Diabetes is a chronic and disabling disease that can be life-threatening if not identified early. Many people have diabetes passed on from their family which is called Type 1 Diabetes; is usually diagnosed early in life, and treated with insulin as the pancreas does not produce enough. More often, Diabetes is acquired later in life because of poor diet and sedentary life choices, which is called Type 2 Diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes is an auto-immune disorder of the body destroying the beta cells of the pancreas that produce insulin. This type of diabetes is usually discovered at 4-6 years old, and 10 – 14 years old, however, 25-50% are not diagnosed until adulthood.
In 2000, 9.7% of the US population was diagnosed with diabetes, today more than 14% of the US have this chronic disease. In Florida you can also see clearly the health inequity of blacks being affected far greater than others.
Good News! Diabetes Type 2 is preventable with good diet, exercise, an active lifestyle, and in some cases help from your medical provider with some medications if you are overweight or obese. Combining Mediterranean diet with activity can greatly reduce your risk of diabetes and developing debilitating kidney, eye, heart, and dementia diseases.
Mediterranean Diet has won accolades for 7 years as the best diet in all health categories. My favorite website to find helpful recipes is eatingwell.com. Combining this eating style with an activity and exercise can protect you from diabetes, heart disease, and some forms of dementia.
When you exercise, glucose stored in your muscle is burned up as energy, causing the liver to release its storage of glucose into the bloodstream, activating the pancreas to release insulin, carrying more glucose into the body’s cells to be used for all metabolic processes and body functions. Exercise also causes the insulin to remain in the blood stream longer, thereby reducing insulin resistance and lowering the body’s blood glucose levels.
At Quest, there are blood tests that can be ordered to detect if you have high blood glucose levels or are at risk for Diabetes. If your provider has identified risk factors for diabetes such as family history of the disease, or overweight or obese, tired, thirsty or must go urinate all the time, you may have symptoms of diabetes. Glucose, insulin, oral glucose tolerance test, and hemoglobin A1C levels can be done annually with wellness examine, and you can also have a test done called InsulinResistance Panel scores, which tests insulin as well as C-peptide, found to be a better indicator of insulin resistance than one or the other.
Interesting Podcast on Insulin Resistance and Prevention
Reach out to KeyWest.Health if it is time to do your annual physical exam and workup for diabetes screenings. Share this information with your loved ones for awareness of the health inequity of those who should be screened annually.
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