Believe it or not, diabetes is one the best things that has ever happened to me.
Diabetes is, for all intents and purposes, a diagnosis. But I prefer to think of it as an action word, both in my personal life and in my work as a registered nurse. If you’re willing to consider diabetes as a catalyst for change, your diagnosis can be positive turning point in your life.
The American Diabetes Association reports that 11.8 million seniors, age 65 and over, have diabetes (2012). And things aren’t much better north of the border, where it’s reported that close to 1 million Canadians, age 65 and over, have diabetes (2014).
That means you’re far from alone in your diagnosis. So take advantage of that fact. Educational programs and peer-to-peer support groups can do a tremendous amount of good. Defeatdiabetes.org has a great tool that allows you to search for support groups by city and state. The Canadian Diabetes Association offers a similar search tool.
Type 2 diabetes also forces us to take a good hard look in the mirror. We’re confronted, sometimes overnight, with the fact that we need to make a long list of lifestyle changes. With that said, healthy changes such as eating well, exercising and finding better ways to cope with stress can have other benefits too. For example, adopting a diabetic diet can help with weight loss, lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels and improve heart health, all of which can reduce your risk of heart attack, stroke or kidney disease.
The National Council on Aging reports that 80% of older adults have at least one chronic health condition that may increase their risk of diabetes.
What that tells me is that almost everyone has room to brush up on healthy habits, not just those living with diabetes. By wrangling diabetes numbers back to where they belong, you may also see improvements in other areas, such as side affects that are associated with high blood sugar. These include blurry vision, lethargy, increased urination, moodiness and decreased sexual vitality.
And since 90% of the 83 million people in the US living with prediabetes are unaware that they have it, raising public awareness is critically important.
Editor’s Note: According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, nearly 50% of those with prediabetes will go on to develop type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes can occur without you knowing it, so getting tested is important.Take a quick prediabetes risk test at DoIHavePrediabetes.org, and talk to your doctor about the results.
