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Forty-six patients with pre-diabetes at Grace Medical Home in Orlando are participating in a yearlong study of diabetes prevention. Director Stephanie Nelson Garris says the trial will try to determine whether education including classes on becoming more active and cooking with healthy foods will prevent patients from developing full-blown diabetes.

“What we really have a passion for is to focus on prevention and wellness. Which means going upstream and actually preventing diabetes from occurring.”

After nine weeks, a quarter of the participants have already noticed improvements in their health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that, if left untreated, pre-diabetes often becomes Type 2 diabetes within less than five years.

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