Diabetes - Are You At Risk?

Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease where the body is unable to produce insulin or incapable of utilizing the insulin well. Insulin is a substance in the body which helps to regulate the amount of sugar (glucose) in your blood. If insulin does not work well, it will lead to high sugar level in your blood which is detrimental to your health.  Consequently it would result in blindness, kidney failure, cardiovascular diseases, foot and leg disorders.


There are two types of diabetes. 


Type 1 diabetes: Patient's body is unable to produce insulin required to convert excess sugar to glycogen. Insulin injection is needed to control blood sugar level. 


Type 2 diabetes: Patient's body is able to produce insulin. However their insulin does not function as well as normal insulin therefore causing high blood sugar. Type 2 diabetes can be controlled by a low sugar diet, exercise and medication. Insulin is only required in serious cases.


Symptoms of Diabetes

1. Blurred vision
2. Increased thirst or hunger
3. More urine
4. Fatigue
5. Rapid weight loss
6. Dry or itchy skin
7. Loss of feeling in the hands and feet
8. Cuts that takes a long time to heal

If you experience most of the symptoms listed, please do a health screening and consult your doctor to verify if you have diabetes.

You are at risk of diabetes if you belong to the following group:

1. Family history of diabetes
2. Obese
3. More than 40 years old
4. Pregnant

Prevention is better than cure

Moderate exercise daily is recommended as it improves your body metabolism and burns up the sugar you have consumed. Do not over consume as you would unknowingly add a lot of sugar to your body. Therefore you might also want to avoid eating too much chocolate, biscuits and sweets.

Should you have any questions, please email Jin's Health Tips at tanjinlin@gmail.com