Hi guys! For the last two weeks, I’ve been researching and getting myself more familiar with the topic of diabetes. Did you know that as many as 28% of adults with full-blown diabetes don’t even know they have it? Heart disease, stroke, kidney damage, nerve damage, eye disease, foot damage, and hearing loss are all linked to diabetes. That’s why diabetes is the #1 cause of blindness, kidney failures, and amputations. Experts even predict that by 2050, one in three adults will have diabetes.
However, because complications take around 20 years to become apparent, identifying people at risk of diabetes early and taking corrective action can thankfully delay the disease and its consequences perhaps for the rest of their lives. Some major factors of diabetes would include family history of the disease (for me, that would be my dad’s side of the family), obesity, gestational diabetes, physical inactivity and older age. While not everyone will progress to full blown diabetes, overtime, prediabetes can cause much of the same underlying damage to tissues and organs.
One tip to avoid diabetes would be to exercise more. Moderate exercise 30 minutes a day, 5 or more days a week is recommended. Honestly, this is kind of a challenge for me (being the embarrassingly unathletic person I am), but I do enjoy team based games, so maybe I’ll try to organize a few ultimate frisbee games with some friends. Another thing is that as Americans, in general, we all should consider ourselves at risk. Especially with so many fast food chains like McDonald’s, we tend to eat too much from these places. That’s why, my goals next are to find out what foods we should and shouldn’t eat to avoid diabetes, try (or avoid) them myself, and then share my thoughts/opinions on them. :)
My topic is sugar addiction and one of the side effects is diabetes! I have been researching about diabetes more this week and its shocking how many Americans have diabetes! I think that diet is huge part of this, eat healthy-> be healthy!
ReplyDeleteI really love this idea April! At her last check up my sister was told she had prediabetes and that she needed to work on eating less sugar. As a family we try to exercise at least 3 days a week but in order to prevent diabetes it is good to exercise a little extra. The doctor recommended high intensity but quick exercise, like a 30 minute interval training session. Maybe you could try that out for yourself and see how it works. My sisters favorite is the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred available on Youtube. We've been cutting out sugar altogether and using agave nectar and dates as substitutes, which have a low glycemic index. There are so many people at risk for diabetes in america and like you said, a lot of them don't even know it. This is why awareness of this issue should be spread to more Americans.
ReplyDeleteHi April,
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great idea. Awareness regarding diabetes has increased recently, but awareness regarding pre-diabetes could save the lives of millions upon millions of people to come. I can relate to this on a personal level, as I have a grandma with diabetes and an aunt with pre-diabetes, and I would like to take preventative measures to ensure that I do not get diabetes as well. How will you implement your findings into real life situations? I am excited to see what is in store for your blog; good luck!
I really like your idea April!, the information you presented was very detailed, elaborate, and easy to follow!. Overall, your vision on this 20 time project seems clear and you spent a good time researching the effects of diabetes. Another cool feature of your post was that you were able to give tips to people in order to avoid the onset of Diabetes. I believe these tips should continue throughout the process of 20 time since it will prove valuable to many people suffering from this disease. My only question is that after your research for Diabetes is done, what are your next steps to expanding your project/idea? Are you going to contact a medical professional?. Overall you did a fantastic job and keep up the good work!
ReplyDelete- Shayan Moraveji