Making Rounds
Diabetes & Endocrine Center gives patients with diabetes and pre-diabetes a way forward
Living with diabetes means daily management, and having your medical team nearby can make a huge difference. For patients in Harnett County, Cape Fear Valley Health’s Diabetes & Endocrine Center - Dunn ensures easy, local access to treatment, maintenance and follow-up. And it can change their lives.
“I’m off all insulin now,” said Lois Giese, who has Type 2 diabetes. She has been a patient at the center for about two years, seeing Adithya Kattamanchi, MD. “When I first went to him, my A1C was 9.5,” Giese explained, referring to a blood test that measures glucose levels. “The other doctors I’d been to couldn’t get it down. But now it’s at 7.1, which is excellent for my age.”
Giese noted that Dr. Kattamanchi went the extra mile to help her — more than other doctors she had seen in the past. “He’s not afraid to step outside the box and try something different to make sure we get the right approach,” she said. “I’ve been diabetic for 25 years and of all the endocrinologists I’ve seen, he’s the best.”
Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in the United States, with 11.6 percent of the population having Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. In North Carolina, that number is 12.5 percent, with another 34.5 percent of people being pre-diabetic. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in childhood or adolescence, and accounts for about 5.7 percent of all diabetes cases. Type 2 diabetes typically manifests in adulthood and is much more common. Risk factors for Type 2 diabetes include hereditary factors as well as conditions such as obesity.
Each type of diabetes requires a different approach. With Type 1 diabetes, the body produces antibodies that stop the natural production of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. Type 1 diabetes patients need regular doses of insulin to counteract their body’s lack of it. Type 2 diabetes works differently; the body has a hard time processing insulin and develops resistance to it. The pancreas responds by making more insulin, but eventually it’s unable to keep up with the demand, and blood sugar levels increase.
Dr. Kattamanchi heads up the Diabetes & Endocrine Center in Dunn and is assisted by a team that includes Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner and Doctor of Pharmacy Heather McLeod. A big part of their work involves education, helping patients to understand the implications of their diagnosis and the steps they should take to best manage their disease.
“For diabetes, education is important,” Dr. Kattamanchi said, adding that treatment pathways are varied, with more options than ever before. These include blood glucose monitors that take automatic sensor readings so that patients know when their blood sugar is getting low and can take steps to mitigate it. There are also options such as pills, semaglutide injections like Ozempic and insulin pumps which allow for precise and flexible dosing.
“With these devices and medications, we can make the regimens as simple as possible to make patients’ lives easier … There are a lot of resources nowadays to control diabetes.” – Adithya Kattamanchi, MD
Most crucial, according to Dr. Kattamanchi, is educating about healthy lifestyle modifications that can help manage diabetes and pre-diabetes. Number one is limiting carbohydrate intake, and especially sugar intake.
“Glucose is one of the purest forms of carbs, and it’s really hard to control diabetes if the patient is taking a lot of sugars,” he explains, pointing out that soft drinks, juice and energy drinks should be avoided. Other lifestyle modifications include exercising regularly and working to reduce weight. “For patients with pre-diabetes, most of the time these things work,” Dr. Kattamanchi said.
Managing diabetes may seem like a grind, but failing to do so can have serious repercussions. Unmanaged diabetes can result in heart attacks, blindness, hearing loss, chronic kidney disease and many other problems, including some—like diabetic ketoacidosis—that can be fatal. North Carolina is number seven in the United States for diabetes-related deaths, according to the North Carolina Diabetes Advisory Council.
“Diabetes affects most of your organs,” Dr. Kattamanchi said. “It affects your blood vessels, including the smaller ones, causing issues with the eyes, kidneys and nerves. It also impacts the bigger blood vessels, causing stroke and heart issues.”
That’s what the Cape Fear Valley Health’s Diabetes & Endocrine Center - Dunn is working to change, one patient at a time.
“A lot of patients get scared and think they have to be on insulin, but not necessarily,” Dr. Kattamanchi says. “There are a lot of resources nowadays to control diabetes much better.”
To make an appointment with the Cape Fear Valley Health’s Diabetes & Endocrine Center – Dunn, call (910) 230-7920. For more information, visit myharnetthealth.org/cape-fear-valley-diabetes-endocrine-center.
