Throughout life, people come into contact with many diseases and illnesses. The disease that hits closest to home with me is diabetes. Diabetes really affects a person’s everyday life in many ways. It changes how someone’s life becomes a lot more complicated, and how he or she needs to look after him or herself a lot better. When someone is diagnosed with diabetes, he or she takes on a greater responsibility to monitor and keep him or herself healthy. There are two types of diabetes, but for me, it’s type 2 diabetes that runs in my family, on my mom’s side. From all the stories I’ve heard of my grandpa having diabetes, I’ve learnt a lot about what it is, how it affects your life, and why I should try to prevent myself from becoming diabetic.
Type 2 diabetes, also known as Adult Diabetes, is caused when the body doesn’t make enough insulin, or when the body makes enough insulin but cells are unable to take it in to make energy out of it. Insulin is used in the body to move glucose into cells, which will later be converted into energy. Since the insulin intake is lacking in people who have diabetes, there is an increase in the amount of sugar in the bloodstream. The high amount of sugar causes the pancreas to create more insulin; however it’s still not enough to get the sugar into cells. Overtime, high blood sugar levels can lead to other body effects such as: kidney failure, cardiovascular damage, neurological damage, as well as other issues.
Type 2 diabetes prompts many changes in the life of someone diagnosed with it. For starters, people with diabetes have to modify their diet to make sure they keep their blood level even. A healthy diet is essential, eating healthy meals regularly at the right intervals, and in good proportions keeps blood sugar levels under control. Regular exercise and weight-management are other key parts of managing diabetes. Oral pills are to be taken to help the pancreas make more insulin, and even pricking of the finger to test the blood sugar levels may be needed. Life insurance is hard to get if you have diabetes, and it’s very expensive if you do manage to get it. Other costly things are blood monitoring equipment, test strips, medication and insulin. There are also the expenses for the change in diet, costs of exercise equipment and/or gym memberships. The quality of life is also affected with tiredness that occurs because of poor sleep patterns. Diabetics are also thirstier because of the excess amount of insulin made. The body tries to dilute the extra insulin that the kidneys can’t get rid of fast enough by getting more liquid in the system, causing diabetics to drink more. Lifestyle habits must be adjusted to fit the diabetic life.
My grandpa was diagnosed with diabetes while in his sixties. He always used to eat lots of sugary foods, which caused his diagnoses. If he had watched what he had eaten and proportioned everything better, he wouldn’t have had diabetes. Since the day I was born, till the day he died, he was diabetic, although from the way he ate, no one would have thought so. I remember even still all the times he’d let my sisters, cousins and I have so much junk food, and he’d enjoy it with us. He probably should have been more careful though. He had to take many pills everyday to help his insulin, and he had to prick his finger to check his blood sugar level. I was only about five years old when I remember all this happening, but I do remember all the pills he used to have each morning. I can’t imagine having to go through that everyday, so I will learn from my grandpa and make sure I stay eating healthy and get lots of exercise.
It’s clear that diabetes has a big impact on someone’s life if he or she is diagnosed with it. Being a diabetic puts a lot of stress on someone, causing him or her to take more care in looking after him or herself. Knowing that diabetes runs in my family, I definitely take care to make sure I don’t eat too many sugary foods and that I get a lot of exercise. After researching about diabetes, I’ve learned a lot more than I knew before. With all this new information, I can use it to try to prevent myself from becoming a diabetic.
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Well written. It is difficult to change our ways.
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