Take Care of your Diabetes or your Diabetes will take Care of you

The full and proper name for diabetes is diabetes mellitus, although most people refer to it by the shorter name. Since diabetes testing equipment is available to the home consumer and (in many places) consumers can administer their own insulin injections, there really isn't a reason not to be able to take care of it.

Personal Experience with Diabetic People

I don't have any form of diabetes, not even what is now called pre-diabetes where a person's blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, the most common type. I'm thankful for that, but a lot of people I know aren't so lucky.

My first experience was while I was stationed in North Carolina. One of my clerks was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the late 1980s, but I'm not sure if they classified diabetes into two different types at the time. He ended up being discharged with 100 percent disability because his pancreas had completely stopped working.

When I ran a BBS in the 1990s, I had a regular contributor who doubled as a system operator. He had type 2 diabetes, but he didn't tell me about it until he started suffering from it every day. Prior to that, he had not been following his dietary restrictions. I didn't know that when we saw each other at users group meetings — we stopped at an ice cream parlor after the meeting on a few occasions and he would indulge himself in ice cream which was definitely not good for his condition. His name was Clifton Baird, with a BBS user name of Crypto. He had a masters degree in some kind of mathematics (I never pushed for the exact information) but was unemployed, living off of an inheritance.

Clifton and I spoke over the phone at least every other day once I found out he had diabetes. He would describe rapid weight loss as well as rapid weight gain and he was always overweight. He had circulatory problems in his lower legs and had to wear support stockings in order to promote the circulation. The skin of his legs turned blacked and he admitted himself to a hospital to have his skin flayed, a very painful process.

Clifton died a short time later and I'm positive it's because he didn't follow a proper diet. I'm pretty sure he was getting regular insulin injections. Anyway, I found out he died one day when I called his home and his sister (who lived with him) answered and told me that he laid down to rest during the early afternoon and never woke up.

My wife has an older Filipina friend in the US (Phoenix) who has diabetes and my wife didn't even know about it until I told her. Her friend told me about it a few years ago and I wonder why she never told Josie.

One of my neighbors, a huge guy and former Navy Seabee, has a type of diabetes although he hasn't told me which type. He eats a LOT of rice so I'm guessing it's type 1.

Everything's Connected

Any condition which affects your internal organs in a negative way must be treated as soon as possible. Gall bladder infections and gall stones can cause pancreatic conditions, such as acute pancreatitis, resulting in failure of the pancreas. Pancreatic failure causes diabetes, even if it's temporary.

There is no cure for diabetes, unless it's a temporary form of diabetes such as gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes, if it doesn't go away, can lead to type 2 diabetes or, more rarely, type 1 diabetes.

Actually, there is one cure for the common types of diabetes: A pancreas transplant. Since any living person in their right mind would never donate their only pancreas, you would have to wait for an organ donation from someone recently deceased. Good luck.

Symptoms of Diabetes

One of the reasons that doctors perform blood workups frequently is to detect blood conditions which may lead to diabetes if left unchecked. If a doctor recommends modifying your diet, please pay attention to the doctor's instructions.

If you haven't been diagnosed with diabetes, there are some symptoms which can serve as a warning. While these symptoms may be caused by other conditions, why take chances?

Known diabetes symptoms include frequent urination and increased thirst and consequent increased fluid intake. Type 1 diabetes may also cause a rapid, yet significant weight loss (despite normal or even increased food intake) and mental fatigue. The symptoms for type 2 diabetes are the same, except for the weight loss (although weight loss may be a symptom when the disease begins). The diagnosis for diabetes comes from measuring the blood glucose concentration. It is there that the indicators are found.

Let me reiterate the title of this post: Take care of your diabetes or your diabetes will take care of you, and not in a positive way. Treat your diabetic condition properly and in accordance with a doctor's instructions and you can lead a long and somewhat healthy life while living with diabetes, instead of dying from it.

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