Wellness Wednesday with Dr. Yesenia Vasquez from The Valley Health System

Joanna from iHeartRadio and Sunny 106.5 talks with Dr. Yesenia Vasquez from The Valley Health System about prediabetes and diabetes.  

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
It's well on this Wednesday, righthere on Sunny when I was six point
five sponsored by the Valley Health System. In studio is doctor Yesenia Vasquez.
Welcome, thank you. So youare currently a resident with the Valley Health
System GME Family Medicine Program. How'sthat going? It's going great. Well.
I'm very excited to talk with youthis week about this topic, in

(00:20):
particular because I was told recently Iam pre diabetic. So we're going to
talk about pre diabetes and diabetes today. Can you explain the difference between pre
diabetes and diabetes in terms of diagnosisand then health implications? Absolutely so.
When it comes to pre diabetes anddiabetes. As providers, what we tend

(00:41):
to follow is the hemoglobin A oneC and the hemoglobin A and C.
It falls within a range. Whenit comes to pre diabetes, we're looking
at the A and C being fivepoint seven to six point four, and
when it comes to diabetes, it'sanything that's an A and C of six
point five or above, okay.And when it comes to health implications well

(01:02):
as pre diabetes, we're thinking beforeit becomes diabetes pre diabetes. A person
can have pre diabetes once they're diagnosedforever without progressing to diabetes, which would
be a good thing. But onceit progresses two diabetes, we start having
all these other concerns for the individual. We start thinking about cardiovascular disease,

(01:23):
we start thinking about microvascular disease.You know, when it comes to diabetes,
we're looking at retinopathy, neuropathy,and nephropathy. Those are kind of
the three big things that come alongwith it. Are you familiar with those?
Yes, absolutely, especially because recentlyI had those blood tests done and
they were going through it and Iwas like, oh, I need to

(01:44):
know all about this. So it'simportant to know about this type of stuff
because I think a lot of peopleyou know, maybe have known a relative
who's had pre diabetes or diabetes.So it's good to understand this stuff and
get ahead of it early. Now, what are those key markers or tests
used to distinguish between the two?So, as I mentioned earlier, we're
definitely looking at the A one C. When looking at that range, as

(02:05):
soon as you go from a fivepoint six to a five point seven,
we're at pre diabetes. And thenonce that keeps climbing up and crosses that
threshold to six point five and above, we're looking at diabetes. Okay,
Now, what is the difference becauseI think a lot of people hear these
terms quite often but don't understand them. The difference between type one diabetes and
type two diabetes. Yeah, sowhen it comes to type one diabetes,

(02:30):
we're looking more at the organ that'smaking the insulin, so the pancrea is.
With type one diabetes, the pankersare simply not making insulin. And
for type two diabetes, initially thepancreas are making insulin. So the pincers
are functioning just fine, but it'sour cells that become resistant to the insulin,
so they're no longer getting the signalof absorbing the glucose, So the

(02:53):
glucose levels and the blood start torise. And at some point, as
diabetes progresses, the pankers just gettired of making insulin due to their trying
to overcompensate with making all the elevators. Sure, so, are there lifestyle
changes that are recommended for someone diagnosedwith pre diabetes to really prevent the progression

(03:15):
to diabetes? How can people getahead of it? Dietary changes and exercise
yep. And if you're overweight,losing weight can definitely help. But those
are the main things, dietary changesand exercise. Absolutely, I'm making those
changes myself now to try to getahead of it. Now, how does
managing pre diabetes differ from managing diabetesin terms of medical treatments and just overall

(03:39):
daily routines. So lifestyle changes aregoing to be both for pre diabetes and
diabetes. And then when it comesto adding medications for pre diabetes you can
add foreman if a person is overweight, that's kind of left to the discretion
of the provietor and if the patientis open to it. And when it

(04:00):
comes to being diagnosed with diabetes,met form in this first well first line
apart from lifestyle changes, because lifestylechanges, like I said, is very
important for both of them, yep. And then when it comes to the
diagnosis of diabetes, we're definitely goingto want to manage the coolmorbidities. We're
going to want to manage any highblood pressure of the person has elevated cholesterol,
because once you're diagnosed with diabetes,you know, your thresholds kind of

(04:24):
change. Okay, As far ascontrolling your lipid panel at that point,
we would look at starting a statand if it's appropriate, okay, and
we check the urine to see areyou, you know, losing protein in
your urine. At that point wetalk about an ACE inhibitor or an ARB
which also help with blood pressure.So we just keep a closer eye on

(04:45):
things because we don't want it tohavoc on the body. Right now,
that's a very good point. Asmuch as people can know now and understand
will help them be able to kindof manage their pre diabetes before it gets
worse. Now, what are thecommon risk factors for devel developing pre diabetes
and how can they kind of bemanaged and controlled a little bit? So,
family history is definitely one that wecannot control, you know, our

(05:08):
genetics. We just can't control ofthese tough parents with diabetes. You know,
it increases your risk. One thingthat we definitely can control is our
weight. Being overweight is definitely oneof the of the higher one of the
risk factors. Sure, and alsocertain ethnicities such as the Asian, Hispanic

(05:29):
and Black population tend to be athigher risk for pre diabetes and diabetes.
Interesting enough, when it comes fat, your fat distributions, right, your
fat distribution, so people with morefat distribution in the central like abdominant fact
that's me tend to be increased riskand smoking as well. Okay, so
smoking sensation always encouraged, whether it'sfor pre diabetes, just smoking sensation we

(05:55):
encourage all around. Well, Idon't do that at least, and if
there's any alcohol consumption, we recommenddecreasing that as well. Definitely. Now,
I know you mentioned about you know, certain people who are more susceptible
to pre diabetes and diabetes. Isthere a certain age group where? Where?
Where and when people should really startto you know, check their numbers

(06:18):
even closer. Yeah, So asfar as age groups, unfortunately, pre
diabetes and diabetes are on the rise, we're seeing it in younger populations as
well. Okay, yeah, butpopulations overall, we tend to see it
more in like low socioeconomic status.Sure, that's just because I feel that

(06:38):
it's because of their of the availabilityof food choices. Absolutely, you know,
transportation to the grocery store might bedifficult, So we start paying closer
attention to individuals of low ses.No, that's good information to know and
kind of be aware of as well. How can individuals monitor their blood sugar
levels effectively if they are at riskor have been diagnosed already with pre diabetes.

(07:02):
So if they've already been diagnosed withpre diabetes, it's recommended that they
get screened at least once a year, and then as far as starting the
screening, when to start screening,right, if you're overweight with another one
of the risk factors, then wealso encourage annual screening for it and or

(07:23):
simply development of the symptoms that comewith uncontrolled diabetes, you know, excessive
thirst, excessive hunger, frequent urination. You can always ask your provider to
be screened for diabetes as well.Okay, that's good to know. This
information has been very, very helpfulbecause I think we've heard about it,
right. You've a lot of peoplegrow up in families and you've heard that

(07:45):
your dad has diabetes, your momhas it, and you're like, oh,
it's never going to happen to me, and then eventually it happens to
you. So to get ahead ofit kind of be more knowledgeable about pre
diabetes and diabetes is super helpful.So thank you so much, doctor Yesenia
Vasquez for being on Wellness Wednesday thisweek. Thank you for having me