L to R: Karen MacPherson Harrison, Registered Dietician and Certified Diabetes Educator and Amy Warriner, MD, Professor and Medical Director for UAB Weight Loss Medicine Clinic

The UAB Diabetes Prevention Program is now recognized as a fully accredited program site since opening in July 2019.

Approximately 30 percent of the three million people in metro Birmingham have prediabetes, a condition that can progress to Type 2 diabetes without treatment. The UAB Weight Loss Medicine Clinic is addressing this issue in Alabama by working with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). The National DPP offers an evidence-based approach to treating individuals with prediabetes.

To this date, the most effective mechanism for sustainable weight loss hinges on lifestyle and behavior modification, as indicated in national guidelines for the management of overweight and obesity. Amy Warriner, MD, Professor and Medical Director for the UAB Weight Loss Medicine Clinic and Karen MacPherson Harrison, Registered Dietician and Certified Diabetes Educator spearheaded the UAB Diabetes Prevention Program with the goal of going beyond a prescription and training individuals to live in a way that defeats diabetes. Participants are offered free weekly classes where they learn lifestyle choices such as nutrition, exercise, motivation, and long-term behaviors.  Each meeting the participant reports their weight and minutes of activity. 

Warriner describes obesity as a “disease with genetic, biologic and environmental factors and is associated with a plethora of metabolic and physical comorbidities. Treating the disease not only improves health outcomes and reduces morbidity and mortality for individual patients, but it also saves healthcare dollars.”

To qualify for this program, you must be 18 years or older, with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 24. If you are diagnosed with prediabetes, at high risk for prediabetes or have a history of gestational diabetes you are eligible as well.

To learn more about this program, you may call the Weight Loss Medicine Clinic at 205-934-7053 or email Karen MacPherson Harrison. No physician referral needed.