More than 29 million people in America have diabetes,
including the new immigrants who might not know they have the disease or how to
treat it.
Special
attention is being payed to diabetes in November because it marks American
Diabetes Month.
Jericho
Road Community Health Center, 184 Barton St., is one place immigrants can get
help.
Registered
dietitian Christine Fleming, who works for Jericho Road, says many people are
unaware that they have the disease before coming to this country.
“Sometimes
people will think they’re becoming sick with a new diagnosis,” she said.
“Sometimes when finding out they have it, they’ll realize they’ve been having
these symptoms for a long time and they just didn’t know their meaning.”
Fleming said there
are two types of diabetes. Type 1 affects younger people and occurs when the
body stops making insulin. They stop getting energy from the food they eat and
their blood sugar spikes.
Type 2
diabetes is linked with people’s diets. Two things can happen Fleming said. The
body can stop responding to insulin or could stop making as much insulin. It
can be treated with lifestyle changes such as dieting and exercise.
Many
immigrants come to America with different cultural foods that may not be
healthy for them and can heighten their risk of diabetes
“What I try
to do is teach them foods in their own culture and their own diet that they’ll
be able to eat to help them have a balanced diet,” Fleming said. By Tony Callens and Benjamin Joe
