Port Richmond Facility Takes Holistic Approach To Treating Diabetes
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A new center officially opening on Staten Island this week aims to help diabetes patients get off their medications, and as NY1's Mara Montalbano explained in the following report, doctors say it's a team effort to help every patient reach their goals. Reynaldo Acevedo of Port Richmond has been struggling with diabetes since 2002 and is currently on medications to help keep it under control.
However, he says after just a few weeks of being treated at the new Center for Diabetes Medicine in West Brighton, he's already seen an improvement in his health.
"I found out I lost weight," he says. "I'm walking more."
The new center is run by Richmond University Medical Center and has been seeing patients since September.
Doctors say the center is all about taking a more holistic approach to treating diabetes by helping patients to live healthier, so they can one day do without insulin.
Doctor Kateryna Komarovskiy, an internist at the Center for Diabetes Medicine, says she and other specialists also work to prevent diabetes in high-risk patients.
"To change your lifestyle is the hardest routine of all," says Dr. Komarovskiy. "It's easier to take medications. Unfortunately, the lifestyle changes work best."
Since making the those changes can be difficult, the center has assembled a team of doctors and specialists, including dieticians, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, cardiologists, and diabetes educators, who all work with the patient and then come together as a team to create personalized treatment strategies for each individual.
"During our team visits, we like to set up goals for the patient – from the doctor, from the dietician, from the diabetes educator," says Dr. Komarovskiy.
The chief operating officer of Richmond University says the Center for Diabetes Medicine is much needed on Staten Island, which has some of the highest obesity and heart disease rates in the city.
"Diabetes fits right in there as one of the main ailments that strike our population," says Richmond University Medical Center Chief Operating Officer Richard Salhany. "And the thing about diabetes is that people walk around for a long time, either not knowing they have it or sort of in denial they could be falling into this illness."
While Acevedo has been aware of his condition for some time, he says he is hopeful he will reach his goals.
"I got more control of it," he says. "I don't have diabetes controlling me."