Diabetes

AKA Diabetes Mellitus

Sugar. It's a wonderful thing. And as long as you brush your teeth after a sweet binge, it's pretty harmless. But for diabetics, it can be a fine white killer that builds up in their bodies and causes all sorts of problems.

Too much sugar in the blood for too long can cause big time damage to our bodies. I'm not talking toothache, think blindness, strokes and heart attacks.

Why does it happen?

We make a hormone called insulin whenever we eat. This stops the sugar pile-up in our blood and if our insulin stops working we get diabetes.

Two types

There are two types of diabetes, helpfully called Type One and Type Two.

If we get diabetes when we're young it's more likely to be Type One. This is usually inherited and unavoidable. We stop making insulin. So we need to replace it. With injections.

Type Two is more likely to start when we're older. Or if we're overweight. 'Specially if we're apple shaped and curvy round the middle. If we have Type 2, our insulin stops working properly. But most of us can manage without the injections.

I have diabetes and I feel like a freak.

Your blood is sweeter than average. And one (of millions) of chemicals in your body isn't behaving itself. You're still you. And perfect in every way.

I'm not saying it's easy. Injections, tablets, hospital check-ups - who needs it? But look after yourself. You're worth taking care of. And staying healthy is the name of the game. Don't let the sugary stuff (or lack of it) get you down.

With both sorts of diabetes we need to be careful about what we eat. Figuring out a diabetic diet isn't rocket science. Low fat, high fibre, low sugar, plenty of fresh fruit and veg: we should all be doing that, diabetes or no diabetes.

It should be possible to sort your diabetes so that you can do whatever you want. Easter eggs, sleepovers, spur-of-the-moment curry nights: nothing is off limits as long as you get your treatment sorted. Sure, sugar fests may be a bad move. But nobody really needs Ben and Jerry to get happy. Ask your doctors, nurses and dieticians to explain it all.

My mate is diabetic what can I do?

Don't be afraid. They're still your mate. And mates are essential to:

• Stop us feeling weird. So quit chowing down Revels when you know they can't.
• Understand how we feel. So learn about diabetes.
• Help us when we need it: Sometimes our treatment makes our sugar levels too low. We feel lousy. And may even lose consciousness. This is called 'a hypo' Having mates who know what to do is life-saving.

PS Drs used to diagnose diabetes by sipping someone's urine. Thankfully those days are gone, else I'd be down the job centre looking for a career change.

Further help and advice

Diabetes info
More about the condition

Written by Dr Melissa Sayer

Last updated 17th June 2007

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