Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic metabolic condition that affects how your body uses blood sugar.
Blood sugar, commonly known as glucose, is vital to our health because it plays a key role by being the primary source of energy and the brain’s source of fuel as well.
Diabetes can either be through age and bad lifestyle habits or genetics.
There are two types of Diabetes, Type 1 Diabetes or Juvenile and Insulin-Dependent Diabetes and Type II Diabetes or Adult-onset diabetes or Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes is identified by the following symptoms;
- Frequent urination
- Bed-wetting in children who previously didn’t wet the bed during the night
- Extreme hunger
- Unintended weight loss
- Irritability and other mood changes
- Fatigue and weakness
- And Blurred Vision
The cause of Type 1 Diabetes is unknown. But Type 1 Diabetes can occur when your immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. This happens when there is exposure to viruses or other environmental factors. There is also called Secondary Diabetes which shares the same characteristics as Type 1 Diabetes, but the difference is your beta cells are wiped out by something else, like a disease or an injury to your pancreas, rather than by your immune system. (https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/type-1-diabetes)
Type 1 Diabetes, when left uncontrolled, can lead to complications that can affect major organs in your body, including the heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes, and kidneys. By controlling and maintaining normal blood sugar levels, you can dramatically reduce the risk of many complications.
Moving on, let’s talk about Type II Diabetes or Adult-Onset Diabetes.
It is an impairment in the way the body regulates and uses sugar as fuel. Type II Diabetes is a long-term condition that results in too much sugar circulating the bloodstream that is, when left uncontrolled, the high levels of blood sugar can eventually lead to disorders of the circulatory, nervous, and immune systems.(https://www.miller-wagner.com/articles/failure-to-diagnose-diabetes/)
Type II Diabetes shares the same characteristics as Type I, but with some additional symptoms that are more common in adults.
- Increased thirst
- Frequent urination
- Increased hunger
- Unintended weight loss
- Fatigue
- Blurred vision
- Slow-healing sores
- Frequent infections
- Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
- And areas of darkened skin, usually in the neck and armpits
Though Type II Diabetes is usually common in adults, the increase in the number of children and younger people with obesity nowadays eventually leads to more cases of Type II Diabetes.
The cause of Type II Diabetes may be through genetics, or it can be due to obesity, overweight, and physical inactivity. Extra weight sometimes causes insulin resistance, and the location of body fats also makes a difference. One example of which is your belly fat.
So how can we prevent Diabetes Mellitus?
Diabetes Mellitus is known to have no treatment. The best thing we can do is prevent it or keep it under control.
Here are some suggestions on how to keep diabetes mellitus under control:
1. Healthy Lifestyle Choice
Eat healthy foods. Instead of going for processed foods and ordering fast foods, why not prepare your meal. Go to the grocery, buy your ingredients, and go for organic products. This will cut a big chunk of your expenses.
2. Be Active
Try to walk sometimes. Instead of lying in bed the whole day of your day off or lying on your couch and binge-watching your favorite TV series, why not go for a run. Go out and walk. Enroll at your neighborhood gym. Do dance class, swimming lessons, or anything that’s on the last part of your bucket list. Now is the time to put it first.
3. Lose some weight
If you follow the first two steps – Eat healthy foods and be active, it will certainly result in losing some weight. But, they said every type of body is beautiful, or I can be beautiful no matter what size I am. Yes, that is true. But, it is also a fact that those who exceed their BMI will have some serious health problems in the future. So you better choose your kind of beauty.
If you want to check your BMI, click the link provided below.
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.html
4. Visit your doctor regularly
Going to your doctor whenever you feel something is off will always be the best choice you can make. Do not wait for things to worsen before deciding on hailing a cab or asking your husband/wife to drive you to the nearest hospital.
And if your doctor prescribed you a diabetes medication to reduce the risk, always see to it that you comply with the medication given and take it as prescribed.
Remember to always choose the one that is beneficial for you and your family. Though Diabetes has no known treatment, we can always keep it at bay, or better than that, we can always prevent it. As the famous quote of Pharmacists, “Prevention is better than Cure”.
