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Living
with Diabetes
To
control diabetese regulate your eating habits and live longer.
You don't have to give up anything; just control the food
serving you take and burn what you eat by walking or any other
form of exercise you prefer.
By
Dr. Syed Asif Iqbal Hashmi
Diabetes
affects a large portion of the population. The risks
associated with it are serious but can be controlled with
lifestyle changes. Ensuring a well balanced diet and good
exercise routine will definitely help in managing the disease
and preventing its side effects. Over eating,
especially sweet and rich dishes, is detrimental to health. In
some cases it can cause diabetes, too, which is actually a
genetically transmitted disease spreading like bushfire in a
jungle. But remember: bad eating habits can culminate in
diabetes, too.
What
is diabetes?
Diabetes
is a disease caused when the body does not properly produce
insulin or does not utilize the insulin produced by the body.
According
to a latest study, diabetes is currently the 5th leading cause
of death throughout the world and the number of adults with
diabetes in Pakistan, in 2007, was approximately 7 million and
is expected to increase to more than 14 million people by
2025.
There
are two types of the disease. Type I Diabetes is where the
body does not produce insulin and Type II is where the body
resists insulin. The majority of people diagnosed with this
disease have Type II. Symptoms of diabetes include extreme
thirst, hazy vision, excessive hunger, weight fluctuation,
fatigue and frequent urination. Diabetes is often controlled
with insulin and prescription drugs, but diet and exercise
play a large part in the ability to control the disease. The
dilemma is that most of Type II diabetics remain undiagnosed
until complications appear, so all the high risk individuals
should be screened for diabetes and pre-diabetes. Higher
fasting glucose levels are associated with greater risk of
complications which include damage to kidneys, eyes or
sensation alterations, and it may be congenital or hereditary.
Who
should watch out?
 Those
children whose both parents are diabetics have a 50-70 percent
risk of inheriting the disease. This type of diabetes in
children is called Type 1. Such children are prone to succumb
to this disease either in childhood or in their twenties. With
one parent a diabetic, the risk factor decreases to 25 to 30
per cent. The child might get affected in later stages like at
40. However, proper diet care can keep diabetes at bay for a
considerable period of time. So, parents, if you are
diabetic/s, be very careful with the diet of your children.
Controlling
diabetes
Ensure
a healthy diet by concentrating on foods such as vegetables,
grains, fiber and legumes. These foods will help regulate
sugar in the blood stream. Avoid junk food and foods that
contain sugar such as bakery items like cakes, cookies and
pies, puddings and other sweetmeats. Alcohol, tobacco and
caffeine should also be avoided to maintain a nourishing diet.
Use a glucometer to monitor your sugar level.
Misconceptions
There
is a big misconception among people that they can use honey as
a sugar alternative but
through some recent studies honey is found to be as bad as
sugar. The key to controlling your diabetes is to watch your
diet and regular exercise.
Even low calorie or low
fat food can be bad if you take it regularly. So be careful in
taking low calorie soft drinks and fat free milk, too. Soft
drinks having 0 calories is all right for weight watchers, but
not for diabetics.
Yoghurt
also contains fat. Dahi is condensed and has cream. 1 kilo
dahi is made by at least 1.25 to 1.5 litres of milk. Same is
the problem with cottage cheese and butter. So avoid all these
dairy products in big quantities. Go for fat free milk or
cottage cheese.
The
dos and don'ts:
1.
Stop eating anything containing sugar and honey. Initially, it
may be hard but then again it is very important to curtail the
sugar intake. It is possible to have this food about once a
week, but then the amount you can eat depends on you blood
sugar level and should be carefully monitored.
2.
Cut down on burgers, and stop soft drinks (sodas can be very
bad for you) and French fries and all other junk food.
 3.
Eat more fruit and vegetables. Try to have boiled vegetables
or salads. When having fruit, avoid fruit drinks, but eat the
fruit since a lot of fruit drinks have added sugar. If you
want to drink it in juice form, do not add sugar to it, just
liquidize and drink it, but only once in a while. There are
some fruits like mangoes and banana which should be strictly
avoided because they are high in carbohydrates and sugar. It
is better to eat fruit than to take it in the form of juices.
You probably eat one apple at a time, but in juice form your
intake is 4-5 apples! Same goes for oranges as well.
4.
Try to avoid eating bread or any type of food containing
starch such as pizza and eat more veggies, such as cucumbers,
cabbage, and carrots etc. When preparing salads, do not add
lots of sugar or salt, as more salt taken over a long period
of time may cause an increase in blood pressure.
5.
You can have bran crackers or bread made out of kurakkan (bajra)
flour or with added bran. But do not over-eat bread, chapattis
etc. You could make sandwiches with vegetables such as carrot
and beetroot.
Exercise
religiously
Exercise
helps promote good health and combats against the negative
effects of diabetes. It is important to exercise regularly and
maintain appropriate weight. People who are inactive or
overweight have a higher risk of developing diabetes and are
prone to suffer from more side effects caused by the disease.
It is especially important to exercise to build muscle.
Starting a weight programme will increase muscle mass which
will increase sensitivity to insulin.
Affect
of insulin in diabetes
The
drug insulin plays a major role of ensuring that the glucose
levels remain at a safe level. The role of insulin is to move
glucose from the bloodstream into muscle, and fat cells area;
it can be acclimated as fuel.
A
new research conducted by a panel of doctors from the American
Diabetes Association (ADA) has revealed that patients
diagnosed with diabetes Type II should be prescribed insulin
from the start. According to the new research doctors should
prefer insulin as their first line of therapy rather to use it
as a last resort.
Vitamin
supplements are frequently used to help treat diabetes with
the most commonly recommended ones being vitamins B6, C and E.
This can and should only be advised by the doctor according to
your requirement.
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Vibrio Cholerae, which thrives in areas where proper
environmental management is scarce. Untreated sewage,
contaminated water and insufficient sanitation do not
discourage the rapid growth of this pathogen. Typical at-risk
countries are those where basic infrastructure is not
available and essential requirements for clean water and
appropriate hygiene are not met. Person to person transmission
is rare and the frequent cause for invasion of the pathogen is
coming in direct contact with, that is, bathing in, drinking,
cooking in or handling water saturated with impurities and
contamination. Eating raw or undercooked seafood such as
shellfish is also a known source of cholera.
Pakistan
has not eluded brutal outbreaks of cholera and the months
January, December and May to July are peppered with frequent
cases of the disease. Prevalent cholera occurs in annual
epidemic waves during the dry season, especially in the rural
areas of Pakistan. 
urinating. If we fail to replenish these losses, we set
ourselves up to become dehydrated. The danger of dehydration
becomes acute in the summer months. Dehydration is extremely
dangerous as it affects our kidney function, and is also bad
for skin, which shrivels up like dry leaves!
*
Sports drinks can encourage active people to drink more fluids
because they are flavored and are higher in sodium 
looked radiant throughout winter, suddenly looks dull,
blemished and oily. This is because, in winter your skin's
natural oils solidifies, whereas in summer it flows freely.
Because of this, most people need a lighter moisturiser in hot
weather.