Diabetes - Diagnosing Diabetes

Diagnosing diabetes is vital, not only for managing your condition for the long term, but also to ensure that you do not end out suffering from some of the horrible effects of this condition, which can lead to blindness and amputation to name but a few. Now although that opening line may sound a bit scary let me put it into place by saying that although there is no cure for diabetes, with the correct lifestyle and medical advice this condition can be kept under control very well so that even if you have it you should be able to live life almost as if it were not there.

Before we get into diagnosing diabetes, I first need to point out there are two types of diabetes. Type 1 which is quite often found in the young and is possibly more of a hereditary condition, and Type 2. Type 2 is possibly now becoming an epidemic as it is quite often a self inflicted condition which is caused by poor food choices which often lead to obesity and this is strongly linked to type 2 diabetes, and I say it is near epidemic because of the alarming rate at which obesity is growing.

The first steps to diagnosing diabetes is to watch out for the warning signs, such as frequent urination (especially at night), extreme thirst, unexplained weight loss and blurred vision. If you notice these signs then you must see a Doctor straight away so they can begin tests to see if you have diabetes.

The tests are often blood or urine tests to measure the glucose in the body. The reason for this is to check for insulin resistance because this can eventually lead to impaired glucose tolerance, and stop it doing its job which is to tightly control the amount of sugar in the blood and keep it within a narrow range. The resistance occurs when there is plenty of insulin made by the pancreas (it is functioning normally and making plenty of insulin) but the cells of the body are resistant to it's action which results in the blood sugar being too high.

The good news out of all this is that if you are diagnosed with diabetes, then you can control it through insulin. However you would probably want to keep your insulin dosage as low as possible, and this is where lifestyle changes come in to play. The main cause of too much sugar in the blood is refined white flour and white sugar. Our bodies are not used to having them in the form that they are but the reason why we have got away with it for so long is because we have never put them into our bodies at the rate that we do now. With white bread and pastry in abundance and sugar going into everything (even frozen food) then you have to be more vigilant than ever on what you eat to keep your diabetes under control, and live a healthy life.