Hello my name is Pallavi and I am a volunteer at the Matthews Free Medical Clinic! In the summer I volunteered at the clinic and got the opportunity to work with the amazingly personal and warm staff. I mainly ensured patients were up to date with medical scans, tests, and paperwork. While my experience was not on the medical side of things, I knew everything I was doing was to help the health of the clinic’s wonderful patients. I could go on about the wonderful volunteer experience I had last summer, but this month I would like to share some important information with you. Specifically, how the clinic can help patients with diabetes!
A little about the clinic and Diabetes The clinic provides a wide variety of care and services to its patients, including diabetes care. In today’s time and age, Type 2 Diabetes has become increasingly widespread with over 3 million cases diagnosed every year, and 1 in 3 adults with prediabetes. Luckily, type 2 diabetes can be diagnosed and treated here at the clinic!
So what exactly is type 2 Diabetes?Type 2 diabetes is a problem in your body that causes blood sugar levels to rise. Your body also has difficulty using insulin, a special chemical that breaks down food. Overtime this can be harmful to the body.
So how can you tell if you are at risk and need a diabetes screening?
-Anyone age 45 and above
-Anyone with high blood pressure
-Anyone who is obese or overweight
-Anyone with heart disease
-Family history of type 2 diabetes
-High cholesterol
-Sedentary lifestyle (not much exercise)
If I am at risk, how can the clinic help me? The clinic has many ways to help patients with type 2 diabetes. The clinic has providers who can diagnose your type 2 diabetes through blood tests all free of cost. The clinic also has a pharmacist who can help patients find the most cost-effective way to treat diabetes with medicine. Also, many medical staff at the clinic can help with nutrition counseling to treat diabetes along with medication. There are many staff members and volunteers here to help you!
Please and thank you! So please, if you meet any of the risk factors and have not been checked out at the clinic for diabetes, come in! Thanks for reading, and please revisit the site for another blog post next month!
by Pallavi Patil
Matthews Free Medical Clinic 