Local Doctor Shares Advice For Oklahoma Families Living With Diabetes

More than 400,000 Oklahomans are living with diabetes while the state is ranked in the bottom five for diabetes care.

Doctor Jed Friedman, the Director of the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center, said you can better treat diabetes if you understand how it works.

Type 1 diabetes causes frequent urination, weight loss, improper wound healing, and eventually leads to an emergency if not caught in time.

Dr. Friedman said those with Type 1 diabetes need to take insulin.

He said Type 2 is more common and causes tiredness, blurry vision, and numbness.

Dr. Friedman said a blood test can measure your average blood sugar levels and help you and your doctor manage your health.

“People ask, 'Why did I get it and why did my brother not get it?' Genetics has something to do with it. If it’s in your family, you have a predisposition. But then again, you could really change the course of the disease by taking charge of your lifestyle. And if people around you do the same, you tend to adopt those behaviors," Dr. Friedman explained.

“How do you support your family and people around you with diabetes? It’s really a family disease in some ways. Because we learn how to eat from our parents and from people we live with. So adopting this lifestyle can be helpful and encourage the person who has the diagnosis," Dr. Friedman said.

Dr. Friedman said there's a lot of screenings and blood drives around Oklahoma to get tested for prediabetes.

He said they also have a diabetes prevention program at the center. CLICK HERE for more information.