How Does Diabetes Affect the Hispanic Community?
How does Diabetes affect the Hispanic community?
In the US diabetes affects about 10% of people. However, in the Hispanic population diabetes doubles to about 20%. The Hispanic population also has a higher risk of diabetes-related complications such as kidney disease and vision loss. There are several factors contributing to this including genetics, diet and culture.
What are the signs of having Diabetes?
Diabetes does not have obvious symptoms like other diseases. By the time you have symptoms of diabetes it has already been present from months to years. This is why it is important to get checked for diabetes with your annual checkups. The major symptoms of diabetes are polyuria, polydipsia and polyphagia.
What are the two kinds of Diabetes?
Diabetes type 1 is caused by decreased insulin production and is normally a childhood disease. However, it can present also present in adulthood. Luckily there is genetic testing that can be done to see if people are at risk of developing it. Diabetes type 2 is the more common one. Type 2 is cause by insulin resistance and it is more common in adulthood.
Health recommendations for those with Diabetes?
Getting diagnosed with diabetes can be life changing for patients. People need to make dietary changes as well as exercise regularly and be consistent with their medications. People should follow a low sugar and carbohydrate diet with an emphasis on proteins. Exercise is also very beneficial as it is a way of using some of the sugar in the blood stream and it drives sugar out of the blood and into the muscles. It also helps with fat loss which improves insulin resistance. Lastly, people also need to be consistent with their medications.
What are some misconceptions of Diabetes?
The most common misconception is that eating too much sugar causes diabetes. This is simply not true. Consuming excessive sugar does not cause diabetes however, if you are diabetic it will make it worse. Another misconception is that diabetes is not serious. Diabetes is a very serious chronic illness that if not controlled can have serious complications such as blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks and recurrent infections that can lead to amputations. The last misconception I’d like to mention is that once you start insulin you can never get off it and that every injected medication is insulin.
