What You Need to Know About Diabetes
Date: Wednesday, July 23 @ 02:00:00 CDT
Topic: Health & Your Life
Millions of Canadians are suffering from diabetes. Jenny Ferguson gives you the basics.
According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, over 2 million Canadians have diabetes. This disease is prevalent among all age groups: children, youth, adults and seniors. It’s important to be educated, so that you can reduce your risk of joining the ranks of Canadians living with diabetes.
Three Types
The three types of diabetes are similar in that the pancreas, the organ that produces insulin, a hormone you need to effectively manage food energies either isn’t working properly or its functions are impaired.
Type 1 Diabetes, most commonly diagnosed in childhood, means that the pancreas is not producing insulin. Type 2 affects 90 per cent of diabetes sufferers and is usually diagnosed later in life as the body does not use the insulin produced properly or not enough insulin is being produced to deal with the demands on the body.
The third type is something that only pregnant women can develop. Gestational diabetes is a disorder that increases the risk of both mother and child of developing diabetes, but it resolves itself after the birth of the baby.
Serious Risks and Symptoms To Be Aware Of
Untreated or improperly treated diabetes has serious health risks including heart, kidney, and eye diseases, nerve damage, impotence, depression, stroke and skin problems such as being unable to heal as quickly and thin skin that is injured easier. This is not a comprehensive list of risks, but is an indication that diabetes needs to be taken seriously.
Talk to your doctor if you have the following symptoms:
- extreme or unusual thirst
- frequent infections or infections that come back often
- numb hands and feet or tingling sensation
Your Lifestyle
Leading a healthy lifestyle is the first step to decreasing your risk of diabetes. All the things necessary for good health are key to preventing Type 2 diabetes.
Eat Well: A balanced diet following the Canada Food Guide is a good start. Cut out white breads and eat more whole wheat grains. Remember to eat plenty of vegetables and fruits while decreasing the amount of junk food you put in your body.
Health Canada says, “healthy eating is the sum total of the food choices we make over time. It is the overall pattern of foods eaten -- not any single food, meal or even the meals eaten in one day -- that determines whether a person's eating pattern is healthy. The right balance of food and activity helps us keep a healthy body weight.”
This is good advice. It doesn’t matter what kind of choices you made yesterday or last year if you’re truly interested in eating healthy. You can start to reduce your risk for Type 2 Diabetes today, starting with breakfast.
Talk to a nutritionist if you need help planning healthy meals or if you have special diet concerns like being a vegan or vegetarian, having celiac disease, being lactose intolerant or any other diet restrictions. A professional will help you eat right for you.
Get Your Body Moving: Enjoy physical activity. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you do something. Obesity is another risk factor for developing Type 2 Diabetes, especially if you carry most of your weight in the middle of your body, on your belly area. If you’re overweight, start small: take the stairs at work and at your condo. Consider joining a gym or take advantage of the great weather and go for a walk.
Work out 30 minutes three to four days a week. It’s possible even for busy people. Play with the kids at the park instead of just sitting and watching them. Get in there and weed your garden. Take the dog for a walk. Start a biking/jogging/running group or plan to spend one night a week doing something active with your friends or current flame. Take up tennis, join a local team or try something you’ve always wanted to do like rock climbing.
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healthy living
Diabetes is a disease that can be managed through proper eating or insulin injections, but it’s better to try to reduce your risk today than manage the disease later in life.
Knowing the signs and symptoms are key to getting early treatment and knowing the risk factors of living with diabetes is important to motivate you into eating healthy and getting active. Since diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death in most developed countries, it’s important to know the disease, support research and fundraising efforts and do your part to reduce your risk.
Sources:
diabetes.ca
Health Canada
The Human Genome
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