Dealing with diabetes

DIABETES is a complex disease that can affect many areas of your body as well as many aspects of your life. Basically, however, it affects the way your body uses food for energy.

What you eat, when you eat, treatments and medications, testing your blood glucose, exercising are all important in the management of diabetes. Your goal is to live a happy, healthy life while dealing with diabetes.

Among the noted people who lived a happy and productive life, while dealing with diabetes, are: noted Filipino singer-dancer and pure Mr. Energy Gary Valenciano, world renowned painter Paul Cezanne, singer Ella Fitzgerald, inventor Thomas Alba Edison, writer Ernest Hemingway, Russian statesman Michael Gorvachev, tennis star and champion Billie Jean King and science fiction writer H.G. Wells.

Of course, there are many others, considering that today there are nearly 200 million people worldwide afflicted with these incurable, but very manageable disease. The World Health Organization, in a recent study, predicted the number to double by 2030, to 366 million, with India on top of the list, followed by China, the United States, Indonesia and Japan.

WHAT IS DIABETES?
According to endocrinologists, diabetes is a disease that can best be described as a disorder that affects the way your body uses food for energy. Usually, the sugar you take in is digested and broken down into a simple sugar called glucose. This glucose circulates in your blood where it waits to enter cells to be used as fuel.

To enable glucose to enter cells, a hormone called insulin is necessary. Insulin is produced by the pancreas. It also adjusts the amount of insulin based on the level of glucose. However, if you have diabetes, this process breaks down, and blood sugar levels become too high.

There are two types of diabetes: Type 1, where the pancreas is completely unable to produce insulin, and Type 2, where insulin is produced, but not sufficient to move glucose into the cells. In both cases, the glucose that can’t move into cells accumulates, resulting into very high levels blood glucose. In time, these high glucose levels can cause serious complications.

Type 1 diabetes most often occurs before age 30, but may strike at any age. It can be caused by a genetic disorder. However, the origins of Type 1 are not fully understood. But all the possible causes have the same end result: The pancreas produces very little or no insulin anymore. Thus, insulin injections are need for this type of diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes usually occurs in adults over 35 years old. But that doesn’t preclude any age from getting the disease, including children. A person afflicted with Type 2 diabetes has adequate insulin, but the cells become resistant to it. The reason: Type 2 diabetes is a lifestyle disease, triggered by obesity, lack of exercise, increased age, and to some degree, genetic predisposition.

RISK FACTORS
There are many risk factors for Type 2 diabetes. Some come from family history and genetics, but some can be turned around to help reverse or manage Type 2 diabetes.

The number one risk factor for Type 2 diabetes is obesity. According to health statistics, 30 percent of adults are obese. Greater weight means a higher risk of insulin resistance, because fat interferes with the body’s ability to use insulin.

Next to obesity, is a sedentary lifestyle. This kind of lifestyle is damaging to health and bears responsibility for the growing obesity problems. Inactivity and being overweight go hand in hand for Type 2 diabetes to set in. Muscle cells have more insulin receptors than fat cells, so a person can decrease insulin resistance by exercising. Being more active, as against a sedentary lifestyle, lowers blood sugar levels by helping insulin to be more effective.

Third is unhealthy eating habits. Ninety percent of people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes are overweight. Unhealthy eating habits contribute to obesity. Too much fat and not enough fiber, and too many simple carbohydrates all contribute to a diagnosis of diabetes. Eating right can help greatly in managing Type 2 diabetes.

While there are not concrete scientific findings yet to support it, it appeals that people who have family members who have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes are at a greater risk of developing the disorder themselves.

It is also sad but true that the older we get, the greater our risk of getting Type 2 diabetes. Even if some elderly persons are thin, they may still be predisposed to getting Type 2 diabetes. The explanation given by experts is that as we old, our pancreas ages right along with us and it doesn’t pump insulin as efficiently as it did when it was younger. Also, as our cells grow older, they become more resistant to insulin as well.

The sixth risk factor to Type 2 diabetes is high blood pressure and high cholesterol. These two risk factors are also hallmark risk factors for many other diseases and conditions. Not only do they damage heart vessels but are also the two key components in metabolic syndrome, a group of symptoms that includes obesity, a high fat diet and lack of exercise.

Gestational diabetes affects about four percent of all pregnant women. Thus, a history of this problem is also considered a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, because studies show that many women who have gestational diabetes develop Type 2 diabetes years later. Moreover, their babies are also prone to developing diabetes later in their lives.

DEALING WITH DIABETES
Learning about people living with Type 2 diabetes can help you better understand the disease. Look for them, meet them, talk with them and share with them experiences with the disease.

If you have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, then there’s a lot to do and a lot to learn. The feeling of knowing you have this disease may be overwhelming at first, but you have to start understanding it as an important beginning in managing it.

You must remember that people with diabetes are responsible for much of their care, which oftentimes is an extremely challenging, if not daunting, process. But self-care can be made a lot easier by setting goals for blood sugar levels, weight loss, exercise and for control of other health risks.

One suggestion is the use of a checklist in managing your Type 2 diabetes. A checklist is a useful tool that can help you manage the disease effectively by keeping close track of test results, general health goals, questions to ask a doctor, and more.

Another important thing to remember in managing Type 2 diabetes is blood glucose or blood sugar control. There are two basic tools in accomplishing this task – checking and recording regularly your blood sugar levels and adjusting insulin. While the task requires knowledge and expertise, you can, in time, efficiently master this task.

In determining the amount of insulin, people with Type 1 diabetes require supplemental insulin because their pancreas no longer produces insulin. In Type 2 diabetes, it is totally different. Less than one third of those with Type 2 diabetes take insulin, the rest use prescription medications.

This brings us to one of the most important factors in effectively managing diabetes – putting together your own personal health care team. At a glance, this looks like a big job. Yes and no, it depends on how you do it. But remember, this is necessary. Remember, diabetes is a disease with many faces, but its management depends on one person, you or the one who has the disease.

Diet and exercise, eye and foot care, keeping track of blood sugar levels, monitoring blood pressure, medications and/or insulin is your responsibility. So, aside from yourself, who else will you need to be part of your team?

First, of course is your doctor, more specifically your endocrinologist. He helps you interpret your checklist and determines processes or tests needed to evaluate your condition or progress in dealing with the disease.

Next is your dietician. This person is very important in determining what food you should take to maintain a good level of blood sugar. Also, he will advise you on what food to avoid. People with diabetes also must have to have balanced food.

Third on the list is your family. They are your support system, continually reminding you of the dos and don’ts in dealing with your disease. Likewise, they can help call your attention to your exercise regimen and medications.
After you put in place all of the above, you’re on your way to effectively dealing with diabetes… even stopping it right on its tracks!

REGULAR CHECK-UPS
Even if your diabetes is in total control, you can still have complications that may go unnoticed. That’s why regular medical check-ups are important.

One critical situation among people with diabetes is a condition called period of denial. According to psychologists, denial is a way for people to cope with something whey they’re not quite ready to face it.

People who lie about their disease do so for many reasons. Some lie to appear good. Some, to avoid being judged. Others do because they don’t want to admit a bad habit themselves, diabetes being an effect of a bad habit – eating unhealthy foods and leading a sedentary, without exercise, lifestyle.

Regardless of motive, anyone with diabetes should not forget that honesty and health go hand in hand.

Another important thing people with diabetes should remember is alternative medication for diabetes remains at the research and test level. Use of herbal and other forms of cure that claim to control diabetes should first be referred to your doctor.

Always remember, your doctor is your indispensable partner in managing diabetes. The rest depends on your – eat the right food in the right amount, exercise, and follow faithfully your medication. If you do, you’re on your way to living a healthy, active and productive life, even if you have diabetes.