CentraState - Healthy Directions

www.centrastate.com Fall 2014 13 D espite her mother's unsuccessful struggle with diabetes and her own intermittent bouts with increasingly high blood sugar levels, 51-year-old Sheryl Bleznick remained unfazed. She would make minor adjustments, such as small weight losses, but the weight would creep back up, as would the sugars. The warnings of physicians seemed unnecessarily alarmist. Sheryl's mother's diabetic complications of blindness and, eventually, a fatal heart attack at 56 simply weren't enough to shake her sense of invincibility. She felt fine. Typically, people don't see or feel symptoms of diabetes until the disease is advanced, and Sheryl's body had adjusted over the years to the high blood sugar numbers. Her peripheral sight was beginning to fade, but 10 laser surgeries later, Sheryl felt that she had dealt with the issues as they had arisen. "I never saw past each day," she recalls. Late last year, however, Sheryl started to feel poorly. Her eyes were glassed over, and her sugars were registering close to 400 mg/dl (normal blood sugars run under 100). Dieting didn't appear to be working, and Sheryl sensed trouble. She paid a visit to Saima Farghani, MD, a board-certified endocrinologist with MidAtlantic Diabetes and Endocrinology Associates and on staff at CentraState, and listened to Dr. Farghani quietly list her current diabetic complications: nerve damage in her hands and feet, damage to her retinas, and blood sugars well over 300. Sheryl quivered. She knew that she had willfully ignored the signs for years. But when Dr. Farghani listed the progression of changes that would most definitely occur—if not in the immediate future then down the line— if her lifestyle did not change, such as kidney failure and, ultimately, dialysis, Sheryl's head began to spin. According to Dr. Farghani, many young patients in their 40s and 50s remain in denial concerning their diabetes. The lack of noticeable symptoms in the early stages makes this far too easy to accomplish. "Many people think you get diabetes from eating sweets," Dr. Farghani explains. "It's not from sweets. Your body is either not manufacturing insulin, which is needed to process carbohydrates effectively (Type 1), or is insulin-resistant (Type 2), and medication is needed to overcome the resistance for the insulin to do its work." Sheryl eventually accepted that she had Type 2 diabetes. She fiercely wanted to regain control of her life. She remembers thinking that "I only have one child. He's going to marry and have children. What am I doing?" Dr. Farghani's parting words that day were remarkably appropriate, "You know what you have to do." Sheryl immediately started on two medications prescribed by Dr. Farghani and embarked on a way of eating recommended by the American Diabetes Association. "I became very aware of food exchanges and how many calories everything is," Sheryl says. "I just took control of my life … finally." When Sheryl next walked into Dr. Farghani's office, she was 35-40 pounds thinner. "I was so proud of her, so happy," Dr. Farghani says. "It's not as much about consuming fewer calories as it is about the type of food consumed. The more carbohydrates that diabetics eat, the more weight they gain, and the more insulin-resistant they become." Dr. Farghani continues, "Fruits, vegetables, dairy, yogurt are all carbohydrates. So, not all carbohydrates are bad; but we need to start mentally registering the amount of carbohydrates that we consume. We all need to make conscious decisions about what we eat and how much we eat." According to the Centers for Disease Control, 35 percent of Americans are obese, and Type 2 diabetes is often associated with obesity. Weight gain can be the trigger for Type 2 diabetes, and it is then a chronic disease. "Diabetics can control the disease nicely through weight control and, if necessary, medications," Dr. Farghani says. "But, it's a lifetime battle. It's always there." Seven months after that pivotal visit to Dr. Farghani, Sheryl has a story to tell. She is now 75 pounds lighter, walks regularly and is beginning to ride a bike. Better yet, her blood sugars have receded to normal levels below 100 mg/dl, and Dr. Farghani recently reduced her medication levels. "I'm a lot more active now that I have progressively lost the weight," Sheryl says. "You don't realize how bad you feel until you feel good. I feel amazing now." Sheryl credits Dr. Farghani with moving her beyond a state of denial. "Dr. Farghani talks to you like you're a human being. She looks at you. She'll email you. I have recommended her to so many people because she's a person of integrity." Sheryl adds, "All these years I let myself go, but you can't look in the past. You look forward. It's very inspiring to take control of your life. It's liberating." CentraState will be hosting a Diabetes Forum on November 3 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at CentraState's Star and Barry Tobias Ambulatory Campus, Jack Aaronson Conference Center, 901 West Main St., Freehold. This is a free event for adults and families trying to manage diabetes. The event includes a health fair, physician lectures and more. Call 732-294-2574 for details. HD www.centrastate.com Fall 2014 Saima Farghani, MD, board- certified endocrinologist

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