Some people fear contracting arthritis or catching cancer, others fear having a heart attack or experiencing erectile dysfunction-yet diabetes, which can be a silent and sometimes deadly disease, never seems to be on people’s radar!
It is something that “old people” catch or something you’re “born with,” and there’s nothing you can do about it anyway right?
Well folks, this is not the case anymore.
Cases of diabetes have risen significantly in the last 30 years at a rate of almost thirty percent according to a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The rise has been linked to obesity, plus there is an increased risk for African Americans and Latinos; 60 percent and 90 percent (respectively) according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
When most people think of diabetes, they’re thinking about the dreaded Type 1 diabetes.
Type 1 is the more serious type and usually requires daily insulin shots. Type 1 is significantly less common (about 5-10 percent of diabetes patients) and is mainly diagnosed in children and young adults. It seems to occur when the body is not producing insulin, which puts little fault on our daily lives and is almost directly linked to hereditary factors.
The type we have to worry most about is Type 2 diabetes.
This is much more common and occurs when the cells either ignore insulin or the body is not producing enough. This can be caused be several different factors such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and other lifestyle factors. Unfortunately, even with all those factors, genetic links still seem to be the highest factor for both types.
So what does this mean for us?
Don’t start packing it up just yet! There is still hope of prevention. Maintaining a good diet and exercise are always surefire ways to prevent any sort of disease, same goes for diabetes.
The reason obesity is such a factor is because obesity usually leads to high blood pressure and heart disease, which are also factors. Studies have shown that having weight reduction surgery, such as gastro bypass, has a big effect on reducing problems of diabetes. Some patients were even able to stop taking some of their diabetes medications.
If you were unable to prevent this terrible disease, which unfortunately there is not yet a cure for, there is still no need to panic.
There have been great advances in medicine and life-style changes that make diabetes manageable. You don’t have to completely change your life either. People with diabetes can still live a normal life and eat whatever they want, as long as they control their diet (specifically carbs) and take their medications and insulin regularly.
It’s also important to clear up the myth that eating too much sugar causes diabetes.
There are no studies that show any links between eating too much sugar and getting diabetes. Though sugar may help cause obesity, which is a factor, it is still not directly related. In fact, patients who have diabetes are still able to eat sugar if they want as long as they manage it in a healthy diet plan. So eat all the snickers you want.
The truth is doctors aren’t exactly sure why the blood just stops producing insulin in some patients. There is also no true way to completely prevent yourself from getting this disease because genetics are so much involved, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do everything you can to help decrease your risks.
For more information go to the American Diabetes Association website, diabetes.org/home.jsp.