PUHI — The East Kaua‘i Lions Club and its community partners host a “Take Charge of Your Health: Free Diabetes and Blood Pressure Screening” event on Saturday at the Kaua‘i Philippine Cultural Center from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Screening services will be performed by health care professionals and Kaua‘i Community College Nursing Department students, and include COVID-19 tests, blood pressure readings, BMI, or body mass index, and glucose readings. Fasting is recommended for individuals participating in the 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. taking of blood samples.
During the clinic, participants will learn to identify and monitor their health risks while learning ideas to build a healthy lifestyle.
“It’s not hard,” said Kaua‘i Community College nursing instructor Sheri Shields. “For diabetes, it could mean a change in what’s eaten, or more exercise, that can make a difference in controlling diabetes.”
People can learn of some of the lifestyle changes needed to cope with diabetes and have a healthy lifestyle through the presentations of special guest speakers including Nutritionist Sharon Dela Pena, Nephrologist Dr. Raymond Petrillo, Physician’s Assistant and Diabetes Educator Donald Traller, and Dr. James Yamashita, internal medicine.
Diabetes is a serious, common and costly disease, states the state Department of Health. It is currently the seventh leading cause of death nationwide, and in Hawai‘i. Based on DOH data from 2009, diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death in Hawai‘i.
The American Diabetes Association states that approximately 128,653 people, or 11.2 percent of the adult population in Hawai‘i, have diagnosed diabetes in an April 2022 report. There are an additional 39,000 people in Hawai‘i who have diabetes but don’t know it, greatly increasing their health risks.
Additionally, the ADA says there are 410,000 people in Hawai‘i, or 37.1 percent of the adult population, who have prediabetes with blood glucose levels that are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.
Research in 2022 at the University of Hawai‘i-Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine shows that 22.4 percent of Native Hawaiians are diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, and another 15 percent have been diagnosed pre-diabetic status and are at increased risk of developing diabetes.
Diabetes is characterized by high levels of blood glucose, or blood sugar, and symptoms that include frequent urination, frequent thirst and hunger, fatigue, blurry vision, injuries that are slow to heal, and tingling pain or numbness in the hands and/or feet.
The JABSOM report states people with diabetes are at greater risk of developing health complications, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, eye disease, kidney disease and amputation.
The East Kaua‘i Lions Club Take Charge of Your Health event is made possible through partnerships with the Kaua‘i Community College nursing program, the county Agency on Elderly Affairs and Kauai Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, state Department of Health Public Health Nursing and CDPHP, Ho‘ola Lahui Hawai‘i, FilCOM CARES, American Medical Response and Kaua‘i Coffee Company.
If an individual needs an auxiliary aid, service or other accommodations due to a disability, contact the East Kaua‘i Lions Club at 808-822-1336 as soon as possible. Early requests will allow adequate time to be fulfilled.
