Type II diabetes is becoming more and more common. The risk factors for the condition include being overweight, not getting enough exercise, eating an unbalanced diet and smoking. Diabetes is more common among minorities. This could be for a number of reasons including less adequate medical care, poorer nutrition, less active lifestyles and a number of other risk factors that make it all the more important for minority group members, including, Native Americans to get regular check-ups for diabetes. Avoiding these risk factors can reduce your chances of developing diabetes.
In fact, before most people have type II diabetes they are often diagnosed with pre-diabetes—that is where the blood sugar levels are high, but not yet to a level where a person is diabetic. At this point, a person can change his or her lifestyle and almost 90% of the time will not develop diabetes. This is a big issue because once a person is diagnosed with diabetes the condition never goes away.
Although diabetes will never go away it can be managed—which is very important because not taking care of diabetes can lead to amputation, decreased eyesight and eventually blindness, kidney failure and other serious problems. People who don’t manage their disease can go into shock that results in a coma. The good news is that if the disease is managed correctly, these problems are generally avoidable.
People with diabetes need to manage their blood sugar levels and test them regularly. This can be done at home with a small kit that takes a sample of blood and measure the glucose levels. Insulin is the main medication that people with diabetes need to take. It helps the body break down sugar in the blood. There are a number of ways to take insulin depending on a patient’s needs. A doctor can explain those options to the patient and will find the best one for managing their diabetes. It is important that people follow their doctors’ recommendations exactly for best results, especially because complications from diabetes can be prevented, but they can not be reversed.
While the medication will play a major role in managing diabetes, a lifestyle change is often still helpful. This means eating a more balanced diet, trying to lose some weight, stopping smoking and trying to get some more exercise. These may not sound like a lot of fun and they aren’t necessarily easy changes to make, but they can make a major impact on quality of life.
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Information on Diabetes in Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc.' s Virtual Library |