Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects how your body uses food for energy because of problems involving insulin. At The Lamkin Clinic in Edmond, Oklahoma, Brian Lamkin, DO, takes a comprehensive approach to diabetes that focuses on insulin resistance. The functional medicine practice aims to help you improve blood sugar and reverse the disease process. For a proactive and preventive approach to diabetes, call the office, or schedule your consultation online today.
Diabetes interferes with how your body gets energy — glucose — from the food you eat into your body’s cells. Glucose, also known as blood sugar, is the preferred source of energy for all of the cells in your body.
When glucose enters your bloodstream, your pancreas releases insulin, which is a hormone that helps carry the glucose from your blood into the cells.
People with diabetes have higher-than-normal blood glucose levels because of problems with insulin.
There are many types of diabetes. The most common include:
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing pancreatic cells. Currently, there’s no way to prevent Type 1 diabetes, and treatment requires regular insulin injections.
However, only about 5% of people with diabetes have Type 1 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is a serious health problem associated with poor lifestyle choices. People with Type 2 diabetes still make insulin, but the insulin is unable to carry the glucose into the cells. This is known as insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance describes when your cells no longer respond to the actions of the insulin. They resist the insulin, causing an increase in blood glucose levels. The body responds by increasing production of insulin.
Prediabetes isn’t a type of diabetes. However, if you have prediabetes, your blood glucose levels are higher than normal because of insulin resistance. Making changes to your lifestyle can prevent prediabetes from progressing into diabetes.
The Lamkin Clinic focuses on helping you understand where you fall on the insulin resistance spectrum. Then, they create a treatment plan that reverses your insulin resistance, helping to minimize or eliminate your need for diabetes medication, improving your metabolic efficiency.
Before making any specific recommendations, your provider at The Lamkin Clinic performs a comprehensive evaluation, including specialty lab testing, to check hormonal balance, insulin sensitivity, inflammatory markers, and metabolic function.
To reverse the effects of your diabetes, The Lamkin Clinic creates a treatment plan that might include:
In addition to improving blood glucose, your diabetes management plan may improve your overall health and well-being and lower your risk of future health problems.
For a patient-centered approach to your diabetes, call The Lamkin Clinic or schedule an appointment online today.
