Article
Preventing diabetes
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is the condition of having more glucose in the blood than needed. Glucose (a form of sugar) is our bodies preferred energy source. Glucose comes from foods with carbohydrates and diabetes occurs when your body is unable to use the glucose in your blood.
This is caused by the fact that the insulin in your body (insulin transports glucose to cells for use) is either non-existent, because the cells that create insulin have been destroyed, or the insulin is unable to work properly.
There are two forms of diabetes. Type 1 and Type 2.
Type 1:
This type of diabetes usually occurs in people under the age of 30 and affects approximately 15% of all patients with diabetes.
Normally the pancreas produces insulin. However patients suffering from type 1 diabetes no longer have the cells which create insulin. Scientists are yet to discover why the immune system attacks and destroys these cells.
Insulin injectors are used to control blood sugar levels and unfortunately there is not yet any cure.
Type 2:
Type 2 diabetes usually occurs in people over the age of 50 who are overweight and have lived a sedentary lifestyle. It makes up the other 85% of diabetes patients.
Being overweight often makes it harder for insulin to control your blood glucose levels. This is referred to as insulin resistance.
The good news is that type 2 diabetes can be cured and most people will see results by simply by eating healthier, exercising and losing some weight. However the more serious cases of type 2 diabetes may require tablets or even insulin injections.
For a yet unknown reason people of African, Asian or Hispanic descent are more likely to develop diabetes. Other people who are at a higher risk of diabetes have the following factors:
According to diabetes.org 7% of the American population now have diabetes. Evidence has shown that lifestyle interventions are very affective in delaying or stopping the onset of diabetes. You can lower your chance of getting diabetes by up to 50% by following these simple steps:
Exercise and weight loss are the two most important.
Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes:
There are some signs that may help you to realize you have diabetes. These are:
If you have noticed that your are experiencing a few or all of these symptoms it may be a good idea to consult your doctor.
How to Prevent Diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented. However type 2 diabetes can be prevented. As discussed above the factors that con contribute to diabetes are age, being overweight, a family history and living a sedentary lifestyle.
You can’t change your age or family history but you can live a healthy lifestyle. A varied and well balanced diet is crucial in the prevention of diabetes. If you are overweight then doing as little as losing 5-7% of your body weight can severely reduce the risk of diabetes.
Staying active is equally important. Try and exercise for 30 minutes everyday at a moderate intensity.
By eating healthy and exercising you won’t only be lowering your risk of diabetes but you will also be lowering the risk of just about every other disease that can be prevented! Our bodies were made to exercise and eat natural, non processed, foods.
How to Manage Diabetes:
Type 2 diabetes can, for the lucky 12%, be managed by following a proper diet and exercising regime. This can also help to cure type 2 diabetes over time. For the others they may need to use oral medicine or insulin.
Type 1 diabetes is managed by taking insulin shots on a daily basis.
Lot’s of research is being done to find for a cure of type 1 diabetes. At the moments there are 3 promising avenues:
There are several studies currently being held that are showing promising results for a diabetes vaccine. A vaccine would target the immune system and stop it from destroying the cells that create insulin. This is the best option as it would stop the disease before it happens and eradicate diabetes as a problem.
Scientists are hoping that they will be able to find a way to transplant the cells that produce insulin and have been researching it for over 20 years.
In 2002 a report was published with some very positive news: 80% of the patients who had received a pancreatic islet cell transplant no longer needed to take insulin injections after one year.
Stem cells are the first cells to appear within an embryo. These cells then turn into specific types of cells such as muscle, bone, nerve, etc. When a stem cell is placed around specific types of cells it will turn into them. Scientists are hoping that they will discover how to turn stem cells into the cells that produce insulin.
There is also one other type of diabetes. It is called gestational diabetes and only occurs during pregnancy. Luckily it almost always goes away after the baby has been born. If you suffer from gestational diabetes it is important to follow the steps given to you by your doctor to help prevent it from staying after pregnancy.
The steps for preventing diabetes are simple. It’s up to you whether you value your health enough to follow them. By eating well and staying physically active your helping to prevent a very long list of illnesses and not just diabetes.
