November is National Diabetes Awareness Month
clicking on this picture will lead you to my clinic website if you haven't checked it out yet.
*per AI*
"That's correct! November is recognized as Diabetes Awareness Month, a time when various organizations and individuals raise awareness about diabetes, its prevention, management, and the challenges faced by people living with the condition. The goal is to educate the public about diabetes, promote early detection, and support efforts to find a cure. During this month, you may find various campaigns, events, and activities focused on increasing awareness of diabetes and its impact on individuals and communities. It's an opportunity to learn more about diabetes and take steps to improve your own health and support those affected by the condition."
Diabetes has been in my life for most of my life. As a child, I learned much of what it was when I heard the horrible diagnosis hearing those three words regarding my niece: Type one Diabetes. She was only 16 months when she was diagnosed and imagine being an 8-year-old girl watching her older brother and mother practice with needles and pricking their finger as if this is what will be done to my niece. A few years later, I would approach this monster word once again as my mother was diagnosed as a borderline diabetic. Around the same time, my father was diagnosed with Type two Diabetes. It was so confusing to me. My parents were not taking a shot but they were pricking their fingers. I knew it was something that I could live with if I had it but you could also lose limbs as my mother's aunt did and she sadly passed away from its effects when I was around 18 years old.
As I grew older, they had their stereotypes of this disease. Commercials were advertising only people who seemed overweight or obese with diabetes when my father was quite slim. They made it seem like it was for older people when my niece was just a toddler diagnosed. They made it seem like it was simply a thing you could live with when it took out my great aunt. I even heard the rumor that if you have a sickle cell trait or the disease you are more likely to get it. Currently, my sister and brothers have this so-called trait and none of the three of them have diabetes and they are in their 50's. If you have a BMI that is considered overweight, you are most likely to get it- especially when you are pregnant and the most likely you are to have diabetes when pregnant you are more likely to get it after giving birth. My first pregnancy they attempted to label me as such but could not. For the second pregnancy I "volunteered as tribute" but they explained it was not so easy. So, what is the issue?
Diabetes Mellitus is in different forms and types:
- Type 1 Diabetes: Back in the day, this was considered juvenile onset Diabetes but there are people who are not juveniles who have diabetes so bad they will fall into this category. My brother-in-law lived here for a while until he had a donor pancreas. He no longer has diabetes. My niece, who is now in her 30's, lives in this camp. She continues to take insulin and checks herself daily. I have seen people on the insulin pump which it is automatic and attached to the hip.
- Type 2 Diabetes: Back in the day, this was considered, Adult-Onset Diabetes. I like to think of this as the "exhausted diabetes" of the bunch. A simple way of putting it, the pancreas is tired from all the work of releasing insulin. Type one, the cells in the pancreas that make insulin are not there. ( I like the analogy of the factory being up but no one is working.) In type two, there are four people working in the factory while there are settings for 50 people to work- everyone is exhausted and called in. Are many of these people overweight or obese? Yes, but there are other factors that can lead to this.
- Gestational Diabetes: This was the camp they were trying to place me in during my first pregnancy. At the time, I was a runner and a yogi during my first pregnancy and ate extremely healthily. (lean meats, vegetables, fruit, minimally processed foods, and LOTS of water.) I took a fasting blood sugar test and failed. I had to do a three-hour fasting blood sugar and it was horrible! I abhorred the sugary, sappy drink! I was cleared and was not diagnosed with gestational diabetes and continued my walks happily until I had a fast labor. The second pregnancy I failed the first test once again and begged to not take the 3-hour test and told them to just diagnose me with gestational diabetes. They strongly urged me to take the test. I reluctantly did and dodged the bullet once more. I know of one person who did have it with two of three pregnancies. She is not a diabetic and she has very active happy kids. In this diabetes, the factory has workers but many of them are not working- they aren't even supposed to be in the factory but in the daycare or greeting people in the front. ( Hormone levels are all over the place because of the growth of a human being inside another human being)
- Monogenic Diabetes: A "new kid" but not. This is from a genetic disorder that has forced a shutdown of the pancreas that creates and releases insulin.
- Secondary Diabetes: These are the newer kids on the block- some outside force has caused issues in their blood sugar levels (medications) causing diabetes.
- Corticosteroids usage
- I have seen patient cases where they went from "borderline" diabetes to full-blown Type I Diabetes after a corticosteroid injection from a pain management physician. This is beginning to happen more than you know.
- Hormone disturbances such as Cushing's
- I would like to throw PCOS into this category as many women are on metformin and they are told to control the symptoms of PCOS.
- I love to throw COVID into this bag! (Along with any other parasitic and bacterial infections and yes, that can lead to either Type I or Type II DM.) Check out the links below as they did studies that note a RISE in diabetes risk or a future diagnosis. Man, COVID-19- "The gift that keeps on giving." ( I am being VERY sarcastic. COVID sucks.)
- Have I seen this in action- YES!!! I had a patient who was considered a "borderline" diabetic and was diagnosed with COVID in 2020 when the scare was new and the shutdown happened. He died within a few days after.
- Pancreatitis can land in this camp. I have not seen it but I have seen people that have had pancreatitis to later on acquire Type II. It is a slow process but can it be sped up and put into this camp- yes.
There are some other factors that I have not mentioned such as the opposite effects (Hypoglycemia- check my website for a blog on this as I will most likely talk about that on there) but this is most of it. Now, the effects of diabetes are very known now as there are more and more Americans are suffering. There is still an issue of prescription corticosteroids and injections and let's not get into the environmental factors leading to secondary diabetes and the increase in gestational diabetes. Diabetes is approaching a reason for death fast! As of October 2023- the three leading causes of death are 1. Heart disease 2. Cancer 3. COVID- WHAT!?!? Yup- welcome to the future where nosocomial infections, flu, etc are blown out of the water, and guess who they have as a partner in crime?
I am being funny but very serious at the same time.
So, this has become more of what I would post on my professional blog but because I have lots of jargon and Walter Brimley on here I will keep it here. So, this month move more. Eat more plants- I am not saying be a vegan like myself but I am suggesting adding more veggies to the diet. Drink more water. Laugh more. Just walking 15 minutes daily can reduce the risk if you are in the pre-diabetic arena. Keep researching more about diabetes because I promise you, this was not supposed to be as long of a post as it was. Honestly, I have been avoiding posting because I was scared floodgates were going to open. So, I will have another blog similar to this on my website and I am talking a LOT about diabetes- I have lived with it through loved ones- family, friends, and patients. So, get checked out. Come see a doctor like myself. Next blog, I will get back to the fun stuff of posting food and recipes because I have not done that in a while. But, there are people who have had a reversal with diabetes with, you guessed it- A VEGAN DIET. Also, I have registered myself as a plant-based provider. What this means is I can help with the transition, education on the diet, what are some great things to eat and how to cook vegan food. World Vegan Day was November 1st and I love posting pics from when I was younger and now. Aw, I will post some food on here:
Spaghetti with Italian "meat"
I took a container of mushrooms and two handfuls of raw walnuts placed them in my ninja and did a grind. I added seasoning (Italian seasoning, black pepper, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder) and apple cider vinegar to a pan and cooked. I did use Rao's Marinara sauce which had no sugar. My toppings in this picture are vegan parmesan, nutritional yeast, oregano, and red pepper chili flakes. OMG!!! So good! The probiotics drink I found on clearance sale at the grocery store for $1.05!!! SCORE!! Again, I am rusty on the recipe-creating.
Take care of yourself and others. Thankful month is upon us. Be thankful.
SOURCES
*side note- please do not ask me if I am for or against the vaccine. *
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