What Is Diabetes And How Does It Affect People?
We have all seen the commercials on television where the actor is very excited about their new diabetes meter for testing their blood sugar levels. Some of the actors are very famous like Wilford Brimley or BB King and the commercials run all day long every single day. Diabetes is a big business to the medical supply industry but what is diabetes? The questions of what is diabetes is asked by a lot of people and the answer is not as complex as you may think.
Diabetes is the inability for the patient?s digestive system to produce enough insulin to break down the glucose from carbohydrates that are taken when a person eats food. If there isn?t enough insulin to break down the glucose, or the patient?s system is resistant to the effects of insulin, then that glucose over takes the system and can begin to damage the internal organs of the body. So when you ask ?what is diabetes?? you are really asking a question about the digestive system of a human being and how that system processes the different materials that we take in. As our society becomes more and more dependent on processes sugars and simple carbohydrates more and more people are developing diabetes symptoms. This prompts the World Health Organization to answer the question of ?what is diabetes?? with the answer that it is becoming an epidemic.
Diabetes is the inability to combat the rise in glucose in the digestive system that comes from the normal intake of calories from food so the first course of treatment a doctor will usually take is a change in the patient?s diet and exercise routines. What is diabetes? biggest enemy is complex carbohydrates because complex carbohydrates take much longer to digest and therefore the insulin need to offset their glucose production is not as great. Less glucose is what diabetes hates because less glucose means no more diabetes. So the doctor will recommend a change in diet and tell the patient to lose weight. In many cases of type 2 diabetes this course of action is effective and containing the diabetes. In other cases it is not.
Diabetes is beginning to affect more people in the western world as our society changes its diet to include less healthy food. It is true what they say that fruits and vegetables are very good for you and you should eat them every day. But as fast food restaurants and sugary snacks begin to take the place of real food in our society it is only a matter of time before diabetes is the number 1 health issue all over the world.
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