Assess Your Risk

Don't let diabetes deter your life — find out your risk factors now

If you're at risk for type 2 diabetes, there are positive lifestyle changes you can make.

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Diabetes impacts millions of Americans, with roughly 10 percent of the population suffering from type 1 or type 2. What's more concerning is that millions go undiagnosed, even though the risk factors are clear.

Normally diagnosed early in life, type 1 diabetes means that the body doesn't produce insulin and the patient must take it daily. Type 2 is usually discovered later in life, and although the body does make insulin, it doesn't regulate or produce it as well as it should. This is the type found most in American patients.

To see if you're at risk for type 2, Methodist Health System has designed an easy-to-use assessment tool. By quickly answering a few questions — it takes about seven minutes — you'll receive personalized, confidential information on your risk profile, plus next steps to take.

Factors that play into an increased risk for type 2 diabetes include:

Age: Risk increases with age, and is most frequently seen after age 45. However, doctors are finding more and more children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes, so it's never too early to check.
Ethnicity: Type 2 diabetes is more common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders.
Body weight: Roughly half of men and 70 percent of women who have diabetes are obese. If you are 20 percent or more over your ideal body weight, you are at a higher than normal risk.
Lifestyle factors: Whether or not you smoke, your activity level, and untreated high blood pressure can play into the likelihood developing type 2 diabetes.
Family history: Type 2 diabetes runs in families, both environmentally and genetically.

The long-term effects of diabetes can be severe, so the earlier it's detected, the better. High blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, causes fatigue and can also weaken the immune system.

As Dr. Michael Foster, a pulmonologist at Methodist Richardson Health Center, describes it, “... hyperglycemia is going to make the body more susceptible to vascular and cellular damage.”

The patient often exhibits other medical issues that complicate the situation, such as atherosclerosis, obesity, and hypertension. If left unchecked, diabetes can cause eye problems, dental issues, nerve damage, hearing difficulties, and much more.

Those simple seven minutes to take the test seem pretty important now, huh?

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Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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