More than half of Hispanic adults are projected to get diabetes. Here’s what you can do

When Elizabeth Sarmiento was first told she had prediabetes, the Hialeah woman shrugged off the news. She continued eating high-carbohydrate food and didn’t bother to exercise. But then in May 2018, lab work showed she had crossed the line into full-blown diabetes.

“That’s when it really hit me,” says Sarmiento, 50. “I realized this wasn’t prediabetes anymore. I really had to do something about it.”

After consulting with University of Miami Health System endocrinologist Dr. Rayesh K. Garg, she worked with a nutritionist to modify her diet and has since lost 35 pounds. “I still have a ways to go, but I feel confident I’m on the right path.”

Sarmiento’s case isn’t unusual.

Type 2 diabetes, the kind in which the body makes enough insulin but doesn’t use it properly, is more common among certain minority groups. The incidence rate of diabetes for Latinos, is 17 percent, compared to 8 percent for white non-Hispanic — for reasons of both genetics and lifestyle, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One study, the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos found that, among all Hispanic/Latino groups, the prevalence of diabetes also varied among individual Latino groups, with a high of 18.3 percent for those of Mexican descent and a low of 10.2 percent for those of South American descent. (Cuban Americans fell in the middle, at 13.4 percent.)

“There are some genetic factors,” explains Garg, Sarmiento’s doctor, “but there are also many lifestyle factors. Diet, high fat, high-carb, plays a big role.”

Dr. Pascual De Santis, an endocrinologist with Baptist Health Medical Group, agrees. More worrisome, he finds that his Hispanic patients are getting their type 2 diagnosis at a younger age. “The incidence of obesity and sedentary lifestyle is taking its toll,” he points out.

This doesn’t bode well for the Hispanic population. As a whole, the rate — and risk — of diabetes rises with age. If you’re a Latino adult, your chance of developing the chronic disease is more than 50 percent in your lifetime. By the time they turn 70, 50 percent of Latino women and 44 percent of men have diabetes.

Those alarming numbers are further compounded by the fact that many Latinos don’t get regular physical checkups or routine blood work that help detect the disease.

“People in lower socio-economic levels tend to eat more poorly and have less access to quality food,” De Santis adds. “They also go less frequently to routine checkups and just don’t have the health insurance to guarantee that access.”

Yet, with the proper intervention, type 2 diabetes can be kept at bay.

Sarmiento was initially prescribed Metformin, an oral diabetes medicine that, along with diet and exercise, helps control blood sugar levels. But her success in cutting back on “the wrong kinds of food” now means she no longer has to pop the pill. She has been zealous in following her doctor-assigned nutritionist’s order of limiting carbs to 45 mg per meal. “I even try to see if I can do less,” she boasts.

Garg tells his patients who, like Sarmiento, are initially diagnosed with prediabetes that a few small changes can go a long way. Start with 30 minutes of exercise five times a week, a phase-out of carbs, and weight loss of a mere 5 to 7 percent of your total body weight.

“You don’t have to completely abandon your lifestyle,” Garg says. “You can live a normal life if you have diabetes or prediabetes. But you do have to make changes.”

Dr. Amy Aronovitz, chief of general endocrinology at Memorial Healthcare System in Broward County, advises her patients to get into the habit of planning their meals so they make the right food choices. “I tell them that meal-planning sets them up for success. It cuts down on temptation.”

Unfortunately, not everyone is conscientious. Part of the problem, Baptist’s De Santis points out, is that prediabetes is asymptomatic and patients don’t always take their doctor’s warning to heart.

“It’s not like taking medicine for pain,” he says, “that when you take a pill and the pain is gone. You don’t feel prediabetes.” What’s more, it can be difficult for patients to stick to a healthy diet when everyone around them is still gorging on carb-heavy ethnic foods.

But diabetes has serious implications, and patients often aren’t aware of them. “One of the challenges patients face is that diabetes increases the risk of other serious health conditions,” Aronovitz explains. “Patients need to be aware of this. When you really explain it to them, they understand what they have to do.“

Among these health conditions are heart disease and stroke. In fact, studies show that complications from diabetes hit Hispanics harder than other groups. They have higher rates of kidney failure and diabetes-related vision loss.

While it’s important to educate patients about the consequences of untreated diabetes, Sarmiento suggests that it’s also essential to recruit and encourage families to participate in intervention efforts. She says her husband Julio, who does the household’s cooking, has been instrumental in her weight loss.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him,” she adds. “I’m positive I succeeded because of the support I got from my family.”

How to stave off diabetes if you’re prediabetic

If you’ve been diagnosed with prediabetes — blood sugar levels higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes — make immediate lifestyle changes. To help you along, several local healthcare providers participate in the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP). Classes give you the skills needed to change your diet, lose weight and become more physically active.

Here are steps you can take immediately:

Check your blood sugar levels (A1C) test once a year. If you’re prediabetic or diabetic check twice a year. Also keep tabs on your blood pressure.

Lose weight. A drop of 5 to 7 percent of your body weight — just 10 to 14 pounds on a 200-pound person — can lower your blood glucose numbers.

Reduce intake of carbohydrates, sweets, processed foods and fried foods. Add vegetables, whole grains and high-fiber.

Exercise. Aim for 150 minutes of moderately intense aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, every week.

Tell your doctor if you have a family history of diabetes.

Don’t smoke. If you do, quit.

This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 6:00 AM.