November is National Diabetes Awareness Month.This year, the theme is Take Charge of Tomorrow: Preventing Diabetes Health Problems.
World Diabetes Day is commemmorated on 14th of every November.It is meant to raise awareness about the impact of diabetes and highlight the opportunities to strengthen the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes.
Diabetes,as defined by the World Health Organization is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.Insulin is the hormone that regulates blood glucose.
The common types of Diabetes are,Diabetes 1 and Diabetes 2.There is a also Gestational Diabetes.
Diabetes 1 is characterized by deficient insulin production and requires daily administration of insulin.It is also referred to as childhood on-set diabetes or juvenile diabetes.
Diabetes 2 affects how the body uses sugar or glucose for energy.It stops the body from using insulin properly which leads to high levels of blood sugar if not treated.
For Gestational Diabetes, it occurs during pregancy.It is hyperglycaemia with glucose values above normal but below those diagnostic of diabetes.The women who suffer from this and their children are at increased risk of getting type 2 diabetes in the future.
According to WHO,the symptoms of diabetes are, feeling thirsty, urge to urinate more often than usual,blurred vision,feeling tired and loosing weight unintentionally.
Over time,Diabetes can damage blood vessels in the heart,eyes,kidneys and nerves.People with the disease have a higher risk of health problems like heart attack,stroke and kidney failure.
It can lead to permanent vision loss by damaging blood vessels in the eye.They can also develop problems with their feet from nerve damage and poor blood flow.
In terms of diagnosis,Gestational diabetes is diagnosed through prenatal screening, while for Diabetes 1 and 2, early diagnosis is accomplished through relatively testing of blood sugar.
Treatment of Diabetes 1 is done through insulin injections;they are mandatory for survival.For Diabetes 2,some patients need to take medicine to help the body manage their blood sugar levels.
Prevention measures include reaching and keeping a healthy body weight,staying physically active by doing a moderate exercise of at least 30 minutes a day,eating a healthy diet by avoiding a lot of sugar and saturated fats and also by not smoking tobacco.
Everyone should know that lifestyle changes are the best way to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
A recent report from WHO reveals that the prevalence of diabetes in Kenya is at 3.3%,and that,due to unawareness among Kenyans, two thirds of diabetic patients are undiagnosed thus a very big challenge to the health sector.
In this month,we all are challenged to create awareness on Diabetes and take the initiative to get diagnosed for the disease. We should spread information regarding this disease as much as we could to save lives.
We do not have to relax and watch the government,Ministry of Health,other private sectors and the mainstream media campaign alone.We have the capacity to inform others about such a killer disease.
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