Diabetes is a major health problem in Australia.
According to the Diabetes Australia website an estimated 275 Australians develop diabetes every day. Approximately 1.7 million Australians have diabetes but up to half of the cases of type 2 diabetes remain undiagnosed, that is – the people do not know they have it! By 2031 it is estimated that 3.3 million Australians will have type 2 diabetes.
There is no doubt diabetes is a serious health crisis but it’s not all bad news.
In Australia, nearly two thirds of men and half of all women are overweight or obese. This is a key factor in the alarming rise of type 2 diabetes. Yet up to 60 per cent of diabetes cases could be prevented, or at least delayed, by people maintaining a healthy weight. The main keys to long-term weight loss and reducing your waist measurement are healthy eating and regular physical activity. Type 2 diabetes often runs in families.
Diabetes is a chronic disease. This means that it lasts for a long time, often for someone's whole life.
For our bodies to work properly we need to convert glucose (sugar) from food into energy. A hormone called insulin is essential for the conversion of glucose into energy.
In people with diabetes, insulin is no longer produced or not produced in sufficient amounts by the body.
So when people with diabetes eat glucose, which is in foods such as breads, cereals, fruit and starchy vegetables, legumes, milk, yoghurt and sweets, it can’t be converted into energy. Instead of being turned into energy the glucose stays in the blood. This is why blood glucose levels are higher in people with diabetes.
Glucose is carried around your body in your blood. Your blood glucose level is called glycaemia
Blood glucose levels are measured in millimoles per litres of blood (mmol/L). The 'normal' range for blood glucose is about 4 to 6 mmol/L (fasting).
Call into Oberon Pharmacy for blood glucose testing and for more information.
Source: www.diabetesaustralia.com.au
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