Diabetes and me

I am a diabetic. I have what is known as type 2 diabetes. it is the most common form of diabetes. there are two types of diabetes, the first type is type 1 and this is where the Pancreas does not make insulin. Type 1 diabetes are insulin dependant diabetics. It normally occurs when the patient is a child, usually following a viral infection. This site is not about that type of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is more life style related. It used to be that most type 2 diabetics were over 40, weighed too much and were inactive.

Because the population as a whole is becoming more and more obese and also are becoming more and more inactive, we are seeing type 2 diabetes more and more in children. I've read headlines where 1 in 3 children born in 2000 will become type 2 diabetics. This is unacceptable. i think it is up to parents to start teaching their children, by example and otherwise, to learn how to eat properly and to beome more active. I feel like the TV is a large contibutor to an unhealthy lifestyle for children. Parents think it is cute that their children, as babies, are watching the TV so intently. While the baby is sitting still watching, technically zoning out, they are not getting the exercise they need. they aren't crawling and exploring. They aren't learning. They are being hypnotised and their brains are being put to sleep. The TV should be kept turned off for most of the day. This is true for adults too. How many of you out there sit down and watch TV, and automatically eat or get up to get food during commercials. Do you taste the food you are eating? I read a study that says that the more females watch TV the more overweight they are. It's proportional. All of us can benefit from watching less TV and getting out and being more active.

i hadn't really planned to start this site that way, but since i did, i won't redo it. Now for some facts about Diabetes: It is a serious chronic disease without a cure. It affects 17 million Americans, with 6 million of them being unaware that they have it. It affects and damages every cell in your body. It usually occurs in people over 40 who are obese and inactive. Recently i have learned of a condition called "Pre-Diabetes" this is where you are at risk for becoming a diabetic. There are new numbers diagnosing pre Diabetics. If your fasting blood sugar is now 100 to 125 you are a pre diabetic. it used to be is your blood sugar was 110 to 125. At this stage in the game, this level of blood sugar is affecting the cells in your body. But you can turn the clock around by eating correctly, losing any excess weight you have and becoming active. You can avoid diabetes. Even a loss of 10 percent of your body weight can have a signifcant effect on your health.

You may ask how i am an expert about diabetes. I'm not. i am a diabetic. I have researched diabetes because i am also a nurse and i have seen what diabetes has done to my patients. i work as a rehab nurse and we get a lot of patients who have had strokes and amputations. Most of our patients have diabetes. I have known I am a diabetic for a long time. but i haven't done anything about it til last April when i started doing WW and started concentrating on preventing the same complications i was seeing in others from getting them myself. i woke up and smelled the coffee. Since then i have become more and more aware of all the people out there who are diabetics who do not worry about it. i would say 95 percent of my diabetic patients don't watch their diet or exercise. They tell me the little pill they are taking will take care of them. It won't. the little pill will help, but it won't control your diabetes. The insulin shot will help. but only you can prevent the complications of diabetes. only you!

tomorrow i will write more about the complications of diabetes and how to prevent them. i plan to make this a comprehensive site. i'm doing this for me as well as for anyone who decides to read it. there are lots of good sites out there about diabetes. i like WebMD and the Diabetes.Org sites. if you are at risk for diabetes do something about it now. if you are a diabetic, take it seriously. it is not a disease to play with. it's a very evil disease that affects every organ in our body. i for one do not want to have kidney failure, blindness, and amputation, heart disease or a CVA (stroke). i want to be healthy for my future grandchildren and i want to be an example for my kids to live up to. we can prevent and control diabetes.