Dealing with Diabetes

Well, I personally don't have diabetes, but it has affected my life. My own sister was diagnosed at the young age of 6. Diabetes is a scary disease to deal with, if you don't know anything about it. I know many people with diabetes, and a few of my friends have children that have diabetes as well. One of my friends blogs about it in her blog dedicated to her son: Kids with diabetes. The post that I linked you to is a basic rundown of what diabetes is. Here is some more information about diabetes:

This taken directly from Diabetes Journal.org
Diabetes is one of the most costly and burdensome chronic diseases of our time and is a condition that is increasing in epidemic proportions in the U.S. and throughout the world (1). The complications resulting from the disease are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality and are associated with the damage or failure of various organs such as the eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Individuals with type 2 diabetes are also at a significantly higher risk for coronary heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, and stroke, and they have a greater likelihood of having hypertension, dyslipidemia, and obesity (2–6).

Two early reports (29,30) suggested that changes in lifestyle can prevent diabetes, but weaknesses in study design limited their general relevance. Recently, however, four well-designed randomized controlled trials have been reported (31–35).
There is now substantial evidence that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed. Individuals at high risk of developing diabetes can be identified easily. It is not yet known whether the successful interventions will cost-effectively reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with diabetes. Diabetes prevention policies that focus on lifestyle modification, specifically modest weight loss and increased physical activity, are also very likely to have additional health benefits. Public health messages, health care professionals, and health care systems should all encourage behavior changes to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Further research is necessary to understand better how to facilitate effective and efficient programs for the primary prevention of type 2 diabetes.

Individuals at high risk for developing diabetes need to become aware of the benefits of modest weight loss and participating in regular physical activity.