Diabetes Mellitus or Type 2 Diabetes is the metabolic condition where the body is unable to properly metabolize glucose levels in the bloodstream. This is due to the low levels of or absence of the hormone insulin. Insulin helps cells change blood glucose into building blocks for cellular regeneration and operations. The absence of these building blocks would result in cellular death leading to organ malfunction and even failure.
One of the major causes attributing to the development of the condition known as diabetes mellitus is being overweight. Being overweight means that the individual consumes more food than what is used up, making the body store fat. This fat adds on to weight, leading to many complications. Furthermore, the lack of activity that burns up the fat would hamper the normal functioning of many organs in the body. The kind of food an individual ingests is important to determine if the individual would eventually contract the condition known as Type 2 diabetes. Many overweight individuals do not realize that they are living with diabetes until it is too late and complications arise.
The first step to determine if an individual who is overweight may have developed or is at the cusp of developing diabetes mellitus would be the following:
a) Excessive urination or thirst and hunger;
b) Overall weakness, fatigue and irritability;
c) Tingling in the extremities or numbness in the same areas;
d) Slow recovery and recuperation from cuts and/or bruising;
e) Frequency in contracting infection or having itchy skin
Once these are experienced by an individual, one needs to have their blood sugar checked. This is done with a simple blood test after fasting to determine the amount of glucose present in their bloodstream. Once this test is performed, it can be conclusively determined if the individual has diabetes mellitus or is pre-diabetic. Being pre-diabetic means that the blood sugar levels are at borderline diabetes levels.
In order to counteract this, an individual needs to undergo a two-pronged process. The first step to be undertaken would be for the overweight individual to lose weight. This can be done by changing dietary habits from fattening food to healthier cuisines. Together with this dietary modification would be undergoing an exercise regimen designed to help the individual lose weight. Aside from the major lifestyle change, one needs to be prescribed the appropriate diabetes medication to manage the disease from running its course and ravage the individual.
Living with diabetes mellitus is not an easy life to live. Major medical problems arise as complications from diabetes mellitus, some may include cardiovascular issues, kidney problems and a whole lot more. One of the major causes of diabetes mellitus is being overweight. Thus to avoid developing this dreaded disease, one needs to have a healthy diet and lifestyle each day. Regularly, one also needs to have their blood checked to determine their blood glucose levels. Once these are done, then preventing the development of this disease can be done and one can live a longer, fuller and healthier life in the long run.
By Bobby Castro