Diabetes Program For My Patient
Diabetic patients need help. It is too overwhelming a task to simply tell a patient to change their lifestyle without providing concrete support. The diabetic patient will not know the proper number of sets and reps of exercise to perform. They will not know the proper ratio of proteins/fats and carbohydrates needed in their diets. They may not even know what foods are carbohydrates. The diabetic patient population needs to be given support for a period of time that will allow proper habits to be formed. Our diabetic program is typically, at minimum, 8 weeks long. This provides us time to help the patient become independent with an exercise program, establish good eating habits, alter negative behaviors such as smoking/drinking, lose weight, and adopt a healthy routine.
Don’t Let Your Patient Be A Statistic
Unfortunately, diabetes can have long reaching health effects ranging from loss of vision and limbs to heart attacks and strokes. Below are listed just a few of the daunting statistics associated with diabetes.
- Heart disease death is two to four times higher in diabetic populations than nondiabetic populations.
- Risk for stroke is two to four times higher in those with diabetes.
- Diabetes is the leading cause of new onset blindness.
- Diabetes is a leading cause of kidney failure.
- 60% of all non-dramatic amputations occur in diabetics.
- 60 to 70% of diabetics have mild to severe nervous system damage.
- Diabetic’s medical costs are 2-3 times higher than those without diabetes.
Is Your Patient’s Diabetes Under Control?
Blood Sugar
Normal fasting blood sugars, for those without diabetes, should be between 70 and 100. For diabetics, the value should be 70 to 130. Following meals, a blood sugar of 180 or less is desirable.
A1-C
Your A1-c value is a measure of how well your blood sugars are being controlled over a three month average. Normal ranges are considered 4% to 5.6%. Prediabetic range for A1-c values are 5.7% to 6.4%. A1-c values over 6.5% indicate diabetes. Values less than 7% are desired for keeping diabetes under good control.
Fortunately There is a Solution
Vast amounts of research now show that diabetes can be brought under control by making lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. Our special program is designed to improve your patient’s health and reduce the risk factors associated with diabetes. Getting control of diabetes is easier than you might think.
In patients with type II diabetes, significant improvement in A1c values and better glycemic control can be achieved by a regular exercise program as an intervention.
– Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 2010Studies show a consistent trend that lifestyle changes are about as effective as drug therapy in delaying or preventing type 2 diabetes.
– American Diabetes Association Statement
Your Patient Has Everything to Lose
The research is overwhelmingly clear. Great diabetic care and rehabilitation will significantly improve your patient’s survivorship and reduce their risk for developing comorbidities such as heart attack, stroke, vision loss, etc. Our specialized diabetes program will also help them greatly improve their mood and quality of life. Diabetes, as with aging, does not need to be accepted as an automatic decline in function. There’s no need to give up participation in your favorite activities and sports. Your diabetes patient has choices and options available to them to help achieve the lifestyle they deserve.
Where Should I Begin?
Making lifestyle changes can seem like an overwhelming task. Our program, however, makes it easy. We will help your patient to improve their activity levels and alter their diet in a manner that is not offensively invasive. Our goal is to make sure that they adopt a healthy lifestyle the lasts a lifetime. In order to do this, it is important that we do not try to turn your patient into someone that they are not. Our program is one of minimalism. In regard to exercise, we encourage a minimal amount of exercise to achieve maximum results. With your patient’s diet, we let them continue to eat most of their normal foods and simply try to make small changes to help ensure improved health.
Maximum Results with Minimal Invasion
Our program is designed to achieve maximum results in the least invasive way possible. We believe that for your patient to truly succeed in changing their lifestyle the change must be as minimal as possible. If we try to dramatically alter their life in a radical fashion, we know that we will fail to achieve positive results. Your patient’s program will be individually designed to suit their needs.
What Our Program Includes
Education
- Learn proper nutrition to keep your blood sugar under good control.
- Learn why 45 to 55% of your diet should be carbohydrate.
- Learn why you do not have to give up all the food that you love.
- Learn how exercise helps your cells to be more receptive to insulin.
- Learn the nutritional significance of protein, fat, and carbohydrate.
- Learn the proper percentages of carbohydrate/fat/protein to consume daily.
- Learn eating frequency and food combinations to improve blood sugar levels and increase satiety.
Coaching
- For weight loss assistance.
- For diet adherence.
- For motivation.
Exercise
- Maximum benefits achieved from exercise with minimal time investment.
- Exercise program individualized to meet specific needs, goals, and function.
- Aerobic exercise prescribed to achieve a cardiovascular training affect (i.e. to make your heart healthy).
Medication is not a Cure for Diabetes
Medications can be immensely valuable in the treatment of diabetes but they are not the solution. The solution to the treatment of your diabetes is to alter your lifestyle. After all, if you have type 2 diabetes, it is most likely due to improper diet and exercise. Doesn’t it make more sense to address the root causes of your problem instead of treating the problem with medications that have negative side effects? After all, you would not take your car to a mechanic to have him put duct tape on a leaky hose. You would expect a mechanic to replace the hose as that is the proper solution to the problem. Shouldn’t you treat your most important asset, your body, with the same manner of concern?
Diabetes Medication Side Effects
Did you know that all medications have side effects? Are you aware that many diabetic medications can make you feel lethargic, increase your appetite, make you feel ill and promote weight gain? This can be very counterproductive to making positive lifestyle changes and controlling diabetes. Medications can also greatly impair your quality of life. Our program is designed to help your patient make fundamental changes that will allow them to eliminate or greatly reduce their dependence on medications.
Eliminate Costly Medications
There is an excellent chance that our program can help your patient eliminate their dependence on medication for diabetes. Our program will save them money, eliminate negative medication side effects and greatly enhance their health and quality of life.
Diabetes Rehabilitation is Covered by Insurance?
Physical therapists bill differently than physicians. Physicians bill insurances based on patient diagnosis. Treatments performed under a certain diagnosis code need to match. Physical therapy, on the other hand, does not bill based on diagnosis but instead bills based on dysfunction. The diabetic population is almost always going to have problems with joint pain, back pain, difficulty walking, or difficulty performing some type of functional activity. For insurance to cover physical therapy care, physical therapists simply need to show that functional progress is being made. We need to show that a patient’s pain level is being decreased or a patient is gaining ground with their functional abilities.
All of our patients perform exercise programs. Consequently, all of our patients increase strength and improve in their ability to perform functional activities. Because the immune system is stimulated with exercise, pain and dysfunction is frequently eradicated. In addition to exercise, we’re also helping the patient to eat better, and eliminate poor lifestyle choices. This also significantly contributes to the patient’s improvement in healing and function.
Exercise falls directly within the treatment capacity of physical therapists. When we add additional nutrition, weight loss, behavior modification, and goalsetting stratagems to our treatment, this is simply icing on the cake to help your patients improve their function and health.
How Do I Get My Patients Into Diabetes Rehabilitation
In order for your or your patients to receive diabetes rehabilitation, all that you need is to write a prescription. We will then provide your patient with a functional assessment looking for pain and/or disability. We will then apply a diagnosis code appropriate for their functional disability. They will then be covered by their insurance for diabetes rehabilitation.