“Stress caused my diabetes and that’s why I can’t control my blood sugars; I am always stressed out.”

"I don’t know why my blood sugars are so high- I don’t eat anything.”

“I don’t want to use insulin- my aunt got her leg cut off after her doctor started her on insulin.”

These are some of the things I have heard my patients tell me over the years. While diabetes mellitus is a chronic medical condition that is highly prevalent in the United States, the number of newly diagnosed diabetics and those who fall into the category of “pre-diabetes” continues to climb among U.S. Latino communities.

In these communities, it is a particularly challenging disease state due to social factors and cultural beliefs that often complicate the successful management of this disease process. Diabetes is not simply an issue of too much sugar in the body.

In the case of type 2 Diabetes (the more common type), it is a consequence of altered insulin production and/or function that can have damaging effects on the heart, eyes, liver, circulation, nervous and other organ systems. Unlike type 1 diabetes, which is caused by the destruction of insulin producing cells in the pancreas, type 2 Diabetes is a gradual process that is influenced by ethnicity, poor eating habits, overweight, lack of adequate exercise and other factors. While genetics, age and ethnicity is not something we are in control of, one’s lifestyle impacts greatly on future risk of developing diabetes.

The management of diabetes takes a team effort. Patients need to work with their physicians and other members of a multi-disciplinary team like nurses, diabetic educators and family members to assure that medications are taken appropriately, dietary recommendations are consistently reinforced and regular follow-up with the health care team ...