High Sugar Blues

High Sugar Blues

THE HIGH SUGAR
BLUES
by Karen Devaney

Tired of feeling tired? Down in the dumps
and cryin' the blues? Well pick yourself up, baby, and start to move! You heard
me. Dust off those shoes. Shake those tangled cob webs from your brain, you've
just got a case of those "high sugar blues"! That's right, I know!
I've been there and back! But I've gleefully returned, wiser and stronger. How
did I overcome, you ask, this insidious burden? By rescuing my body and soul
from that monster called "hyperglycemia"—the "high sugar
blues."

I have cried those blues many times in the past.

Being a diabetic for most of my "thirty-some" years, I know the havoc of

hyperglycemia. Diabetes will attempt to control you physically and emotionally. I shouted

out, though, and the monster retreated. What is the secret behind my debonair tune?

EXERCISE—Pure and simple. Get up, everybody with diabetes...and move!!

Oh yeah, it has been documented in research

throughout the country—for all you skeptics. Exercise helps put the threat of lurking

diabetic complications in their place. A regular exercise program takes power away from

diabetes and places it back in your hands. Be the dancer of life. Stop this prowling

disease. Find a passion that serves you:

Dance, walk, ride, cycle, skate, do yoga, kick

karate, run, step, lift, swim, ride! There is a colorful menagerie to choose from.

Am I touting exercise as the "cure all"

for this chronic disease? No—but it can be the aspect of your treatment you have

control over. Let's face it, diabetes can be a mind trip. There are times when you do

everything you are supposed to: Multiple injections, frequent testing, careful diet, and

still high blood glucose attacks. This leads to anger, frustration, and feelings of

vulnerability. With a chronic illness, that is life's reality sometimes. Unless you live

in a monastery, everyday changes can tailspin your efforts at euglycemia, normal blood

sugar levels.

Perhaps you have had an argument with your

significant other, or your mom called and your dad hasn't, or you have a deadline at work,

or you forgot to pack lunch—and junk food beckons? Whatever! Life is a dance that

dips and swirls. When those "high sugar blues" start to croon, the burden they

add can be enormous. I know. But this, my friend, is where exercise can help. Take that

200mg/dl blood glucose reading, and reduce it to a comfortable 120--with regular exercise

and your medications.

Take time to know your body. Familiarize yourself

with you. I know that when I am on the high side, I feel like a slug, and if I dip too

low, I feel faint. Not pleasant! This is why I follow frequent testing, along with my

exercise program. They bring me freedom! I teach step aerobics five times a week, take

African dance once a week, do regular strength training, and for kicks, roller blade or

ride my bike through the gorgeous countryside. O.K., I'm a bit extreme, but I feel healthy

and strong despite my diabetes. I am blessed with two fantastic girls with whom I'm able

to share and explore life. I owe much of this to exercise.

Let's take a quick peek at the specifics of how

exercise produces these exciting results. First of all, I am a type 1 diabetic, meaning I

am insulin dependent. We are only ten percent of the diabetic community, but we have the

more immediately dangerous form of diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes, with its insulin resistance,
is more gradual, and strikes later in life. Many type 2 diabetics are overweight,
inactive and middle-aged. Exercise and proper diet can really help these people!
Movin' and groovin' and munchin' on the right foods will increase their bodies'
sensitivity to insulin—and improve their control. GO type 2s go!

Exercise has a long list of credits to its name.

It benefits all diabetics, and all people in general for that matter. By increasing your

activity, you utilize blood excess blood glucose—literally cleaning out the system,

which, is why you were cryin' the "high sugar blues" to begin with.

D.M. Klachko, MD, from the University of

Missouri, conducted a project examining the effects of exercise in diabetes. He measured

the average drop in glucose ranges after a brisk walk—in both diabetics and

non-diabetics. To us folks with the "high sugar blues," the results are

exciting. The average response to exercise in the diabetic group was a drop of

24.5mg/dl--30.0/dl. In the non-diabetic individuals, the average glucose drop was

11.7mg/dl. Exercise is better for us than for them!

So there you have it! EVIDENCE. Of course there

are other studies I could discuss, but I don't want you to fall asleep. You need to be

fully awake! Back to the other credits. Exercise is a powerful tool. Not only does it chop

glucose levels, but it also lowers blood pressure, decreases cholesterol, increases

circulation, and decreases triglycerides...

I have overcome diabetic retinopathy. Many days I

battle fatigue or hyperglycemia. I still wince when my kidneys are tested! But with

exercise, I've developed strength—both physically and emotionally. It provides my

life with a sense of balance, and a healthy feeling that I can take care of myself. I

remember all too vividly my fears and isolation, frightened that my dreams would be stolen

from me by diabetes. But after a good workout, my optimism and hope are rekindled.

Don't give in, and don't fret over intermittent

days of discouragement. Pick yourself up, walk yourself around, and soon those blues will

take flight. And when they do, sing out a loud song of victory!