Diabetes

When a person is diagnosed with Diabetes, the message hits him hard and affects him psychologically. This is what I could observe with three of my close friends. All three of them are around forty and are well placed and work as software engineers in reputed firms. One of them called me one evening and broke the news as if hell has fallen on him. Till that time I had very little knowledge of diabetes expect that it affects only the rich possibly because of their habit of eating lots of sweets. So when my friend told me that he is diagnosed with the disease and looked very worried, I wanted to learn more about it and on the psychological aspects. This friend of mine is a strong personality and after I saw him in that very bad shape I knew that diabetes is more dangerous than possibly what we think about it. So I did some amateur research on the subject and compared it with many friends and relatives who I know are having diabetes for quite sometime. The interesting part when I talked to them personally is that all of them fear the disease and do try to control it by various means. Some of the factors I found are given below:
Those who are around forty, physically inactive and lead a sedentary life style are more prone to get the disease as long as their physical activity is very less.
Those (the educated) who are affected by the disease know very little about it in spite of it being a common disease. Once they are diagnosed they worry a lot about it for the first few months and do take their morning walk and food control very seriously. But after a few months the seriousness come down and they become more casual about it but they always keep in mind about their illness. But their indulgence in fatty food comes down due to their fear of the disease. Their frequency of drinking gets reduced. Most of them invariably lose some weight either due to their walking and less eating or due to the illness it self. The shine or sheen of their face just disappears and they look drained. They follow various and very simple methods to keep the sugar level under control yet unable to follow it. Some of the simple methods they could succeed in following are:
Slow rhythmic walk for half an hour daily inside their flats
Use of gingerly oil in their food
No potatoes and similar starchy vegetables
Eating less portions of mutton less frequently, eating lots of fish and skinless chicken.
Sugarless coffee and tea and reduction in their milk consumption.
Swallowing a spoon of fenugreek seeds before every meal (it is believed that it prolongs the digestion process thus limiting the sugar level)
Eating raw garlic before bed (it is believed that it controls fat and is good for heart)


The main factors I learnt from my association with my diabetic men circle is:

Do no get unduly panicked.
No great effort is needed to control it.
Be active and do house hold chores.
Do not sit in a place for more than 15minutes unless it is absolutely essential.
Even small movements like waving our arms, standing, going around our office or work place etc do help us to burn calories and maintain the sugar levels.
Active life style, walking, food control, mild exercises, no to smoking and drinking can control the diabetes fully.
Always consult a physician and do not take self-medication.

Remember that no apparent sickness, or indication will be there till one hits the peak of the sugar graph. For the majority of the period one will feel fine with no discomfort and ailment that is why it i very important to know the symptoms and have a check regularly.

The generalised symptoms are:

Excessive thrust

Frequent urination in more than normal quntities.

Sweetish smell of the urine

Tiredness and feeling dry in the mouth

Itching in genital area

Frequent mood swing

Loss of weight

Apart from all the above symptoms I would strongly recommend to friends above 37 to have a GTT check up every year. This glucose tolerance test will reveal if you are diabetic and even if you are on the high risk category. so do not wait for the symptoms and be pro-active.