Great hope in controlling blood sugar, even though you are old!

By Willy Yonas

It's been almost 2 years since the Healthy Living Self Therapy Program for Diabetes. In April & May 2022, the 8th and 9th batches were completed after participating in the program for 12 weeks. The total participants from these two batches were 20 people. Program participants vary from place of origin. There are those from Bandung, Jakarta, Manado, Surabaya, Tangerang, Cianjur, and Subang. The diverse backgrounds and habits of the participants provided a challenge for the diabetes program team at the Bandung Adventist Hospital in suggesting a healthy lifestyle.

Participants who take part in the program conditions vary. There are those who use insulin, diabetes drugs, some do not use any drugs. There are also those who have experienced decreased kidney function. Each participant is on their own journey of illness. Everyone's condition is unique. The visible progress is not very comparable with one another.

In batch 9, we have the oldest participant so far. The mother who comes from Surabaya is 85 years old. An elderly person, when changing his diet to a plant-based diet according to the daily nutritional needs, and also exercising regularly according to his ability, can still experience extraordinary progress. HbA1c checks can drop from 11.4% to 7.6% in 3 months! At first her mother was afraid to eat because her blood sugar was around 300-400. But with the right direction and implementation, it turns out that blood sugar can drop very close to normal.

We, the diabetes program team at Bandung Adventist Hospital learned one thing, that it's never too late to live a healthy life! There is always hope for everyone who wants to strive to be healthier with the help of God Almighty.