Getting Healthy-Diabetes Edition: Understanding Diabetes and the Risk Factors

Understanding Diabetes and the Risk Factors

What I’ve learned about Diabetes after talking to my Doctor and Dietician!

When I first got diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, I was like Oh Wonderful!  I knew that it was going to be a life changing journey for me but I really didn’t understand how I was going to “cope” and live with it!  Thankfully today, there is a better understanding of what it is and how we can cope with the disease and hopefully one day find a cure for it! 

My instinct already told me that I had diabetes before my doctor confirmed the diagnosis I had already given myself.  All the signs were there.  I had been monitoring my glucose levels after I had lost my first baby after only 8 weeks gestation.  And with my family genetics, I knew I was at a higher risk of having the disease. And being overweight didn’t help me either!   I just didn’t know which type of diabetes I had.  Was it Type I or Type II?

When you have diabetes, your pancreas either makes little or no insulin or your body prevents the insulin your body does make from working like it should.  Type I diabetes is where your body does not produce any insulin, a hormone that is made in your pancreas that helps sugar move through blood into your cells, or doesn’t make enough insulin.  Type II on the other hand can be described as where your body does not properly use the insulin that your body does make.  So there I was, knowing the fact that I had Diabetes but waiting to see which one I had!

I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes.  I was in that 1% of the “90% -95% of individuals whom have Type II Diabetes” (Cornerstones4care.com).  I even had risk factors that contributed to my diagnosis.  According to Cornerstones4care.com there are two categories of risk factors:

Risk Factors that cannot be changed:

·        Being over the age of 45

·        Having diabetes in the family

·        Being a member of certain ethnic groups

·        Having had diabetes during a pregnancy or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds

Risk Factors that can be changed:

·        Being physically active

·        Being overweight

·        Having high blood pressure

So right then and there I knew I had to make a change!  It wasn’t about if I was going to make a change, but when I was going to start changing my life and taking care of the factors that I could change!

Make sure you  check out this wonderful resource:

Cornerstones4care: This is a wonderful resource with tons of information! Online through the site, you can make meal plans, track your progress, and lo your every move!