Page 7 - Diabetes Mirror

Beating diabetes without bending
backwards! What does it mean? You can
think of the phrase “bending backwards”
in three contexts. If you don’t take steps
to prevent diabetes (see table 2), you will
have to bend-backwards for treating it.
If you get diabetes, and don’t achieve
glycemic control, you will have to bend
backwards to prevent the microvascular
and macrovascular complications of
diabetes. The loss of productivity and
financial burden of diabetes will force
one to bend backwards in terms of
managing personal pockets, health care
coffers, eroding quality of life and burden
on family members. 6

If you want to beat diabetes without Table 1: Complications of Diabetes5
bending backwards then the mantra is
simple. Stretch (don’t bend!) yourself to Macrovascular complications of Microvascular complications of
prevent diabetes when you are normal. diabetes diabetes
Comply with treatments and lifestyle
modifications if you have diabetes. To • Coronary heart disease • Retinopathy
implement these two mantras, one • Cardiomyopathy • Nephropathy
may need another mantra and that is • Arrhythmias • Neuropathy
awareness of diabetes. Well, if one needs • Sudden death
a “tantra” to implement these mantras, • Cerebrovascular disease
then numerous smart technologies • Peripheral artery disease
are available on your “yantras” called
mobile phones and smart devices. These Mantra 1: Prevent Diabetes
technologies are useful for promoting
awareness and providing personalized You may already know it, but for the pancreas and reduce its ability to make
reminders for complying with diagnostic, sake of formal literary aesthetics, let’s insulin. In type 2 diabetes cells become
preventative, and treatment related begin by understanding diabetes. Cells resistant to insulin action and pancreas
specifics of diabetes management. If you of our body need energy and this energy become unable to produce the necessary
use these mantras, tantras and yantras comes from glucose. Insulin, a hormone amount of insulin to overcome this
prudently, you then don’t have to bend made by an endocrine gland called resistance. Studies indicate that most
backwards, and we can aspire to beat pancreas helps in transporting glucose cases of diabetes (about 90-95%) belong
diabetes individually and collectively as from blood into the cells. In people with to the type 2 category. There is a third
a society. diabetes, the transport of glucose from category of diabetes, which is seen
blood to cells does not happen resulting in pregnant women and is called as
in high blood glucose levels. When cells gestational diabetes.
do not get enough energy, they will
obviously malfunction, isn’t it? Diabetes can be prevented and to do
so, one must understand the factors
There are two types of diabetes called that cause it (see table 2). The term
type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In type 1 modifiable risk factors means that if you
diabetes, which is an auto immune have those risk factors, you must try to
condition, the immune cells attack remove them.

I BETES MIRROR 5