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Diabetes is a growing problem in the UK but there

20th July 2006, Page 60
20th July 2006
Page 60
Page 61
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Page 60, 20th July 2006 — Diabetes is a growing problem in the UK but there
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

are some simple steps that you can take to avoid it.

Bridget Carter reports you finish your usual shift and come home, or settle down in your cab, feeling absolutely exhausted. Not once or twice hut as a matter of course. Or during that long motorway grind your vision seemed a little blurred. Maybe, you think, you're just getting old; perhaps it's time to retire.

But on top of this you've started losing weight, which is strange given that your diet has not really changed — a diet that usually comprises all the wrong things and has made you larger than you would like. In fact you grew significantly broader in the beam after you turned 40. On top of this you're always thirsty and find yourself constantly seeking out toilets.

These problems gradually start to niggle you and finally, after growing concern from your other half, you get talked into going to the doctor. The GP gives you a blood test and discovers your glucose levels are worryingly high. You're told you need to take a second test.

This involves fasting for eight to l4 hours then drinking a glucose solution within five minutes. Two hours later another blood test is taken to measure your glucose and insulin levels. This reveals your glucose levels have rocketed in the two hours after you had the drink and your doctor reports that you are diabetic.

What is diabetes?

There are, the doctor reveals, two types of diabetes: type one is genetic and has nothing to do with lifestyle. Type two, on the other hand, develops from an unhealthy lifestyle, characterised by poor diet and high weight. You, the doctor says, are a type two diabetic.

Now, everything starts to become clear. Life on the road or sitting inside a transport office doesn't exactly burn off the calories and it is no secret that men who are overweight and over 40 are prone to type two diabetes. About two million people have been diagnosed with this condition in the UK; another 750,000 are believed to have it without knowing it.

No wonder you have been feeling so rotten. Your body has been trying to supply a constant flow of energy, in the form of glucose, to all its cells. If it has no means of storing glucose the cells feast after eating and starve between meals. Blood sugar levels are high after eating, so insulin from the pancreas converts some of the glucose in the blood into glycogen, a longchain sugar, which the body stores in your liver and muscles. It also encourages uptake of the glucose in the blood.

When the blood sugar level starts to fall, another hormone, glucagon, converts the glycogen back into glucose.

For various reasons type one diabetics do not make enough insulin, while type two sufferers fail to respond to the insulin their bodies make. Doctors measure blood sugar levels in millimoles per litre (mmol/1);the healthy figure is about 4-6mmolil before meals and less than lOmmo1/1 after eating. in a diabetes sufferer blood sugar levels can become dangerously high; a condition known as hyperglycaemia. This can lead to strokes and diseases of the heart, eyes and kidneys.

Diabetics can also suffer from dangerously low levels of blood sugar hypoglycaemia which can cause unconsciousness.Waming signs are shaking. aggression and sweating. People who are 'hypo' can appear drunk and have bad breath. If a diabetic becomes unconscious an ambulance must be called immediately.

Bill Harnett of the charity Diabetes UK stresses that not everyone has severe symptoms before being diagnosed with type two diabetes. For some sufferers the warning sign can be as simple as fatigue.

Living with diabetes

I laving been diagnosed with diabetes, what happens next? Firstly, you need to start eating healthily, lose weight and exercisethree activities that can help prevent type two diabetes from developing in the first place. In fact 20% of type two diabetes sufferers treat the condition with a change of diet and exercise, while 50% of type two sufferers take tablets.

The specific medication depends on personal circumstance. It might help your body make more insulin or might simply improve the insulin your body already produces.The remaining type two diabetics will have to inject themselves with insulin, usually four times throughout the day.

However, while some people can carry on treating their diabetes with diet and exercise, the condition does tend to get worse and most people end up on insulin.

Working with diabetes

You might he worried that diabetes will prevent you from workingand if you are prescribed insulin, driving a vehicle over 7.5 tonnes is out of the question because of the risks that go with a plummeting blood sugar level. But diabetics on tablets or relying on lifestyle changes can drive LOVs.

Diabetes UK is campaigning for the ban on insulin-dependant diabetics driving LGVs to be lifted.A similar ban in the United States was recently lifted and UK laws were changed recently allowing them to drive smaller trucks if they pass regular medical checks.

"The reality is they shouldn't have these blanket bans," says Harnett."We think it should be based on the individual." um COFFEE AND DIABETES

Medical researchers have recently found evidence that coffee contains a mystery ingredient that appears to reduce the risk of diabetes Studies in the US and Europe have shown that people who drink a lot of coffee are less prone to type two diabetes. The link is consistent across different ages and body weights, but whether it is due to caffeine or some other ingredient in coffee is not yet known.


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