SIKESTON -- Diabetes affects nearly 16 million people in the United States and many in the Missouri Bootheel. In an effort to help those in the area who have the disease, a new diabetes center is operating in Sikeston.

"Diabetes is such an epidemic, especially in this area," said Pam Klosterman, diabetes educator at the new Delta Diabetes Center located at the Missouri Delta Medical Center. "There is a need for this center because we have such a high rate of diabetes and I think people have a problem traveling to where there are diabetes centers. I have patients who have a hard time just getting across town to get over here." The center, which opened in September, offers more than just being close for area diabetics.

"We have a diabetes class that we offer every other Friday and it is an all-day, self-management class," Klosterman said. "It has been going on for a couple of years and we have had approximately 125 people or so go through the class." Sarah Froemsdorf, certified diabetes educator and nurse practitioner at Ferguson Medical Clinic who helps with the center, said the class goes into intensive management of the disease. "We go into each and every topic that goes into each Type I and Type II diabetes," Froemsdorf said. "They get a manual and we follow up on them about a month out and three months out to see how they are progressing.

"What people need to realize is that all of the studies that have been done show that the number one thing with diabetes is education," Froemsdorf said. "That was the number one goal in treating diabetes." The center not only educates but also treats and has a new nedocrinologist in Dr. M. Al-Kilani who takes over for Dr. Saleh Aldasouqi. Aldasouqi, who was instrumental in starting the center, left in October and Al-Kilani began seeing patients this week.

The center's advisory committee helps make sure everything is running according to plan. "We have a few meetings a year for the advisory committee and they kind of oversee what we do here at the diabetes center just to make sure they agree with it," Klosterman said.

As more and more people learn about the center, Klosterman expects to see an increase in her number of patients. "We are only touching a few patients," Klosterman said. "There was a study done in (Missouri) and the Bootheel area had the highest percentage of African-Americans with diabetes. That is pretty significant that between Kansas City and St. Louis we would have the highest."