Your doctor may examine and advise you for some time on diabetes during your visits to his clinic or his visits to your residence. But you are your own doctor for 24 hours all through the months and years with diabetes. How many times a day do you contemplate about the word diabetes?

But don’t you despair. You can fight it out with proper care.

The two words that stand uppermost in diabetes care are diet and exercise! If you are disciplined in these two areas, half of your battle is won!

Be in the know that 50 to 60 percent of daily calories come from carbohydrates, 12 to 20 percent from proteins, and not more than 30 percent from fats.

As for diet, let the balance weigh heavily in favor of fruits, vegetables and lots of fiber. More intake of fiber will help you immensely. Give up your past habit of taking heavy meals. Take in small quantities, as and when you are hungry. Extremely high or low blood glucose levels need to be avoided. As for losing weight, “slow and steady wins the race.” You have already consulted your doctor, you strictly go by the norms given to you and you lose two pounds per week. Very good! That’s good progress.

The risk of heart diseases and liver problems are ever there for diabetics. The food items that are major sources of saturated fats must be avoided. Olive oil is often recommended as a good source of mono-unsaturated fat, the healthiest type of fat.

You must remember the following points, which are your lifelines:

1. Maintain the normal blood glucose level.

2. You have the possibility of heart and liver diseases. Limit your food items from this point of view.

3. Maintain the desired level of weight.

With all the emphasis on diet, research on influence of various types of foods on the diabetes patients is still going on unabated. Researchers in this area are the most confused lot. They are certain about effects of some items of food. Vague opinions also float. For example, the researchers are sure that cooked foods raise blood glucose higher than the raw foods. Whether foods with sugar raise blood glucose higher than the foods with starch, is still uncertain!

Diabetes care will, perhaps, be a hot subject for all time to come—so far, diabetes is alive and kicking!

Image by DeathByBokeh via Flickr

Diabetes remains an epidemic in the U.S., but experts are now more concerned that certain populations may not be getting the right kind of treatment because of their ethnic and cultural beliefs.

Physicians can’t use a one-size-fits-all approach to treating patients with diabetes; physicians, families and community leaders must work together to develop culturally specific programs, according to Dr. Kevin McKinney, Minority Health Affairs Committee chairman of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.

Cultural viewpoints of medicine and disease only compound the issue, said McKinney, who spoke at a recent American Medical Association media briefing on diabetes.

For instance, in some societies, religion influences one’s physical and emotional well-being equally. When an illness occurs, a family may seek out the advice of a religious leader before consulting a physician, which would delay treatment and increase the risk of complications.

"Most people in these communities don’t even know they’re at risk," McKinney said. "They may know about diabetes and its effects, but they’re unaware that living a healthy lifestyle can help reduce their risk."

McKinney stresses that education is the key to eliminating the prevalence of diabetes in certain communities and suggests programs that pair education with a cultural activity.

"Programs held at community and religious centers can focus on diabetes risk factors and some of the healthier approaches to traditional foods that may help in reducing those risks," McKinney said.

More than 21 million Americans now have diabetes – a number that experts say may climb as high as 31 million by the year 2050. Every 24 hours, another 4,100 people in the United States are diagnosed with the disease.

But despite these dire statistics, Dr. Frank Vinicor, director of the Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says that the medical community is making great strides to combat this epidemic.

"We know that you do not have to develop type 2 diabetes if you’re at high risk, and that if you do have diabetes, you don’t have to lose your eyes, your feet or your heart," Vinicor said at the briefing.

The overall outlook for diabetes is beginning to improve, Vinicor said.

"The rates of amputations and end-stage kidney disease due to diabetes are actually beginning to fall," he said. "The preliminary data indicate that fewer people with diabetes are dying. So we’re seeing some light at the end of the tunnel."

Jerry J. Jansen

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