The first time that I heard the name diabetes is from television or movies. I don’t know what it is and never try to find out the meaning either. Back then I was only interested in the storyline of the television drama or movies. Few years later as my parents start getting old, the word diabetes appear in my life again. This time it got my attention because doctor says my mom has diabetes. Thus I have no choice but to learn everything about diabetes. So what exactly is diabetes? Honestly, I’m still learning about it. Even though doctor explain it several time slowly, it still seems like there are so much more to learn about diabetes. I did my study and research about diabetes online and below is my understanding about diabetes.
Diabetes causes sugar level high. The first advice given by doctor is control and reduce sugar intake. This is difficult for my mom because she loves to eat, especially things like chocolate, sweets, ice cream, chips and many other junk food. There are basically 3 types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes means body is unable to produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes means body is not producing enough insulin. The last type of diabetes is call Gestational diabetes. My mom is categorized as type 2 diabetes. That means my mom has to eat healthy and exercise a lot.
So what does it means after having diagnosed as diabetes? Well, the first thing that comes to mind is a change of lifestyle. My mom have to be careful with the type of food consume. She will need to constantly check and monitoring her sugar level. The most difficult part for her is to cut down all the junk food she loves. It was hard at the beginning. Unfortunately she has no choice but try to adjust her lifestyle. It took her about 3 months to adept the new lifestyle.
If you are staying with family member who has diabetes, you might notice some symptoms or even complications which due to diabetes. As for my mom, the first thing I notice is that it takes longer time to heal. Flue, cough, sore throat takes at least twice the time to heal completely compare to normal healthy person. She also went through surgery for cataracts and develops a bit of anxiety. All the above is consider normal as a person starts getting old, but it is a bit more serious if the person too have diabetes. Thus if you witness something unusual or strange about the action or behavior of a diabetes patient, it is better to consult a doctor. A bad control diabetes can cause a lot of complications.