POTTSTOWN PA – Greater Pottstown area residents looking for a wealth of information on dealing with diabetes – what the disease is about, how to keep it under control, how to lessen its effects, and how to enjoy life despite it – can find facts and advice they need from the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation through its partnership with the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
A portion of the foundation website – specifically, its “Live Well” section, here – serves up a library of 57 different articles covering all facets of diabetes. All of the articles also appear below for readers’ convenience; simply click on links of interest to you.
Dr. Laurie Betts
Dr. Laurie Betts, the foundation’s program officer for health access, noted in a June 12 (2012) blog post that personal obesity increased 16 percent between 2003 and 2008, and that Type 2 diabetes associated with obesity had similarly increased 21 percent.
“The case for healthy living has never been more clear,” Betts wrote. “Three behaviors (tobacco use, poor diet, no exercise) lead to four diseases (heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, lung disease, and cancer) that are responsible for 50 percent of deaths. Forty percent of deaths are premature, mostly due to lifestyle, but leading a healthy lifestyle can delay disease and disability by 9 years.”
Just what constitutes healthy living today?, Betts asked in a follow-up blog on June 18. She suggests what she describes as “The Big Five” tactics:
- Decrease fast food;
- Decrease screen time (spend fewer hours in front of a computer or television);
- Decrease sugary drinks;
- Eat together as a family nightly; and
- Be active.
The foundation is a non-profit community organization created as the result of the sale of the Pottstown Memorial Medical Center to Community Health Systems. With net assets of $79 million as of April 24 (2012), it serves the residents of Pottstown borough and those within a 10-mile radius of the borough. The foundation provides health and wellness services of its own, as well as through other non-profit health and wellness providers.
This article is one of several about diabetes prevention, diagnosis and care based on advance and live reporting Aug. 1-4, 2012, by The Post Publications from the American Association of Diabetes Educators 2012 conference in Indianapolis IN. Follow us on Twitter at @PostsOnHealth; we’re using the hashtag #PostsAADE2012 to identify conference Tweets. Follow us on Facebook at The Post Publications. See the entire series here.
