How To Get Your Diabetes Under Control Now

Do you ever feel like your life could be the subject of a country western song? The rents overdue, you hate your job, the truck broke down and now my doctor says I've got diabetes. Yee-Haw! No wonder the bars are full every night.

Just to clarify, your body communicates with itself using chemical messengers called hormones. Several organs in the brain and body produce hormones that flow to other organs through the blood where these messages are received and the corresponding organ responds by producing another hormone that fixes a problem detected by sensors in your nervous system that alerted the brain in the first place.

Insulin is a hormone. It chemically dissolves sugar molecules in the blood so that they can be converted into the energy that powers the heart, organs and muscles.

There are two types of diabetes. Type one is usually hereditary. The autoimmune system in your body goes haywire and attacks the cells in your pancreas that produce a hormone called insulin. Without the sugars being broken down you won't have much energy.

Type two diabetes is caused by the pancreas not producing enough insulin hormone even though the brain keeps signaling it to. If you have a faulty pancreas you are at a higher risk of type two diabetes and need to take steps so as not to aggravate the situation by not eating right and living a sedentary lifestyle.

Your normal fasting blood sugar level ranges from 60-95 mg/dl. (milligrams per deciliter) Levels higher than 126 mg/dl can bring about the usual symptoms of thirst, hunger, and frequent urination. Feeling weak or fatigued can also coincide with open sores and dry itchy skin. Nice.

5 Complications of Diabetes:

1. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness for adult's age 20 - 74 years old.

2. Causes heart and blood vessel disease: people with diabetes have heart death rates 2 - 4 times higher than people without diabetes.

3. Nerve damage: Symptoms include erectile dysfunction, slowed digestion, and decreased sensation or pain in the feet.

4. Increases Gum Disease: People who don't control their diabetes are 3 times more likely to have gum disease.

5. Limb amputation: 60 % of people with amputations are performed on diabetics.

So don't be one of the 800,000 new cases diagnosed in the US each year. That's nearly 2200 people every day. The more you exercise the less dependent your muscles are on insulin so even if your pancreas isn't producing much, that's ok, it doesn't need to. Exercising keeps it all in balance. Exercise is a must. I've never had a patient tell me they enjoy their blindness or amputation.

So keep your mind on the bright side of things and don't become the subject of a sad country and western tune. You can live a full and active life after all. Yee haw!

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