Voice of the Diabetic

Voice of the Diabetic

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COPING WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES

by Peter J. Nebergall, PhD

Photo: Portrait

I have this silly t-shirt. It shows a little man, in the middle

of a circle of pointing hands. They're all saying: “Now, Now NOW!”

With an unhappy expression, he's saying: “Later.” It's funny, my “procrastinator”

t-shirt, but not if you have diabetes. Years ago, instrumentalist Mike Oldfield

did an album titled “The Consequences of Indecision.” There was no

singing, but if you have diabetes, I can tell you all the words.

Diabetes is as sneaky as the taxman, and can be far more deadly. Ignore it at

your peril. In a time when testing is cheap and easy, and knowlege is ample

and freely available (you're in the right place!) there is no reason, and no

excuse, for inaction. And don't be telling me: “It'll never happen to ME!”

It will. It can. It might. Russian Roulette, anyone?

Some diseases have an “air of inevitability.” Once

you're diagnosed, that's it—you know the path it's going to take. Fate.

Diabetes isn't like that, especially not type 2 diabetes—and remember 90%

of all diabetes is type 2.

Now it's true that a type 1 diabetic has to inject insulin,

or he's going to die pretty quickly. That's pretty serious. People have got

this idea that because type 2 won't kill you quickly like that, that type 2

is less serious. That's bunk. Did you know type 2 causes more heart problems

than type 1 does? Did you know your body doesn't care how those elevated sugars

got there -- if you run "high" from type 2 diabetes, it's just as

damaging as if you ran high from type 1. It just takes a bit longer to catch

up with you....

A majority of Americans are now overweight or obese. Being too

heavy doesn't cause type 2, but it doesn't help things one bit. Plus, if you're

type 2, and you lose some of the excess weight, your blood sugar will be easier

to manage.

Likewise exercise. Exercise burns excess blood glucose. Diabetes

is about excess blood glucose. You need to get that sugar down, by whatever

means, and exercise works. Would you rather do something, or pay some doctor

to give you a pill, while you sit back and grow cobwebs? Regular exercise (not

a marathon!) is the best medicine you'll never have to pay for...

Do you like to eat? Do you like good, healthy food, or do you

load up on pizza and beer? Do you know how much is enough for someone of your

size, age, and sex, or do you just eat “til you're full?” It's hard

to be thinking about how much food is “enough,” when you're used to

stuffing it in til just short of bursting. “Damn the calories; full speed

ahead...” Right.

Recommendation: Drop that word “full” from your vocabulary—and

ask instead “have you had sufficient?” Sorta changes how you look

at it, doesn't it? You can change the way you think about food, and learn to

eat reasonable portions of healthy, low-impact foods. You'll feel the difference.

I did.

Now I know it's easy to change your ways when you're hurting—when your

body sends you clear and unambiguous notice that you'd better do something different—but

by the time you wait for diabetes (even that "“not-so-serious type

2”) to knock on your forehead and get your full attention, a lot of damage

could be done. Why wait for the eye damage, kidney damage, and nerve damage?

Why accept the real risk of a shortened lifespan, if you don't have to? Is it

worth so much to be lazy now—“trade present ease for future pain,”

as the philosophers said? No. You're worth more than that, alive and well.

You can test your blood, cheaply and easily. You should, then

take whatever action you need: lifestyle change, oral medications, even insulin,

to keep your numbers down where they should be, and preserve your health. Your

family, your friends, and your children will thank you.

Diabetes is an irritant, a pain, and a discipline—but by

no means is it an impossible burden. You can deal with it, you can cope with

it, you can master it, and you can do it now. Remember, the better job you do

of coping with your diabetes, now, the less risk of complications you'll face

in the future.

Those pointing hands were right, you know: “Now, now, now.”

There's no time like the present.

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