Special To The Daily Journal

Did you know diabetics are five times more likely to have a stroke than people without diabetes?

Or that diabetics are two to four times as likely to have coronary artery disease?

Dr. Lorraine Berman will present a lunch and learn program this month at Sandhills Regional Medical Center and explain “The Influence of Diabetes Mellitus on Vascular Disease and its Complications.”

The free lunch and learn will be held at noon Aug. 25, in the education classroom at Sandhills Regional Medical Center.

This presentation will address “how people with diabetes develop problems with their blood vessels, and blood flow/circulation,” Berman said.

Diabetic vascular disease is the hardening of the arteries throughout the body caused by diabetes mellitus, a condition in which too much blood sugar, or glucose, builds in the blood due to a lack of insulin or because the body is unable to effectively use insulin. It can cause vascular problems such as retinopathy (an eye condition); nephropathy (a kidney condition); atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries); and coronary heart disease.

Controlling blood sugar levels may help to prevent or slow the development of some of these diseases.

The lunch and learn is ideal for anyone with diabetes, who is taking care of someone with diabetes, or who has a family member or family history of diabetes.

The presentation will last only one hour with the hospital providing a free lunch to attendees.

Dr. Berman, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, joined the Sandhills Vascular Center last year. She is board certified in vascular surgery and specializes in peripheral artery disease, carotid artery stenting and surgery, vascular dialysis access creation and management, and treatment of varicose and spider veins among others.

She earned her medical degree from the University of Connecticut in Farmington, Conn., and completed her residency at Baystate Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine in Springfield, Mass.

To register for the free lunch and learn, call (910) 205-8121.