What’s next?
So. You have been diagnosed with Diabetics, so what? The more important questions are; what type of diabetes is it and how do you manage it without it crumbling your style. To the regular person, diabetes could mean a death sentence where you automatically start thinking of a medical condition that demands that you stop taking carbohydrates, sweets, or alcohol; What if the diagnosis means you don’t have enough sugar?
Crazy, right? Yes, being diagnosed with diabetes doesn’t always mean you have HIGH blood sugar. It just may mean that you don’t have enough sugar!
Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke, and lower limb amputation. Between 2000 and 2016, there was a 5% increase in premature mortality from diabetes. In 2019, diabetes was the ninth leading cause of death with an estimated 1.5 million deaths directly caused by diabetes. There are two types of diabetes, low and high blood sugar. It might shock you to know that many people cannot tell the difference.
You need to know these facts about Diabetes
- About 4.9 million people in the UK have diabetes. Did I hear you say shocking!
- 13.6 million people are now at increased risk of type 2 diabetes in the UK
- If you have a close family member who has diabetes, you are more at risk
- There are about 850,000 people living with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes
- Lifestyle interventions like a diet -plans, physical activity, and weight loss can be effective in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes by about 50%
- In the UK, NHS spends at least £10 billion a year on diabetes. This is about 10% of its entire budget
- People with diabetes occupy a quarter of the beds in some hospitals
- Type 2 is more prevalent than type 1
All this vital information is not meant to scare you but to give you access to important facts that you should be aware of should you decide to ignore the warning signs because though the disease is manageable, it cannot be cured and can degenerate quickly if you do not rise to the required care and attention it needs.
Type 2 Diabetes and ethnicity
It is a well-known fact that Blacks, Caribbeans, and Asians are more likely to develop diabetes than white. Some lines of thought conclude that it may be due to lifestyle habits like a diet. And India is leading the pack when it comes to this disease primarily because of what they eat which is largely sugar and starch. A major complication of this type is insulin resistance which is a sign that the body is not utilizing the insulin produced by the pancreas properly.
Age is another factor to consider. Blacks, Asians, and Caribbeans may develop diabetes as early as 25, while a white person’s chances may increase from the age of 40. See the difference?
Steps to take:
Like it was implied, management is key. You do not need to embark on dramatic, unrealistic changes. Depending on your age and how advanced the condition is, paying attention to these steps may save you from complications:
- Daily exercise– A simple daily walk of some distance is more effective than you know.
- Making healthier food choices– It will be unwise to completely remove carbohydrates and glucose from the diet, the brain cells and other delicate organs in the body need glucose to survive so the right combination of healthy foods is what is important. Vegetables, fruits, proteins, carbohydrates, and nuts are readily found in our daily food items, we just need to identify and mix them in the right proportion!
- Drink water at regular intervals– When you do this, the kidneys will rid the blood of the excess sugar, rerouting it into the bladder where it will come out with the urine. That is why the urine tends to smell like sweets in a diabetic. There is a downside to this though, dehydration can set in if we go to the bathroom often, therefore a balance is needed
- Weight Watch– Your weight can determine to a very large extent, how your body utilizes insulin, especially with type 2 diabetes. Though not all overweight people are diabetic and not all diabetics are overweight, however, managing your weight by keeping it under control will go a long way in controlling your blood sugar
The Elderly with Diabetes Complications
Chronic complications from diabetes tend to be more severe in the elderly, the reason being that they were living with the disease longer than a younger person who is just developing prediabetes. Complications like renal disease, Urinary incompetence, and dementia are all long-term results of diabetes. Younger people can also develop complications; however, the elderly have the disadvantage of living with diabetes longer so it can be a challenge for them
Care for the elderly living with complications of Diabetes
Specialized care is required for persons living with the complications of diabetes, especially the elderly. By elderly, we mean individuals at the ages of 60- upwards. Amputation is a harsh reality to be dealt with and sometimes a daily dosage of insulin injection may be prescribed but the elderly person may not be able to administer the needed dosage.
Crown46 Client Care Home-Care Services offer adequate and appropriate care for this set of individuals suffering from long-term complications of diabetes. This is just one of the services we render. Especially with the management of type 2 diabetes, home-care services like dementia care, urinary incompetence, amputation, administering of drugs and injections, heart and kidney diseases may be required. We offer that extra and much-needed care as we recognize that the elderly often lives alone because the birds have all left the nest, leaving them to feed and care for themselves.
This is where we come in. You do not need to leave your job to care for your diabetic, elderly loved one, and if you are the one needing this care, we promise to be by your side to make life easier by attending to your needs.
Some of the care we offer include:
- Nursing Care- Read More
- Dementia Care- Read More
- Live-in-care- Read More
- Home-Help Care- Read More
- Night Care- Read More
- Specialized Care- Read More
Why choose Crown46 Client Care? – Read More
Faces behind the name– Read More
Our promise to you– Read More
