Diabetes

What is diabetes?

Diabetes mellitus is a condition in which the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. Glucose comes from the digestion of starchy foods such as bread, rice, potatoes, chapatis, yams and plantain, from sugar and other sweet foods, and from the liver which makes glucose.

Insulin is vital for life. It is a hormone produced by the pancreas, that helps the glucose to enter the cells where it is used as fuel by the body.

Diabetes types

There are two main types of diabetes. These are:

• Type 1 diabetes
• Type 2 diabetes

Type 1

Type 1 diabetes develops if the body is unable to produce any insulin. This type of diabetes usually appears before the age of 40.  Type 1 diabetes is the least common of the two main types and accounts for between 5 – 15% of all people with diabetes.

Type 2

Type 2 diabetes develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly (known as insulin resistance). In most cases this is linked with being overweight. This type of diabetes usually appears in people over the age of 40, though in South Asian and African-Caribbean people often appears after the age of 25. However, recently, more children are being diagnosed with the condition, some as young as seven. Type 2 diabetes is the most common of the two main types and accounts for between 85 - 95% of all people with diabetes.

There are currently over 2.3 million people with diabetes in the UK and there are up to another 750,000 people with diabetes who have the condition and don’t know it.

Treatments

People with diabetes often need additional treatments to making lifestyle changes such as medication to control their diabetes, blood pressure and blood fats.  This section helps to explain more about some of the more common treatments for people with diabetes.  Remember that the information in this section is general information and it is important that you discuss any concerns or problems you may have with your medications and treatments with your healthcare team.

Coping with diabetes

Being diagnosed with diabetes and living with diabetes can sometimes feel overwhelming – this is quite normal.  In this section of the website you can find out more about how diabetes may affect your emotions and how you feel.

Your emotions

One of the most difficult things to come to terms with is that diabetes is for life.  In the weeks and months after being diagnosed with diabetes emotions are often pushed to one side as you try to get to grips with new treatments and changing your lifestyle.

Everyone reacts differently when they hear the news that they have diabetes.  You may be initially overwhelmed, shocked, afraid, angry and anxious.  Some people go through a stage very similar to mourning – as though they are grieving for lost health.  Some people hide these feelings but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are coping without difficulty.

Over time it is likely that you will become more confident in your ability to cope with everyday activities and the initial turmoil you may have felt should start to fade.

Caring for someone with diabetes

People respond in many different ways when they are diagnosed with diabetes.  No matter what capacity you know that person in – whether a husband, wife, friend or carer - it’s important that they can count on you for support. 

The effect that someone else’s diagnosis can place on you is often overlooked.  You too probably want to find out more about the condition and know more about how you can help.  Perhaps you want information about how your partner’s diet may change and how you can help by changing your cooking habits.  Or, you may want to understand about how diabetes is going to affect their health in the long term.

Remember that there is lots of information on our website that can help with your understanding about the condition.  Your friend or family member’s healthcare team can also help by answering your questions.  It’s sometimes a good idea to write the questions down before an appointment.

There are also many local voluntary support groups and Diabetes UK care support events that may be able to help you come to terms with the diagnosis too.  Don’t let your needs be overlooked.

Eating well

Balancing your diet when you are diagnosed with diabetes can be challenging. Although the food choices you make and your eating habits are important in helping you manage your diabetes, you should be able to continue enjoying a wide variety of foods as part of healthy eating.

Eating a balanced diet, managing your weight, and following a healthy lifestyle, together with taking any prescribed medication and monitoring where appropriate will benefit your health enormously.

Remember, in the long run it is better to make small changes that you feel you can stick to rather than completely altering your diet and not sticking to it.
Taking steps to balance your diet will help you control your:

• blood glucose levels
• blood fats – cholesterol and triglycerides
• blood pressure

It will also help regulate your weight. If you are overweight losing weight will help you control your diabetes and will also reduce your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.

You are sure to have lots of questions about your diet.  A registered dietitian will be able to answer your questions. Diabetes UK recommends that everyone with diabetes should see a registered dietitian at diagnosis, and then have regular reviews for specific advice on their eating habits.

Keeping active

Being active is good for all of us but is especially important for people with diabetes. Physical activity, combined with healthy eating and any diabetes medication that you might be taking, will help you to manage your diabetes and prevent long-term diabetes complications.

Being more physically active often conjures up images of gym memberships, long distance runs and aerobics in a leotard, yet this need not be the case. The great news is that you can become more active by making small changes to your lifestyle.

This section of the website offers you a chance to think about what:

• makes being more active important to you
• might be getting in the way of you taking the plunge
• changes you can make to your daily routine.

It lays out the long-term aim for activity levels, providing you with
lots of ideas and top tips for being more active.

There is also information for the more serious sports people amongst you.
If you have any concerns at all about becoming more active, never be afraid to ask for advice – your diabetes team is there to help.

For more information please contact  www.diabetes.org.uk