November is American Diabetes Month and there is a lot of important information regarding this
disease. Further details will be explained in the following paragraphs.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high.
Blood glucose is your main source of energy and comes from the food you eat. Insulin, is a
hormone made by the pancreas, helps glucose from food get into your cells to be used for
energy. (www.niddk.nih.gov/health)
There are two types of Diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes: This occurs at every age and in people of every race, shape and size. The body
doesn’t produce insulin. The body breaks the carbohydrates you eat into blood sugar that it uses
for energy. Meanwhile, insulin is a hormone that the body needs to get glucose from the
bloodstream to the cells.
Type 2 Diabetes: Is the most common form of diabetes and the body doesn’t use insulin in a
proper way. Some people can control this through healthy eating and exercise, while others may
need to use medication or insulin to manage it. (www.diabetes.org)
Also, learning and understanding the symptoms of diabetes makes it easier to understand this
disease. Some of the symptoms are: increased thirst and urination, increased hunger, fatigue,
blurred vision, sores that don’t heal, unexplained weight loss, etc.
Another important type of Diabetes:
A lot of scientists believe that gestational diabetes happens during pregnancy and this occurs due
to hormonal changes in pregnancy along with genetic and lifestyle factors. The pancreas doesn’t
produce sufficient insulin.
Thoroughly, having a healthy and balanced nutrition is essential to control the blood levels. Also,
exercising goes in hand with eating healthy. None of these things have to be boring.
According to the American Diabetes Association, meal planning is important and a powerful
tool. If this is too hard to start with, a dietitian nutritionist can help out.
To end, diabetes can be prevented with the proper care and adapting to it is a little bit difficult,
but not impossible.
To learn more, visit the website: www.diabetes.org *https://www.myupchar.com/en, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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