Sunday 14th November 2010 was World Diabetes Day. The 3 key messages for this year are:
1. Know the diabetes risks and know the warning signs
2. Know how to respond to diabetes and who to turn to
3. Know how to manage diabetes and take control
So we've put together a little resource for each of these messages. Here's the first:
Know the diabetes risks and know the warning signs
These are the risk factors for type 2 diabetes:
• Being overweight or obese
• Being physically inactive
• Poor diet
• Increased age
• Glucose intolerance (as diagnosed through a blood test)
• Family history of diabetes
• History of gestational diabetes
• High blood pressure and high cholesterol
• Ethnicity - higher rates of diabetes have been reported in Asians, Hispanics, Indigenous peoples (Australia, USA and Canada) and African Americans
Unfortunately, your age, family history and ethnicity are well and truly out of your control! But there is a lot you can do to help get a hold on your physical activity and diet, which can have a great impact on your weight, glucose tolerance, risk of gestational diabetes, and blood pressure and cholesterol.
Increasing your physical activity is such an important factor in improving your general health, as well as preventing and treating type 2 diabetes, and other chronic conditions. 3 things you want to try to include:
1. Be more active each day! Reduce the amount of time spent sitting, and move around as much as possible. Walk as a means of transport wherever possible, and break up activities such as watching TV by doing 10 laps of your hallway in the ad break!
2. Get huffy and puffy! Australian Physical Activity Guidelines recommend 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most if not all days! And if you can, also enjoy regular, vigorous activity for extra health and fitness benefits!
3. Build some muscle! This can be anything from a simple home-based resistance exercise program, to a gym-based one. You don’t need to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger to get benefits, but increasing your muscle mass helps to provide more sites for glucose storage (important for diabetes prevention and management), raises your metabolic rate (even when you’re at rest, you’re burning more kilojoules!), helps keep you fit and strong, and is important for the prevention and management of other chronic conditions, particularly osteoporosis.
If you’re looking to improve your diet, don’t try to change everything all at once. Make small changes, one at a time. For example, start by ensuring you consume 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of veggies each day. Replace beverages such as juice, cordial, soft drink and alcohol with water. These simple changes can make a big difference!
Diabetes doesn’t necessarily give you a lot of warning – it can creep up on many people! We’ve previously discussed the “diabetes surprise” – the shock many people experience when they receive their diagnosis. So it’s important to be on the lookout for the following warning signs (though, be aware that these are sometimes mild, or completely absent in people with type 2 diabetes):
• Frequent urination
• Excessive thirst
• Increased hunger
• Weight loss
• Tiredness
• Lack of interest and concentration
• Vomiting and stomach pain (often mistaken as the flu)
• A tingling sensation or numbness in the hands or feet
• Blurred vision
• Frequent infections
• Slow-healing wounds
The best thing you can do is to ensure you get regular blood tests through your GP, and if you notice any of the above warning signs, see your GP.
http://www.worlddiabetesday.org/en/the-campaign/diabetes-education-and-prevention/diabetes-risk-factors
http://www.worlddiabetesday.org/the-campaign/diabetes-education-and-prevention/diabetes-warning-signs