‘Diabetes Relief’ treatment therapy helps people living with diabetes

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - November is recognized as National Diabetes Awareness Month. A program in Central Louisiana is hoping to help those with the disease through a new treatment therapy.

Hundreds of thousands of people walk around with diabetes every single day and some don’t even know they have it.

”Diabetes Relief of Louisiana,” a diabetes infusion therapy center located in Alexandria, is making living with diabetes easier.

“It is a new innovation on how to treat diabetes,” said Cardiovascular Surgeon Dr. Gary Jones. “It’s not going to take the patient away from their primary care doctor. It’s going to make it easier for your primary care doctor to take care of your diabetes.”

The program, which is the only clinic of its kind currently functioning in Louisiana, is helping patients like Darlinia Coker.

“Living with diabetes, it’s a constant battle every day,” Coker said. “Everything you do in life affects your diabetes.”

She’s had type two diabetes for around 20 years. The disease runs in her family, both her mother and her grandmother had it too.

“Anxiety affects your diabetes, sickness affects your diabetes, it’s not just your diet,” said Coker.

Thanks to Diabetes Relief, Darlinia said she feels like she did before being diagnosed with with diabetes.

“I don’t have any tingling or numbness in my feet anymore,” Coker said. “I’ve had an improvement in my eyesight. I’ve gotten new glasses and my farsightedness has improved also.”

So how exactly does it work? Patients like Darlinia come to the clinic once every two weeks and sit in a chair with an insulin pump for three hours. However, instead of offering insulin as a drug, Jones said they offer insulin as a hormone.

“When your body sees oh, I’m supposed to get rid of the glucose, the door opens to the cell, the glucose goes in, it uses energy and when you have energy, you feel better, you can hear better and a lot of good things happen,” Dr. Jones said.

Jones said the therapy has helped his patients significantly with pain relief from Neuropathy.

“As we open the cells up with this insulin, the sugar goes in, it gets used as energy and it can be used for repair,” he said.

This has impacted patients like John Woodward, who’s back to doing what he loves after five years.

“I started back playing the piano again. I can feel the keys again,” Woodward said.

It took less than two weeks in the program for Woodward to feel better.

“Into the second week of these treatments, the feeling gradually came back into my hands and into my feet,” Woodward said.

The program also helps prevent blindness, kidney disease and amputations - all big complications associated with diabetes.

“We’re getting rid of that pain, number one. Number two, patients are noticing their vision is better and while we haven’t seen it yet, we’re suspecting that the patient’s kidney function is getting better too,” said Jones.

Patients like Darlinia can go back to having a healthy lifestyle.

“This program really helps me have more freedom with things I can get out and do. I like working outside, like climbing ladders and mow yards and different things that I do,” said Coker.

For a consultation or to learn more about Diabetes Relief, you can call the office at 318-442-0106.

Right now, the treatment is only used for diabetes patients, but eventually, Jones hopes it can be used on patients with Alzheimers as well.

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