September 23, 2025 • 15 mins
People living with Type 2 diabetes experience insulin resistance in the body, leading to high blood sugar levels and potentially hypertension, or high blood pressure. Although hypertension can significantly impact your health, with the right lifestyle adjustments and key help from your doctor, you can learn to manage the disease and reduce the risk of complications. In today’s episode, Dr. Pamala Murphy, Internal Medicine Physician at MetroHealth, discusses the causes and effects of Type 2 diabetes, how to recognize the signs early on and what treatments are available to maintain healthy lifestyles.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What's up, everybody. My name is Matti Wills, and welcome
back to another episode of Be Well with Matty Wills,
brought to you by Metro Health, where we have different
important conversations with medical experts and different health care providers
about everything under the sun. And today we'll be talking
to none other than doctor Pamela Murphy about type two
diabetes and hypertension. And before we get into that conversation, first,
(00:24):
thank you for taking some time out of your day
and joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thank you for inviting me absolutely.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
So before we get started, I do like for you
guys to kind of give our viewers and listeners a
little bit of your background, what your role is with
Metro and how we got to this point.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Well, I came to Cleve learned to go to case
Western Medical School in nineteen eighty and I've been here
a while. I had a private practice for twenty years,
me and doctor Pamela Read and then I went with Kaiser,
and then after Kaiser left, I decided I was coming
to Metro because I like their values.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Well that's a good reason to come, yes, and Cleveland
appreciates having you a Metro I'm sure appreciates having you
as well. So you're an expert today on type two
diabetes and hypertension, so let's just dive into it. What
are some of the causes in contributing factors of type
two diabetes?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, there are multiple causes and attributing factors to type
two diabetic betes. There is genetics, it can run in families.
There is lifestyle, what you eat, how you exercise, and
you must have a normal weight for your body, your height,
(01:39):
and your bill and most of the problems, to be
frank with you, are lifestyle problems, especially what we eat.
Diabetes can really be prevented by eating a plant based diet.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
So the first thing that you said was genetics and
then you do real heavy into your lifestyle. So obviously
those are two or the more important factors when it
comes to trying to avoid these types of issues. Yes,
what are some steps someone should take if diagnosed with
pre diabetes?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
That's an excellent question, thank you. Pre Diabetes is when
you're a one C that's my measurement of your blood
sugar over a period of two to three months, and
you have to have an a one C six point
four or less. If you have one of six point five,
(02:37):
you are definitely diabet better. And I would say there
is no such thing as a touch of diabetes, which
a lot of people, especially in our community, like to say,
I just have a touch of diabetes. No, you have diabetes.
But pre diabetes is before you get into that diabetic stage.
There are many many ways. First, again, the major way
(03:01):
to keep pre diabetes from going into diabetes is lifestyle.
You are what you eat. That is more than just
an old adage. You are what you eat. And I'm
telling all of my patients now to eat a whole food,
(03:22):
plant based diet with lots of fruits, lots of vegetables.
They should eat a green, leafy vegetable every day. No
sugary drinks, water, no pepsi, no colas, no pops, no
(03:45):
kool aid, no sugary drinks. And I'm also telling them
not to eat foods that have been overly processed. Anything
that could stay on the shelf for years and we
can buy it has been overly processed, meaning that they
have put things in it to keep it from guinea spoil,
(04:09):
things in it to make it taste good to us.
They put coloring in it, dies, all kinds of things
that are in there, and the least thing in there
is actually the food. So stay away from overly processed food.
Potato chips, cookies, those kinds of things I've seen and
(04:32):
I use, and I tell my patience to use a
Bobby Approved app.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
What approved that Bobby Okay.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Bobby Approved and it's free. And when you go to
buy your groceries, you scan the groceries and the Bobby
Approved app will tell you if it's overprocessed food or not.
But whole food that you buy hole is not over processed.
(05:01):
So try and get fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Also,
I tell my patience after I told them that not
to eat any red meat.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
That's a tough one for me to hear.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And that's what they always say. But red meat is
definitely a corporate and people going on the diabetes, I
teld them eventually you should not be eating any meat.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
That's also a tough one for me to hear. My
wife would love to hear that one though.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
See, and I get that those comments all the time.
I think what we need because you can cook vegetables
that taste so great. I've got cauliflowers tastes like chicken.
But you have to know how to cook it. That's
why we need to have teaching cooking classes for patience.
(06:02):
That is a good idea, and then they'll learn how
to cook the vegetables and they are more likely to
eat the vegetables.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I'm gonna have to do a little google in at
home because you're I feel like you are speaking on
behalf of my wife right now directly to me. But
I know a lot of our listeners and viewers will
definitely appreciate that information as well. So I know you
said you can't have a touch of diabetes, but can
type two diabetes or hypertension be cured? And if not,
(06:31):
then how can they be managed?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
It cannot be cured, but it can go into remission.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
So that's not curing it. But does that mean that
you don't feel the effects of it? Or what is
when it goes into remission?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
What does that mean you don't feel the effects of it?
And what we're trying to do is make sure you
don't get complications of diabetes, which are cardiovascular issues, circulation issues,
liver getting fat fatting your liver, all those issues. So
(07:10):
we try to keep you from getting complications. So remission
and how do you do that? Again, the lifestyle changes,
which includes how you eat. Also, you need to get
plenty of sleep. You should get at least seven hours
of sleep. Also, exercise is very very important. Walking is
(07:31):
a good exercise, but you have to move your body
physical exercise, and you need to get into a habit
of doing that. And the other way for helping to
get diabetes into remission is medicine. Now, one of the
staples that we use is met foreman. Okay, and I'm
(07:55):
surprised that so many people come in and they're scared
of that. For me, they don't want to take it.
Oh no, I'm not gonna take that. I like, well,
why well, I try to talk to them because met
forman is the backball of our treatment and the side
effects that some people can get is an upset stomach,
some nizia, bominy, and diarrhea, which would be the main issue.
(08:20):
But what we do is start at a low dough
in a long acting form. Now we also give this
to people with pre diabetes to also keep them from
becoming diabetic. But we start people with met former and
then we have wonderful new drugs on the market that
(08:44):
are really really great.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Okay, So when you say, most people don't want the medicine.
Is it because they're just in your experience, they're just
generally not they don't like medicine in general, or is
there something specific about that type of medicine that can
be bad.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I think a lot of people don't want to be
on medicine. Yeah. The other thing is somewhere they're getting
misinformation about this particular medicine. So those two things go together.
Nobody wants to be on medicine. But if you have
to be on medicine to save your life, then you
have to take and understand not wanting to be on medicine.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Why are diabetics more likely to experience hypertension than someone
who isn't diabetic.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
That also is multifactorial. So your blood sugar goes up,
and you have oxidative stress, and there's a lot of
different chemical things going on, and then it goes in
there's inflammation and your arteries, your blood vessels, inflammation, oxidative stress,
(09:59):
all those different chemical things going on. Because of the
high blood sugar, then the arteries stiffen, and when they stiffen,
it's hard for the heart to pump the blood through
the arteries, and so your blood pressure goes up.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
You know your stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Well, I love taking care of my patients and I
want them to have the best of care.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
And hopefully this information will you know, help people that
are you know, maybe on the pre diabetic side, or
just have people in their family because I know you
mentioned genetics, pay a little bit more attention to that
and just you know, start to live a healthier lifestyle.
What are g LP one medications, I know we touched
on that, and how can they help treat or prevent diabetes?
(10:45):
And what other treatments are available?
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Okay say g LP one medications. I've heard a person
and people say every century there comes a drug like penicillin,
before you antabotics. If there's a drug of the sentry
right now, it's a glip one medications. And they were
discovered because when they did beriatric surgery on people that
(11:13):
had diabetes, their diabetes went away even before they lost weight.
They went away in about a week, their diabetes were gone.
So they tried to figure out why that was so right,
and they determined that these particular entities called encretans were
(11:35):
the reason. Luc of God, even your microbiomes in your gut,
you know, you got back to your all kind of
bacteria in our gut, right, and if those are in array,
then you'll have a problem. But they found it by
testing and finding out, and they made a medicine similar
(12:02):
to the one that occurs naturally. So it's a gluca
god like peptide. And what does it do in the gut?
They will to go to the places where the natural
(12:28):
gluc of god peptide goes. Now in the lab, this
gluka God will make insulin come out of the pancreas,
but not in the people. Is not what happens. But
what it does do is slow down your food from
(12:53):
going through your stomach into your intestine, so the food
stays longer in your stone and it gets digested more.
But you feel full, so you don't have the cravings.
You feel full longer, so you're not going to watch
(13:14):
it eat, right, And that's one. But they have others
with which go to two places. It's the zepp bond
and the man genial. They go to two places. They
go into the gut, and they're the same thing as
those epic those types of things, but they also target
(13:34):
the brain. Not only do you feel full, but your
brain tells you you are full.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
So it's working hand to hand.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
It's working hand hand and they work excellently.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
So you don't want people to be scared of these medicines.
You yes, what is the Strides program offered at metroal
Health and how specifically can it help us be healthier?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
The STRIKEE program is very good. It's a very important program.
And we see in our patients that have pre diabetes
before they become diabetic, they can go to the Strikes program.
There they get exercise demonstrations, they get how you should
(14:24):
eat healthy and they demonstrate that to them and they
demonstrate and talk to them and educate them about what
pre diabetes is and what you need to do to
put that. I mean, you can cure pre diabetes, to
get rid of pre diabetes and not going to diabetes.
(14:45):
Another thing is you're with a group of people, so
the social interaction is also helpful. They get a social
interaction and their buddies and so they're working together.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
I mean, they don't feel like they're doing it by themselves.
They got a community and they know that they're not
the only ones going through something. So sounds very good.
So Metro Health is dedicated to helping you live your
healthiest life. Scheduling appointment with your primary care provider through
my chart online at metrohealth dot org slash appointments, or
call two on six my Metro. That's two one six
(15:21):
six nine six three eight seven six. Doctor Pamela Murphy,
thank you so much for taking some time out of
your day. We really appreciate you
What's up, everybody. My name is Matti Wills, and welcome
back to another episode of Be Well with Matty Wills,
brought to you by Metro Health, where we have different
important conversations with medical experts and different health care providers
about everything under the sun. And today we'll be talking
to none other than doctor Pamela Murphy about type two
diabetes and hypertension. And before we get into that conversation, first,
(00:24):
thank you for taking some time out of your day
and joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thank you for inviting me absolutely.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
So before we get started, I do like for you
guys to kind of give our viewers and listeners a
little bit of your background, what your role is with
Metro and how we got to this point.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Well, I came to Cleve learned to go to case
Western Medical School in nineteen eighty and I've been here
a while. I had a private practice for twenty years,
me and doctor Pamela Read and then I went with Kaiser,
and then after Kaiser left, I decided I was coming
to Metro because I like their values.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Well that's a good reason to come, yes, and Cleveland
appreciates having you a Metro I'm sure appreciates having you
as well. So you're an expert today on type two
diabetes and hypertension, so let's just dive into it. What
are some of the causes in contributing factors of type
two diabetes?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, there are multiple causes and attributing factors to type
two diabetic betes. There is genetics, it can run in families.
There is lifestyle, what you eat, how you exercise, and
you must have a normal weight for your body, your height,
(01:39):
and your bill and most of the problems, to be
frank with you, are lifestyle problems, especially what we eat.
Diabetes can really be prevented by eating a plant based diet.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
So the first thing that you said was genetics and
then you do real heavy into your lifestyle. So obviously
those are two or the more important factors when it
comes to trying to avoid these types of issues. Yes,
what are some steps someone should take if diagnosed with
pre diabetes?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
That's an excellent question, thank you. Pre Diabetes is when
you're a one C that's my measurement of your blood
sugar over a period of two to three months, and
you have to have an a one C six point
four or less. If you have one of six point five,
(02:37):
you are definitely diabet better. And I would say there
is no such thing as a touch of diabetes, which
a lot of people, especially in our community, like to say,
I just have a touch of diabetes. No, you have diabetes.
But pre diabetes is before you get into that diabetic stage.
There are many many ways. First, again, the major way
(03:01):
to keep pre diabetes from going into diabetes is lifestyle.
You are what you eat. That is more than just
an old adage. You are what you eat. And I'm
telling all of my patients now to eat a whole food,
(03:22):
plant based diet with lots of fruits, lots of vegetables.
They should eat a green, leafy vegetable every day. No
sugary drinks, water, no pepsi, no colas, no pops, no
(03:45):
kool aid, no sugary drinks. And I'm also telling them
not to eat foods that have been overly processed. Anything
that could stay on the shelf for years and we
can buy it has been overly processed, meaning that they
have put things in it to keep it from guinea spoil,
(04:09):
things in it to make it taste good to us.
They put coloring in it, dies, all kinds of things
that are in there, and the least thing in there
is actually the food. So stay away from overly processed food.
Potato chips, cookies, those kinds of things I've seen and
(04:32):
I use, and I tell my patience to use a
Bobby Approved app.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
What approved that Bobby Okay.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Bobby Approved and it's free. And when you go to
buy your groceries, you scan the groceries and the Bobby
Approved app will tell you if it's overprocessed food or not.
But whole food that you buy hole is not over processed.
(05:01):
So try and get fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Also,
I tell my patience after I told them that not
to eat any red meat.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
That's a tough one for me to hear.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And that's what they always say. But red meat is
definitely a corporate and people going on the diabetes, I
teld them eventually you should not be eating any meat.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
That's also a tough one for me to hear. My
wife would love to hear that one though.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
See, and I get that those comments all the time.
I think what we need because you can cook vegetables
that taste so great. I've got cauliflowers tastes like chicken.
But you have to know how to cook it. That's
why we need to have teaching cooking classes for patience.
(06:02):
That is a good idea, and then they'll learn how
to cook the vegetables and they are more likely to
eat the vegetables.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I'm gonna have to do a little google in at
home because you're I feel like you are speaking on
behalf of my wife right now directly to me. But
I know a lot of our listeners and viewers will
definitely appreciate that information as well. So I know you
said you can't have a touch of diabetes, but can
type two diabetes or hypertension be cured? And if not,
(06:31):
then how can they be managed?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
It cannot be cured, but it can go into remission.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
So that's not curing it. But does that mean that
you don't feel the effects of it? Or what is
when it goes into remission?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
What does that mean you don't feel the effects of it?
And what we're trying to do is make sure you
don't get complications of diabetes, which are cardiovascular issues, circulation issues,
liver getting fat fatting your liver, all those issues. So
(07:10):
we try to keep you from getting complications. So remission
and how do you do that? Again, the lifestyle changes,
which includes how you eat. Also, you need to get
plenty of sleep. You should get at least seven hours
of sleep. Also, exercise is very very important. Walking is
(07:31):
a good exercise, but you have to move your body
physical exercise, and you need to get into a habit
of doing that. And the other way for helping to
get diabetes into remission is medicine. Now, one of the
staples that we use is met foreman. Okay, and I'm
(07:55):
surprised that so many people come in and they're scared
of that. For me, they don't want to take it.
Oh no, I'm not gonna take that. I like, well,
why well, I try to talk to them because met
forman is the backball of our treatment and the side
effects that some people can get is an upset stomach,
some nizia, bominy, and diarrhea, which would be the main issue.
(08:20):
But what we do is start at a low dough
in a long acting form. Now we also give this
to people with pre diabetes to also keep them from
becoming diabetic. But we start people with met former and
then we have wonderful new drugs on the market that
(08:44):
are really really great.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Okay, So when you say, most people don't want the medicine.
Is it because they're just in your experience, they're just
generally not they don't like medicine in general, or is
there something specific about that type of medicine that can
be bad.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I think a lot of people don't want to be
on medicine. Yeah. The other thing is somewhere they're getting
misinformation about this particular medicine. So those two things go together.
Nobody wants to be on medicine. But if you have
to be on medicine to save your life, then you
have to take and understand not wanting to be on medicine.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Why are diabetics more likely to experience hypertension than someone
who isn't diabetic.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
That also is multifactorial. So your blood sugar goes up,
and you have oxidative stress, and there's a lot of
different chemical things going on, and then it goes in
there's inflammation and your arteries, your blood vessels, inflammation, oxidative stress,
(09:59):
all those different chemical things going on. Because of the
high blood sugar, then the arteries stiffen, and when they stiffen,
it's hard for the heart to pump the blood through
the arteries, and so your blood pressure goes up.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
You know your stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Well, I love taking care of my patients and I
want them to have the best of care.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
And hopefully this information will you know, help people that
are you know, maybe on the pre diabetic side, or
just have people in their family because I know you
mentioned genetics, pay a little bit more attention to that
and just you know, start to live a healthier lifestyle.
What are g LP one medications, I know we touched
on that, and how can they help treat or prevent diabetes?
(10:45):
And what other treatments are available?
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Okay say g LP one medications. I've heard a person
and people say every century there comes a drug like penicillin,
before you antabotics. If there's a drug of the sentry
right now, it's a glip one medications. And they were
discovered because when they did beriatric surgery on people that
(11:13):
had diabetes, their diabetes went away even before they lost weight.
They went away in about a week, their diabetes were gone.
So they tried to figure out why that was so right,
and they determined that these particular entities called encretans were
(11:35):
the reason. Luc of God, even your microbiomes in your gut,
you know, you got back to your all kind of
bacteria in our gut, right, and if those are in array,
then you'll have a problem. But they found it by
testing and finding out, and they made a medicine similar
(12:02):
to the one that occurs naturally. So it's a gluca
god like peptide. And what does it do in the gut?
They will to go to the places where the natural
(12:28):
gluc of god peptide goes. Now in the lab, this
gluka God will make insulin come out of the pancreas,
but not in the people. Is not what happens. But
what it does do is slow down your food from
(12:53):
going through your stomach into your intestine, so the food
stays longer in your stone and it gets digested more.
But you feel full, so you don't have the cravings.
You feel full longer, so you're not going to watch
(13:14):
it eat, right, And that's one. But they have others
with which go to two places. It's the zepp bond
and the man genial. They go to two places. They
go into the gut, and they're the same thing as
those epic those types of things, but they also target
(13:34):
the brain. Not only do you feel full, but your
brain tells you you are full.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
So it's working hand to hand.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
It's working hand hand and they work excellently.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
So you don't want people to be scared of these medicines.
You yes, what is the Strides program offered at metroal
Health and how specifically can it help us be healthier?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
The STRIKEE program is very good. It's a very important program.
And we see in our patients that have pre diabetes
before they become diabetic, they can go to the Strikes program.
There they get exercise demonstrations, they get how you should
(14:24):
eat healthy and they demonstrate that to them and they
demonstrate and talk to them and educate them about what
pre diabetes is and what you need to do to
put that. I mean, you can cure pre diabetes, to
get rid of pre diabetes and not going to diabetes.
(14:45):
Another thing is you're with a group of people, so
the social interaction is also helpful. They get a social
interaction and their buddies and so they're working together.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
I mean, they don't feel like they're doing it by themselves.
They got a community and they know that they're not
the only ones going through something. So sounds very good.
So Metro Health is dedicated to helping you live your
healthiest life. Scheduling appointment with your primary care provider through
my chart online at metrohealth dot org slash appointments, or
call two on six my Metro. That's two one six
(15:21):
six nine six three eight seven six. Doctor Pamela Murphy,
thank you so much for taking some time out of
your day. We really appreciate you
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