A Touch of Sugar"....A Pre-Diabetic Disaster

It really annoys me when I hear doctor say, "Oh it's only a touch of sugar". Diabetes is a miserable disease that causes serious disability as well as death. Why would anyone treat a diagnosis of pre-diabetes as minor?

Poor circulation is a hallmark of diabetes.

Yes, people with diabetes have a 2-4 times greater risk of dying from a heart attack. Yet even if your heart doesn't fail, diabetes can still make you feel sluggish, fatigued, have brain fog... your entire body requires good circulation to function. Is it any wonder -- between poor circulation and nerve damage -- that that erectile dysfunction is a common side effect of diabetes? That is one of many ways in which diabetes can destroy your quality of life.

Diabetic nerve damage can show up as a loss of sensation in your feet -- so you might not know you've stepped on a tack or that a callous is infected. Infection can lead to amputations -- the leading cause of no traumatic amputations is diabetes. One of the most horrific memories of working in a long term care hospital was the amputees who had cut after cut made until their legs stopped just below the crotch. Because of pain they didn't like to move, so they had bed sores that went to the bone... It made me sick to my stomach, not because of the injury, but because it was all completely preventable.

There is a flip side to diabetic never damage. It can also be painful with a pins and needles or burning sensation -- or restless legs when you are trying to sleep. Nerve damage and poor circulation can also show up as blindness. The leading cause of new blindness among adults is caused by diabetes. The continuing process of your kidneys trying to cope with excess sugar can lead to kidney damage. Your kidneys are what filters your blood and gets rid of water-borne wastes. It's horribly uncomfortable when those toxins build up in the blood -- and sitting through dialysis can chew up three days a week between the time hooked up to the machine and how little energy you have left after its finished.

Pre-diabetes can be defeated. Early Type 2 diabetes can be turned around. A stressed out pancreas can be saved if you take action before the damage is too great. In this "sweet" holiday season, please take a "touch of sugar" seriously.