Michele Stokes, Author at Sunnyside Neighborhood Association

Preventing Prediabetes and Diabetes

Disclaimer: This article is not medical advice. It’s not recommended to make any changes without consulting and being under the watchful guidance of your health care provider. This is especially important if you are diagnosed with a condition and/or on any kind of medication.

According to the CDC, 415 million people worldwide have diabetes as of 2022 and it is predicted that over half a billion people will have diabetes by 2040. If trends don’t change, one in three adults could have diabetes by 2050.

Diabetes and its complications cost the U.S. about $327 billion annually. Around 38% of American adults have prediabetes, which is around 96 million people, and about 5-15 percent of those will progress to diabetes per year. Diabetes doubles the risk of heart disease and stroke, and is the leading cause of blindness, end stage renal disease and amputations. It makes up 17 percent of all deaths for adults 25 or older.

Obesity Is a major risk factor for diabetes. Nearly 70 percent of adults are overweight or obese and around 85 percent of people with diabetes are overweight or obese. Losing weight would significantly lower the risk of diabetes and reduce the social and economical costs.

Now for the uplifting part: you can prevent type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.

Often the conversation about diabetes focuses on high blood sugar, which is definitely important. However, high blood sugar is more of a symptom than a cause. The main cause of diabetes and prediabetes is a condition called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance occurs from an accumulation of excess fat in certain tissues that are not meant to store a lot of fat, specifically the muscle and liver cells.

An accumulation of fat can clog up the cells and turn off the ability to use insulin. Insulin is what opens up the cells to allow the sugar from the blood to enter. As a result, glucose gets stuck in the bloodstream and one gets high blood sugar and all the problems that go along with it.

There are a lot of variables to consider that influence one’s blood glucose. Generally speaking, you should avoid refined carbs (white bread, sweets, sugary drinks) and eat a nutrient-dense diet with lots of complex carbohydrates and healthy fats (monounsaturated fats like those found in avocado, fish, nuts, and olive oil and polyunsaturated fats like those found in tofu, nuts, and seeds). Adding some activity in there will also make a huge difference.

Making a diet or lifestyle change can be powerful—but it’s often hard to do on your own. Fortunately, there is support out there. If you have prediabetes or are at risk for type 2 diabetes, you may qualify for the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), which is covered by both Medicare and Medicaid (as well as some private insurers). The DPP was launched by the CDC after a multi-year study showed that it had great results. A year on the lifestyle program reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58 percent. Adults over 60 reduced their risk by 71%. For the study group that took Metformin instead, the risk was decreased by 31%.

Weight loss was the predominant predictor for the decreased risk in developing type 2 diabetes. For every 2.2 lbs of weight loss, the diabetes risk decreased by 13 percent. Participants who decreased the most fat intake in the diet showed the greatest decrease in risk for every kilogram of weight loss. There are two major goals for the participants of the program:

1) If weight needs to be lost, losing 5 to 7 percent of the participants’ weight in the first six months, and

2) Working in up to 150 minutes or more per week of moderate-intensity exercise.

Portland has DPP programs and they are often covered by health insurance. Providence’s version, which is excellent, is called PREVENT. OHSU also offers a DPP program. The programs are fun, informative and offer a lot of support.

Getting to Know Your Neighbors

Q&A with Bill Oakley

Bill Oakley has been a professional screenwriter for over 30 years. Most famously, he wrote for The Simpsons with his writing partner Josh Weinstein. The two were set writers for seven years, and eventually showrunners for its seventh and eighth seasons, largely considered to be some of the series’ best years. The duo went on to write for Futurama, then created their own shows with, as Oakley puts it, “various levels of success over the next few years.” Oakley currently resides in Sunnyside and runs a wildly popular social media presence that revolves around niche fast food items. He hosts a tour of his sleeper hit series Mission Hill, screening remastered versions of the show’s single season at theaters across the country.

How long have you lived in the neighborhood, and what brought you to Portland?

Bill: I’ve lived here for more than 14 years, and I’ve been in this house the whole time. We have friends who live near the Belmont Library. They had moved in the ‘90s and were evangelizing Portland. We visited and agreed it was a great place to raise a family, and it wasn’t so far from L.A. that I couldn’t travel down there. It took almost as long to fly to L.A. as it did to drive to Burbank from Santa Monica, and that became less and less necessary as time went on. I began doing more and more work online as we got closer to the pandemic, and now the work doesn’t even ask you to come to L.A. anymore. The last two shows I worked on didn’t even have office space; it was all online.

Do you rent or own this house?

Bill: We’ve been renting it for over 14 years. I owned houses for 16 years in L.A. and I didn’t want to ever own a house again after that.

What do you love about Sunnyside?

Bill: When we were first considering moving to Portland we went on a driving tour of sorts through every neighborhood. It was the perfect neighborhood! You could walk everywhere. There are restaurants and stores and interesting things going on. It was the polar opposite from L.A., where, from our house, it was a mile walk

to get anywhere – with no sidewalks. We found a house near Hawthorne, and when it came up for rent we were like, “That’s the house.”

There have been about four incarnations of this neighborhood since we moved here…. There’s still plenty of interesting things to walk to. I love Sewallcrest Park. I love that I can walk down to Division. I love being able to walk up and down Hawthorne, which I do frequently. I can walk to grocery stores in less than ten minutes. I love going to Zach’s Shack. Quarterworld is terrific. I love Powell’s Books and the Bagdad Theater. There are good food carts, and the best cart pod in easy reach of us now is the Hinterlands on 50th. To sum it up: there’s a great mixture of interesting things and places to eat, all within a short walk. As far as any big American city, it’s relatively safe.

What is one thing you would change about Sunnyside, if you could?

Bill: I would add a few more useful things, like the Postal Annex on Hawthorne I go to literally every day. Some of the useful things that used to be here… a place to pick up a quick sandwich to go, or Noah’s Bagels. I’m not saying national chains—one thing I miss was the Dollar Scholar. I could send the kids over with a few dollars to buy balloons or sodas. It encapsulated the quirkiness of the neighborhood. Missing Link was another place; I would really love to have another store like that. If I could push a button and have one thing, it would be to have Bodega PDX open a spot on Hawthorne. I love the sandwiches and you can pick up whatever you need.

Final question: Are you more of a cat person or a dog person?

Bill: I have four cats. It doesn’t mean I don’t love dogs, I just don’t want to have to walk a dog. The cats are great pets, but while they don’t have quite the same enthusiasm for people as dogs do, they’re fun and have unique personalities. And, you don’t have to walk them. The cats are named Piper Po, Mochi, Scooter, and Kitty Bennet. These are not all my cats, but they all live here, and they’re each bonded to their particular human. I inherited Kitty Bennett, who is now attached to me.

Follow Bill Oakley on Instagram & Twitter (@thatbilloakley) or Facebook to see his reels on the Heinz Remix Machine, Lay’s Mayonnaise flavored chips, and updates on Mission Hill screenings.

Let’s Get Moving

Spring is here and it’s a great time to get moving and head outdoors. Having good cardiovascular health and being fit and strong are two of the main pillars of good health. In fact, lack of physical activity is now considered the fourth global cause of death just after high blood pressure, smoking and high blood sugar. A recent study from Kaiser Permanente’s Family Foundation has found that today’s youth spends an average of seven-and-a-half hours of screen time a day and only seven minutes outside moving. In a study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic found that not exercising may be worse for your health than smoking.

If that doesn’t persuade you, exercise also has amazing health benefits. Number one is brain health. Two of my favorite brain and Alzheimer doctors, Dean and Ayesha Sherzai, authors of The Alzheimer’s Solution, argue that exercise is even more important for brain health than heart health. It is amazing for learning, memory, focus, anxiety and mood. It does this by greatly increasing blood flow to the brain and increasing endorphins and neurotransmitters such as dopamine. It is also fantastic for the immune system. Even just 10 minutes of movement can increase infection-fighting immune cells by up to 50%. Weight bearing exercise is awesome for bone health and keeping our muscles strong, specifically leg and core muscles, which helps prevent falls as we age.

Exercise can also increase energy. Think of the law of physics. An object in motion stays in motion and an object at rest stays at rest. If you are feeling exhausted and unmotivated, just get up and try a little movement for five minutes, a walk around the block or do a few stretches. See if you can get that object (yourself) in motion.

It’s important to find the exercise that works for you and that brings you joy. Walking is great. As I write this, spring and its beauty are bursting forth—trees are blooming, daffodils, trilliums and tulips are blossoming. I love smelling jasmine trees and hearing the songbirds on my walks with the dog.

Maybe for you, it’s grabbing a friend and going for a hike in Forest Park or hopping on a bike to take the Laurelhurst Park loop or the Springwater Corridor. Find what works for you. So put that screen down, boost your energy (and your mood), and let’s get moving!

Sunnyside Neighborhood: Getting to Know Your Neighbors

Q&A with Sam Rosenthal

Sam Rosenthal is musician and label producer — his band Black Tape for a Blue Girl has been producing its signature ethereal darkwave and goth rock sound since 1986, and his associated record label Projekt Records turns 40 this year. The label has produced over 300 releases, and Rosenthal himself continues to produce his own music year after year. 2023 also marks 10 years of Rosenthal living in Portland after spending most of his life in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Brooklyn—almost all of his time in Portland has been in the Sunnyside neighborhood, just off of Hawthorne Boulevard.

How long have you lived in Sunnyside?

Sam: I’ll have lived in Portland for 10 years at the end of July. Brooklyn, NY was the last place I lived. When I moved to Portland, I moved into a month-to-month apartment downtown. I moved myself and my business, so there was a lot to move. I was fortunate enough to buy a house when things were still “reasonable,” especially compared to Brooklyn at the time.

What was the draw? Why did you settle on Portland?

Sam: The number one thing was to move out of Brooklyn. I was on tour and had friends in Portland who suggested moving here. It’s a very small town compared to Brooklyn or L.A., but it’s got the cool parts of Brooklyn.

Do you think you’re going to stay in Portland for the foreseeable future?

Sam: My partner lives here; I’m staying here. I really like living in—for lack of a better term—“blue bubbles” and Portland is a nice one. People were moving to Austin or Portland ten years ago but I never thought of living in a “red state” for any reason. Portland feels like a really good spot to be.

What do you love about Sunnyside? Do you normally stay in the neighborhood or do you venture out much?

Sam: When I was living in Brooklyn, my son was in elementary school. Each day I would walk, pick him up and walk back home…. It was a very small neighborhood. I love that [Sunnyside] is a walkable neighborhood…. You really don’t have to drive that much here. Bars, food, and whatever convenience you need is right around here. I work from home, and I can stay at home all day, but it’s nice that there are these places right there. After ten years, I ended up in my little one mile square area.

When you do go out, where do you like to go?

Sam: Reel M Inn. Hat Yai on Belmont. Tov Coffee. I used to host a film series called Movies in the Dark at the Hollywood Theatre and at Clinton Street Theater, but not since the pandemic. I’m COVID-cautious, as my partner’s mom is immunocompromised; I’ve eaten in one restaurant since February 2020, and haven’t been to any clubs or bars. So I’m not the most aware of what’s new in the restaurant or bar scene here. But I have gotten much better at baking bread!

Are you involved in the local music scene much?

Sam: The music I produce isn’t related to Portland—the artists are from around the world. There are a lot of Italians and Australians on the label right now. Ash Sain’s band Trance To The Sun and Soriah are my friends; they were the people I knew in Portland who I visited before deciding to move here. Because of COVID-cautiousness, I don’t see any shows, local or national. The last show I saw was Projekt artist Aurelio Voltaire at the Star Theater in February of 2020.

As a lifelong resident myself, I’ve seen the neighborhood change a lot. But it’s probably changed the most in the decade you’ve been here. Is there anything about these changes you don’t like?

Sam: The things that have changed in Sunnyside are the things that I might be missing soon. The amount of small, weird businesses that are being replaced by condos are kind of a drag.

If you could change something about the neighborhood, then, what would it be?

Sam: A lot of the problem is capitalism; the thing that gets the most complaints is the homeless problem, but the problem is capitalism. I don’t have an answer for that, but I do think it’s part of the problem. We are more than our labor. It’s not a “Sunnyside issue.” How do you fix the issue within the system that is the cause of the issue?

Finally, cats or dogs?

Sam: I’m a cat person! My current cat, Nova, is 18. I adopted her when she was 14. Our new album is coming out soon.

A collaboration album with your cat?

Sam: Yeah, I record her purrs and extend it and add ambient music to it. It’s our second [album]. Most of what I release is digital, so it’s easy to make an album with a cat. The new one is more music and not just purring.

To hear Rosenthal’s cat albums, go here: tinyurl.com/SamCatAlbum

His most recent Black Tape for a Blue Girl Album, The Cleft Serpent, is also on Spotify: tinyurl.com/TheCleftSerpent