Diabetes Education and
Resource Center
718.246.8600 or 718.246.8603
Living with diabetes can be difficult. Healthy coping and management requires just the right balance of medication, diet and exercise. People recently diagnosed with diabetes are often overwhelmed with the amount of new information they suddenly
need to absorb. At the Diabetes Education and Resource Center, people living with diabetes find compassion, information, community and care.
Our Center's Mission
At the Diabetes Education and Resource Center, our mission is to provide
quality comprehensive diabetes self-management education. Education can help people with diabetes manage their
health, minimize long-term complications, and feel better and more
confident as they live their lives.
Understanding Diabetes
More than 20 million Americans suffer from diabetes mellitus, the technical name for the disease, which occurs when the body fails to produce enough insulin or when the insulin that is made doesn’t work effectively. As a result, ingested sugar cannot be converted into energy and blood sugar levels remain abnormally high. This condition (hyperglycemia) can cause certain body changes such as fatigue, frequent urination, hunger, thirst or blurred vision—the warning signs of diabetes. There are several types of diabetes.
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Type 1, or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (formerly called “juvenile diabetes,” but occurring in adults as well), occurs when the body makes no insulin. It usually appears suddenly. Individuals with type 1 diabetes are said to be insulin-dependent; they must receive daily injections of insulin or continuously connect to an insulin pump.
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Type 2, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, generally occurs in those over the age of 40, but it is increasingly seen in younger people as well. Also at a higher risk of type 2 diabetes are people who are overweight, have high blood pressure or have a family history of diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes have varying levels of dependency on insulin and other medication.
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A third, less-common form of diabetes is gestational diabetes, which can occur during pregnancy.
Different Strategies for Different People
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Standards of care for children with diabetes are different from those for adults. Education for both children and parents is available at the Center. The goal is to help with the management of children’s diabetes and to teach new strategies for coping with the special stresses associated with raising a child with diabetes.
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For some, though not all, patients with type 2 diabetes, it is possible to optimize health through diet and exercise habits, without medication. For everyone living with diabetes, nutrition and physical fitness are important components of the prevention and/or treatment plan.
Our Team
New York Methodist Hospital offers a multidisciplinary team of doctors including endocrinologists specializing in diabetes. The team also includes vascular (blood flow) specialists, urologists (doctors specializing in urinary health and male reproductive health), ophthalmologists (eye doctors), podiatrists (food doctors), and cardiologists (heart doctors). We also offer an on-site diabetes educator and nutritionist, as well as access to experts on diabetes technologies, to provide comprehensive care to manage diabetes and any other related illnesses.
- Our diabetes educator is also familiar with the most current news
and the most advanced diabetes treatment options. Newly diagnosed and veteran diabetics alike learn about what is going on in the world of diabetes.
- At the Center, we provide the general information and principles that help patients and families to maintain balance and eat healthier. Our nutritionist can also
work closely with individual patients to help create healthy eating and
fitness plans that will best meet that patient’s specific preferences and lifestyle.
- People with diabetes are likely to find that diabetes creates anxieties, challenges and a
variety of emotions that can best be understood by others who have the
disease. Groups sessions offered at the Center can provide an outlet for
expressing concerns and feelings and an opportunity to learn from the
experiences of the group members. Children with diabetes and their
families have unique needs related to the challenges presented by a
child who is changing physically and emotionally while living with a
chronic illness. Both children and their families may find the group
sessions organized at the Center especially beneficial.
Call 718.499.CARE (718.499.2273) to find a physician affiliated with the Diabetes Education and Resource Center.
Learn about our services and classes.
View our Diabetes Education and Resource Center brochure.
Contact us:
Diabetes Education and Resource Center
263 Seventh Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11215
718.246.8600 or 718.246.8603
Contact NYM
