Dear ANB Readers,
Today’s topic is about a very common health
condition. I am discussing this topic because it has become obvious that too
many people have too little information about it.
About one week ago, I was at the movies with my
husband and his cousin we were at the counter to pick up popcorn and drinks
when my husband’s cousin asked to have water instead of a regular soft drink.
My husband and I had cups of freshly squeezed juice. We asked him why he chose
to have water and he disclosed that he was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes
mellitus about a year ago and was on medication for it. As a result of his
health condition, he has been a very restricted diet as recommended by his
dietician.
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| Image:http://www.diabetes-article.com/images/logo.gif |
Naturally, I was curious to find out what
really happened. He explained that he had been a major sweet tooth all his life
and immediately I remember my husband telling me stories about a cousin of his
who would have ten cubes of sugar in a single cup of tea and probably have 2
cups a day. He loved and would never say
no to unhealthy desserts and sugar. He would drink several bottles of coke
daily without a bother in the world. He said he had no idea, education or
information on diabetes and didn't know what he was doing to himself. The summary of our discussion bordered on the
subject of public information and how much the Ministry of Health and
healthcare practitioners need to work harder at educating the public on habits
that could help reduce the risk of developing such preventable health
conditions.
I decided right after that conversation that
I’d do my best to bring this information to you.
Now let’s start from trying to define Type II
Diabetes in the simplest way possible. You can be said to have diabetes
mellitus Type II, if the glucose (sugar) produced from the food you eat just
stays in your blood but doesn’t get to enter your body cells and give you the
energy you need. This can be tested using a machine called a glucometer. The
commonest glucometer on the Nigerian Market is one called Accuchek. In order to
determine if a person has diabetes, there are a couple of tests that can be
carried out. I will discuss just one of them which is the Fast Blood Glucose
level. Prior to taking this test, you would be required have had your dinner at
least 8hrs before the morning the test is to be carried out and have nothing
for breakfast right before the test.
The Chart below is from the American Diabetes
Association and essentially summarizes what your blood glucose levels should be
after the 8hr fast or after a meal
So if
you use the Accuchek machine and you after a 8hr overnight fast, you should
have a reading below 99mg/dl otherwise you are most likely diabetic.
There are three major signs that you might be
diabetic aside from the test.
1.
Polyuria – Urinating too ofen. More
often than is normal.
2.
Polydypsia- Being abnormally
thirsty
3.
Polyphagia- Being so hungry all the
time even after you have eaten what should normally be enough
Some people have blurred
vision as well. This indicates that the elevated blood glucose levels have begun to affect your eyes adversely.
If you have any or all of
these symptoms at the same time, it would be a good idea to go to a hospital or
a community pharmacy to at least get a fasting blood glucose check. If it turns
out that you are diabetic, it’s not a death sentence, there are so many people
living with diabetes and it’s not infectious or contagious so you can’t spread
it by any means.
If it turns out that you’re
not, you might want to consider some lifestyle changes like
1.
Cutting down on sweets and sugar.
Don’t coldstone when you can sweet kiwi
2.
Exercising daily or at least thrice
a week walking, jogging, any other
physical sport
3.
Drinking water a minimum of 2
litres a day.
4.
Less processed food
With these little life style changes you reduce
your risk of developing the condition or making it worse if you already have
it.
Prevention is by far better than cure.
Aunty Nurse Cares
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