insideKENT Magazine Issue 49 - April 2016 | Page 69
HEALTH+WELLNESS
world health day: diabetes
Diabetes can be serious, but it’s something that isn’t often discussed, something that
is usually kept secret, or talked of in terms of being the ‘worst case scenario’ illness
that could easily happen to someone if they don’t take care of themselves.
The truth is that diabetes doesn’t just affect those
who are inactive or overweight. It doesn’t just
creep up on the people who eat too much sugar
or drink too much alcohol. It can affect anyone.
In fact, in 1996 there was an estimated 1.4 million
people who suffered from the disease in the UK.
Today, that number has grown to 3.5 million (and
this is just the people who know about the
disease; studies suggest that around 30% of
sufferers have yet to be diagnosed). And this
trend is the same across the world. By 2030, the
World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that
diabetes will be the seventh biggest cause of
death.
So if cases of diabetes are growing, it’s about
time we knew more about it; that’s why, on 7th
April 2016, World Health Day is focusing on how
to beat diabetes.
What Is It?
Diabetes is the disease that occurs when the
pancreas does not produce enough insulin. Insulin
is a hormone which regulates the sugar in our
blood – we need some sugar (also known as
glucose) in order to have energy, to get us through
the day safely and successfully, but too much
sugar is dangerous, and people with diabetes
can have a build-up of sugar which can be life
threatening. When the sugar or glucose reaches
dangerous levels (hyperglycaemia), it can cause
strokes, heart attacks, nerve damage, kidney
failure, blindness, and infections which can
sometimes lead to amputations.
Type 1 diabetes is diagnosed when the sufferer
doesn’t make any insulin at all, and needs
injections of insulin to regulate their blood sugar.
Type 2 diabetes – which is much more common,
and makes up around 90% of all diabetes cases
– is when the sufferer makes some insulin, but
not enough to do the job it needs to do. Either
that, or the body can’t use the insulin properly
and therefore still can’t regulate the sugar.
and being older. Type 1 diabetes is less easy to )