Diabetes Management

Most men don’t give a second thought to the possibility of developing diabetes. In today’s world, if something doesn’t affect us directly, we have a hard time paying much attention to it.  As the prevalence of diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate, you have an obligation to yourself, and your loved ones, to educate yourself about the signs and symptoms of diabetes so that you don’t simply become another statistic.

Speaking of statistics, one of the biggest increases of type 2 diabetes has been among men. Even more terrifying is the fact that an estimated 7 million people in the United States have diabetes and they don’t know it.

Some men are more at risk for developing diabetes than others.  Having diabetes increases your risk of developing other major health issues like heart disease, vision loss, kidney disease, and nerve damage. Do you know the major risk factors for type 2 diabetes (adult-onset diabetes)?  Here are several…

• Being overweight
• Obesity
• A sedentary lifestyle
• A diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates
• A diet low in fiber and whole grains
• A history of type 2 diabetes in your immediate family

Diabetes is a serious disease that many scientists believe is exacerbated by the recent increase in adult obesity. Those extra pounds you’ve been procrastinating to lose may have a more drastic effect on you and your loved ones than you realize. When you gain excess weight, cells in your liver, muscles, and fat tissues become less responsive to insulin. When these cells don’t respond to insulin, they don’t absorb glucose from your bloodstream.  With all of the extra glucose in the bloodstream that your cells aren’t absorbing, you start to see nerve and blood vessel damage. Nerve and blood vessel damage lead to heart disease, strokes, blindness, and kidney disease.