The letters of the word DIABETIC provide a useful aide-memoire for someone having Diabetes to remember the most important things about managing this disease. Although this series of articles present a simplified version of Diabetes and its management, they are simple and straightforward - and are intended to provide an easy to understand explanation of how to deal with this common condition.
D represents Dietary Discipline, I stands for Information, 'A' stands for Attitude and B reminds us of the importance of controlling our Blood Sugar and Blood Pressure.
The next three letters - E,T and I, in that order, indicate the mainstays of treatment of the disease.
Exercise, Tablets and Injections are the Main Forms of Therapy for Diabetes
E stands for Exercise, T for Tablets and I for Injections - and it is important to note that Exercise comes before Tablets and Injections.
The basic problem in Diabetes is that the body cannot manage the sugar (which is refered to as glucose) that it consumes. Ingested food is converted in the gut predominantly into glucose - which passes into the circulation to be carried to various parts of the body, where the body's cells then take up this glucose for use as fuel for the various activities of those cells.
What happens in Diabetes is that the body lacks effective Insulin - the hormone which is produced by an organ called the Pancreas. When the brain gets a message that glucose has entered the blood stream, it releases Insulin which then helps to use up (burn up or metabolise) the glucose.
Because Diabetics lack adequate Insulin, they have to employ other methods to burn up glucose when it enters their blood circulation.
Physical Exercise Controls Diabetes
One very effective method of keeping one's blood sugar under control is Physical Exercise. Everytime you move your muscles, you burn up excess glucose. If your muscles are well toned (through regular strength training and gym workouts) then they are able to burn up more glucose than if they are flabby and underused. Furthermore, if you use your muscles regularly and frequently - as in walking at least 45 minutes each day, or cycling, swimming, jogging or active physical work - then you will burn up more glucose than if you sit at a desk all day and only exercise your hand muscles to eat and your arm muscles to lift a glass to your mouth at the end of the day.
It does not really matter what form of exercise you do, as long as you use your muscles, work up a sweat and get a bit breathless after your "workout" - and you undertake physical exercise for a total of at least 150 minutes (two and a half hours) each week. Of course if you can do mopre, that would be even better!
Doctors often recommend to their diabetic patients that regular physical exercise is probably the most important weapon that a diabetic has to control his or her blood sugar - but how many of us take this advice seriously? Many diabetics depend on the tablets and injections (which, admiottedly, do have an important place) but neglect the exercise aspect of management.
As mentioned above, exercise should be the FIRST method of treatment that one thinks of when attempting to control blood sugar.
Next: Tablets and Injections Used to Treat Diabetes
Sanjiva Wijesinha - Dr. Sanjiva Wijesinha, Associate Professor at Monash University medical school, writes on health, travel and medical topics.
