of.
And there are 84 million people with this condition.
The good news is is that it's really a simple blood test
that can be done to receive that diagnosis, and even before that,
you can have a very simple risk test.
It's a series of questions that people can ask.
It takes about a minute to do, and based on the responses
to those questions, it really gives you a good indication
of where you stand as far as your risk for pre-diabetes.
And that really is the critical factor here is
to know where you stand.
Know. It's better to know in this case than not to know
because then you can take action and go ahead
and get an official diagnosis.
[Thorpe] And then when you have the official diagnosis
of pre-diabetes, we have been hearing
about lifestyle change program that can cut your risk
of developing type 2 diabetes in half.
And I know that your group has been working with people all
across the country to bring
that lifestyle change program to people in America.
Tell me about that.
[Albright] Yeah.
There is good news here, and that's always nice to be able
to say that because diabetes is really a serious
devastating disease.
It really is a public health crisis.
And so, if we can indeed help people prevent or delay
and that's really equally as important.
If you can prolong the time
in which you would develop this condition,
that's really great news.
So once you know where you stand, once you've gone
through that risk test, once you've been able
to see your clinician and get the official diagnosis,
there is a well now, well available
in a well-known structured lifestyle program
that can indeed help you cut your risk in half.
If you're over 60, it can actually cut your risk by 70%.
So great news on that.
The lifestyle program is one
in which it you are getting information on nutrition,
diet which one would likely assume you would.
Also get information on physical activity and importantly
on stress reduction, learning coping skills, but the beauty
of this program is that you are discovering
and learning what works for you.
It allow you to really think about things going
on in your life, what your barriers are,
what your challenges are.
And the program is a year long.
And sometimes people say, "Oh my goodness, that's a year long",
but I hope people can begin to think about it as "Great,
I get to be in the program for a year".
Because it takes time for all of us to figure out how
to better change some of the habits
and behaviors that we have.
And just like your physician would not give you half a dose
of medication, or give you an inadequate dose,
or you would stop in the middle of a procedure
that your clinician was doing for you
and your health you should feel the same way
about your lifestyle.
You should be given adequate time and adequate ability
to interact with coaches and people who are supporting you
in this group session to really be able to learn
and practice those habits
and for your own personal situation figure out how
to problem-solve because we all have different situations going
on in our lives.
And this program allows you to discover
and practice those lifestyle solutions that are going
to help you really make lasting changes.
[Thorpe] It sounds like it's a fabulous, fabulous opportunity
to really make a difference in your life.
If somebody wanted to know more about where
to join a lifestyle change program
or one near them what where would they go?
What can they do to join one?
[Albright] I would suggest first, as we've been saying,
to talk to your healthcare provider.
Be sure that you've taken that easy risk test
which you can take online doihaveprediabetes.org,
and then again based on your risk test speak
to your clinician.
Your clinician may certainly be aware, and we are working
with many partners to help clinicians
around the country know where those programs are.
Find out from them.
You can also go to our website at CDC,
which is www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention.
And we have a map and a listing of all of the programs.
Those organizations that you'll see
on our website may have satellite locations,
and we're actually working now to improve
that locator function on our website.
So we can get even more details from the delivery organizations.
It's important to point out that the program is being delivered
in person, and it's available to people online
or through distance learning or Telehealth.
It's one of the things that we have been working with all
of our partners and stakeholders around the country is to improve
and increase that availability.
If there's not a program in your area certainly CDC has excellent
materials that can help get you started.
We have also you'll find on that website I mentioned you'll find
other useful helpful materials about changing some
of your eating habits some tools to help you do that.
I always suggest to people to pick one behavior
that you would like to start with.
So start and build from that,
and then also I would highly encourage people
if there's not a program in your area to speak
to your healthcare provider, speak to others
in your community, and encourage the development of one.
Many organizations are delivering this program
everybody from senior centers to universities to YMCAs
to other community-based organizations.
So talk to others in your community and encourage
that a program be started in your area.
[Thorpe] And so, healthcare providers could also encourage
that if they had patients
that they knew we're interested in doing that.
But what about paying for it?
[Albright] Well, we have been working very hard with all
of our partners around the country to increase coverage
for the lifestyle intervention.
So, so far we have a number of commercial health plans,
so people can think about what health plan they may be with.
We have many examples of those.
It's a whole array of them.
We don't have everybody yet, but we have many of them.
And with health plan coverage,
some of the health plans may provide coverage
in certain regions of the country
or for certain patient populations.
There's a lot of variability there.
So, starting with your healthcare professional
and asking about that,
that would be a good place to again to start.
But we are continuing that work.
We will continue to work in that area very very diligently.
We have also been working on getting Medicaid coverage.
Fortunately, we are now have some form of coverage going
on in about nine states, but there's a lot of attention
to that going on right now.
And very exciting, we do now have coverage through Medicare.
[Thorpe] Medicare.
[Albright] And that's been a big victory for all of us.
That Medicare is now providing coverage for that service.
So if you are a Medicare beneficiary,
please do again talk to your healthcare provider.
You can also go on to Medicare site and look
for the Medicare DPP is what it's called the Medicare
Diabetes Prevention Program.
It is part of the entire national diabetes program
that CDC is leading with all of our partners around the country.
[Thorpe] So we've got talked about health care providers
and patients and how many it could be covered
if where else could anybody find information about this program?
[Albright] It really is best to go to our website.
That's really the go-to place.
But again, talk to your healthcare provider.
If you are aware of people in your community neighbors
and friends so anybody who's going through the program
or has gone through the program share
that with everybody you know.
People who've experienced this program have incredible stories
to tell about what a difference it has made in their lives,
and I think it's real opportunity for our country now
because diabetes is such a challenging condition.
It really can be so challenging for people.
For those who have the condition, CDC will continue
to work very hard on your behalf.
And while we are doing that we really want to work very hard
to help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.
We do have that good news bad news story.
Diabetes is a very difficult and damaging condition.
It's also very expensive for our country.
And we need to do all we can for those who have the condition,
and we need to work very hard to improve the opportunities
for those who could prevent or delay the condition.
And that's why the National Diabetes Prevention Program is
such a fantastic opportunity.
[Thorpe] Yeah, and it's been wonderful working with you
and being able to bring this topic
to Public Health Grand Rounds.
[Albright] Thank you so much Phoebe.
Really appreciate that.
[Thorpe] Thank you.
And thank you for joining us for Beyond the Data.
See you next time.