Diabetes: how to control your diabetes

Diabetes is a health condition that causes the blood sugar level to become too high because the pancreas does not produce any insulin or do not have sufficient insulin to help glucose enter the body cells.

Diabetes can affects the day-to-day life and it can increase the risks for a number of other conditions if not treated. People from Asia and Africa are at the greatest risk of developing diabetes.  When you receive news that you have diabetes, you will need to know how to combat this disease because if left untreated, it can lead to some other conditions that might be difficult to manage.

About 90 per cent of people with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes. It can come on slowly, usually over the age of 40. The signs may not be obvious, or there may be no signs at all, so it might take up to 10 years before you discover you have it.

Here are the three main types of diabetes:


Type 1 diabetes: This is not related to lifestyle factors such as diet, it develops when the insulin producing cells in the body have been destroyed and the body is unable to produce any insulin.  Type 1 diabetes develops during childhood or adolescent, but can also occur in adults. . Food choices play a vital role in managing the condition, so by eating a balanced diet including fruits and vegetables can help to manage the condition. If you notice that you feel very thirsty, urinate frequently, feel extremely hungry, losing weight, feel tired or blurred vision, seek for help from healthcare professionals because these can be symptoms of diabetes.

·      Type 2 diabetes: This is the most common form of diabetes, the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body’s cells don’t react to insulin. Without insulin to bring glucose to your cells for energy, glucose can build up in the blood, which can affect the supply of glucose to the cell resulting to a number of problems. Some of the symptoms are similar to type 1 diabetes, except weight loss, but can experience tingling or numbness in the hands or feet. If you have type 2 diabetes, you should work closely with the healthcare professionals; they will be able to monitor your blood glucose and manage your diabetes with proper diet, exercise, medication and proper lifestyle.

·      Gestational diabetes: This occurs to some women during pregnancy when they have high levels of blood glucose and the body is unable to produce insulin to absorb it all. If you have never had diabetes before but have high blood glucose level during pregnancy, it is called gestational diabetes, Experts believe the hormones from the placenta may make the mother’s insulin less effective and if left untreated could result in problems for the baby such as breathing problems, obesity and later in life result to type 2 diabetes. All carbohydrates will have an impact on your blood glucose levels so be aware of how much you eat.

When to see your doctor

Seek for medical help immediately when you experience the following symptoms:

• Feeling very thirsty.
• Urinating more frequently than usual particularly at night.
• Feeling very tired.
• Weight loss.
• Itching around the penis or vagina or frequent episodes of thrush.
• Cuts or wounds that heal slowly.
• Blurred vision.

Advice

• If you are diagnosed with diabetes or experience any of the symptoms, seek for help from healthcare professionals immediately to get tested or begin treatment before it turns to more serious complications.
• Try to adopt a healthy diet and engage in physical activities.
• Maintain a normal weight for your height and waist measurement because obese diabetic patients are at higher risk of developing heart problems and other health complications.
•  If you have diabetes, an important part of managing your diabetes is to eat a healthy balance diet; by cooking the food yourself from scratch gives you more control over what you eat.
• Use a diary to record what you eat and the activity you do during the week is a great start. Once you've filled in the diary, you can see where you can make small changes to your diet and activity level to help you stay healthy.
• Avoid eating lots of carbohydrate as high carb intake may lead to high glucose level, also avoid refined sugar too because they are easily consumed in the body and raise glucose level.
• Avoid drinking alcohol as alcohol consumption can elevate sugar level in the blood.
• Diabetics’ patients should not skip appointments with their doctors.
• Diabetic patients are at higher risk of developing eye disease, eat plenty of fruits and leafy veggies, do not neglect eye problem as early detection can prevent eye damage such as diabetic retinopathy.
• Adopt good hygiene. 

Source: NHS choices