Do you have diabetes, or believe you may be at risk of developing the disease?

Copeman Healthcare can help you manage diabetes and its risk factors, and possibly help you prevent it in the first place, so you can lead a healthy life.

Diabetes management at Copeman Healthcare

At Copeman Healthcare we carefully measure and track blood sugar and other diagnostic indicators looking for the earliest signs of diabetes or pre-diabetes. Whether you are healthy, have pre-diabetes, diabetes or carefully managed blood sugar, our goal is the same – to help you understand the role blood sugar plays in your overall health and wellness. We also provide tools, tips, tricks and best practices for driving optimum energy and minimizing the detrimental effects of swings in blood sugar or persistently elevated blood glucose.

In concert with our physicians, a team of diabetes nurse educators and exercise medicine specialists will help you understand how your body processes energy and how diet, exercise, sleep and other lifestyle factors can impact blood sugar. Our dietitians will explain the effect that certain foods with a high or low glycemic index have on your health and will work with you to build a diet that will prevent, delay or carefully manage Type 2 diabetes.

If you are looking for guidance in managing your diabetes or to prevent the disease, Copeman Healthcare can help you.

Contact us

Complete this form and a representative will contact you within one business day to discuss how we can help you prevent, treat and manage diabetes through the LifePlus Program.

About diabetes

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that causes persistently elevated blood sugar (blood glucose) either because your body fails to produce sufficient insulin to metabolize sugar or because the cells themselves do not respond to the insulin.

Insulin is a hormone that controls the amount of glucose in your blood and when its normal function becomes impaired, you suffer the long term effects of poorly controlled blood sugar that can lead to a variety of complications, including: heart disease, kidney disease, loss of vision or blindness, loss of sexual function and nerve damage.

There are 3 types of Diabetes variously known as Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes, usually diagnosed in children and adolescents, occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce insulin. Approximately 10 per cent of people with diabetes have Type 1.

Far more common is Type 2 diabetes, which affects 90% of people with diabetes and occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the body does not effectively use the insulin that is produced. The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes usually increases with age as illustrated in the table below.

The prevalence of diabetes increases with age

Age% Canadians with diabetes
40 – 44 years4%
50 – 54 years8.40%
60 – 64 years14.20%
70 – 74 years21.30%

The proportion of people diagnosed with diabetes generally increases with age. The sharpest increase in the prevalence occurs after the age of 40. The table shows figures from 2008/2009 provided by PHAC.

A third type of diabetes, gestational diabetes, is a temporary condition that occurs during pregnancy. It affects approximately 2 to 4 per cent of all pregnancies and involves an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life. A woman with Type 2 diabetes has an 8-fold greater risk of heart disease than a woman without diabetes.

Diabetes is a disease on the rise

According to the National Diabetes Surveillance System, 6.6% of the population age 20 and over have been diagnosed with diabetes. However, far more concerning is the current trend that speaks to a significant increase in the disease in the years to come.

In 2010, an estimated 2.5 million Canadians had been diagnosed with diabetes. From 2010 to 2020, another 1.2 million people are expected to be diagnosed with the disease, bringing the total number to about 3.7 million. Although some estimates put this number as high as 4.2 million (Canadian Diabetes Association). Perhaps most alarming is the fact that 1 in 3 people living with diabetes do not yet know they have it and therefore have not taken steps to control their blood sugar.