What You Should Know About Diabetes
Type 1: People, who have Type 1 Diabetes, are dependant on insulin. The body’s immune system destroys insulin-making cells, and thus cannot regulate blood glucose. Type 1 diabetes is also called Juvenile diabetes as it strikes children and young adults. It can however, occur at any age. Risk factors for Type 1 Diabetes include autoimmune defects, genetic factors, and environmental factors such as viruses or allergies. Neither diet nor exercise can prevent Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is managed through daily blood sugar testing, insulin injections, and careful meal planning. People with Type 1 diabetes can also develop Type 2 diabietes.
Type 2: Adult onset diabetes is a result of cells not using insulin properly. This type of diabetes is the most common form. It typically begins with a resistance to insulin where slowly, over time the pancreas loses its ability to produce insulin. There are specific risk factors for this type of diabetes. They include the elderly, obese, family history, history of gestational diabetes, people with impaired glucose metabolism, inactive people, and people of African, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Asian, Hawaiian, or Pacific Island decent. The risks of getting Type 2 Diabetes can be lowered losing weight, exercising, and following a healthy diet. A person with type 2 diabetes can control it in the same way a high-risk person would try to prevent it. In addition to diet and exercise, thy may need to take oral medication.
Dieting for life: The diet of a diabetic person has to be viewed as a lifestyle change. Veering from the diet more than occasionally can put a diabetic’s life in danger. Following a proper diet where they would achieve and maintain desirable weight will help a diabetic to can control and maintain normal blood glucose levels, and prevent heart and blood vessel diseases, which tend to occur in people with diabetes. A person with diabetes should consult with their doctor or dietician for up-to-date nutrition advice. The basics of the diet would include 50 to 60 percent of from carbohydrates, 12 to 20 percent from protein, and no more than 30 percent from fat. Five or six small meals should be spaced meals throughout the day, instead of fewer large meals. Weight loss should be gradual, and cholesterol levels should be monitored.
Insulin: For those diabetics who are insulin dependant (primarily type 1) there are several delivery methods available. They include syringes (hypodermic needles), insulin pens (with a fine short needle), jet injectors (using high-pressure air to send a find spray of insulin through the skin) and insulin pumps (connected to the body by flexible tubing attached to a catheter, located under the skin of the abdomen). The pump is very desirable because it can be programmed to dispense insulin in a way that more closely matches the natural action of the pancreas by releasing small amounts of insulin regularly. They are effective for people with both type 1 and type 2diabetes. New advances are being made to deliver insulin to diabetics who need it more efficiently. This includes implanted insulin pumps with glucose monitoring systems.
