Diabetes is a word we hear a lot today, unfortunately. Just about everyone knows someone, a friend, a relative, a co-worker, suffering from this disease. Over the years it seems that those diagnosed with this sometimes debilitating disease has increased and the numbers keep growing. There are at least a quarter of all people who have diabetes who are unaware that they have the disease and this is very scary to the medical community because diabetics untreated are in danger of serious illness or worse, death. This report includes those with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 is the precursor to type 2, which affects the way the body processes blood sugar. This is a chronic illness that is not cured but treated.
Type 1 diabetes normally occurs in childhood when the body does not produce enough or no insulin from the pancreas. The rates of diabetes often increase with age. Heart and blood vessel disease, blindness, kidney disease and foot damage are some of the injuries and illnesses that could occur. A small cut can turn into a bad injury that sometimes leads to foot and other limb amputations. So if you never thought about it, diabetes is a dangerous disease and often a killer when left untreated. This report is according to the well-known and respected Mayo Clinic.
So how do people walk around with this chronic illness and not know it?
According to Ann Albright, Director of the CDC’s division of diabetes translation and coauthor of this report, diabetes symptoms can often be hard for doctors to identify. Some of the symptoms are unusual thirst, frequent need to urinate, fatigue, and an increase in appetite. These symptoms are easily overlooked by the diabetic person and the doctors. As a matter of fact, many people don’t even mention these bodily and health changes to their primary physicians. These symptoms are the kind that can be attributed to temporary bodily imbalances. Though none of this is good news, there is something good to report. Though today, approximately 7.2 million people are still not diagnosed, 20-30 years ago, more than half of the people suffering from the disease were never diagnosed.
Below there are a few steps to help you lower your risk of getting diabetes:
Watch your food portion sizes. Don’t overeat.
Exercise on a regular basis, even if it’s just walking 15 minutes a day.
Watch what you eat. Go heavy on the fruits and vegetables and leave the junk food alone.
Avoid sugary drinks like soda and many fruit juices and cocktails.