The rate of diabetes in Timmins is above the provincial average.

And in an effort to make sure cases don’t go too far, the local diabetes education centre will be out in the community to spread the message.

Quise LeDuc is a Registered Dietician with the centre.  She says they’ll be holding an open house at their location in the 101 Mall (suite 139) from 2:30pm to 4:30pm on November 2nd (which just so happens to be Diabetes Educator Day.)

She says this is for anyone who has, knows someone or feels they’re at risk of developing the disease.

“We’re trying to encourage everyone to come in, all the people who have diabetes and are ignoring it or testing with an old meter, or the people who are worried about developing Diabetes, or anyone who’s been told their at risk,” LeDuc said.

They’ll also have snacks!

LeDuc explains the provincial average is around 10-11%, with the Timmins region sitting around 14%.

“Every three minutes, according to the Canadian Diabetes Association, someone (in Canada) is diagnosed with diabetes,” she said, “And 1 in 10 deaths is attributed to diabetes.”

LeDuc adds that this is also a campaign to make the community aware that they are there to help.

“We don’t want to wait until people are having complications with their diabetes,” she says, “Even if someone, if their doctor said you’re at risk of developing diabetes or you’ve seen other people in your family develop diabetes, come in and chat with us and we can get you on the right track early on.”

Other events in the month include a grocery store tour on Wednesday, November 16th at 6:30pm at Food Basics.

LeDuc says there, they’ll be doing label readings to help those in need of any nutritional advice.

Not much else is known at this point, so stay locked on this page for any updates.

 

Filed under: Local News