b'& FITNESSHEALTHSmall Steps to a Healthier Life:How living one day at a time gave a Midlands man a renewed lease on lifeBy Kimberly SouthDonByrdic,at66yearsold,sayshesawalkingPrisma Health uses the Centers for Disease Control miracle and his life story proves that. More than 50DiabetesPreventionProgram(NationalDPP) yearsago,hegotthroughhisdaysandnightswithwhichworkstopreventordelaytype2diabetes. heavydrinkingandsmoking.HedranknearlyfiveTheprogramwascreatedin2010toaddressthe cupsofcoffeewithmilkandsugardailyandincreasingburdenofprediabetesandtype2 didnt live the healthiest life. Though he wasdiabetesintheUnitedStates.Through ahardworkerandastrongfathertohispartnerships with providers, such as Prisma son, he knew there were things in his lifeHealth,theprogramoffersevidence-hekeptfromhisfamily.Hedidntfeelbased,cost-effectiveinterventions healthyandusedalcoholanddrugstothathelppreventtype2diabetes. control his frustrations.AccordingtotheCDC,theprogram can help participants decrease the risk of However,hisworkethicanddedicationdeveloping type 2 diabetes by 58%and tohisfamily,faithandcommunity,likelyasmuchas71%amongpeopleover60 served as the firm foundation he would needyears old. The average weight loss is between as he changed his life.Don Byrdic 57%. Byrdic lost 25 pounds, which is above Six years ago, Byrdic decided to better himself.average. As of March 4, 2022, he has been alcohol and drug free for 1,832 days and without a cigarette forDon succeeded with not just his DPP goals, but his morethan1,400days.Heunderwentopenheartpersonal life goals, said Mary Wilson, MD, a DPP surgeryfouryearsagoandfromthere,heknewhehealthcoachatPrismaHealth. Hewasveryeager had to make additional changes for his health. For sixto learn and serious about putting into practice and months, he has been part of Prisma Healths Diabetesincorporating healthy lifestyle changes.PreventionProgramandhasmadesignificantTheDPPreliesonhealthcoacheslikeDr.Wilson changes in his life.to be part of the journey with their participants. For Mary Wilson, MD, Prisma Health Diabetes Prevention Program 22IMARA'