Saturday, October 17, 2009

Do You Know If You Are At Risk Of Developing Diabetes?

By Kathy Forcey

No one likes to get old, but it happens to us anyway, your life as a 50+ year old will be much more comfortable if you don't have to deal with things that can be prevented (or at least pushed off for a few years). Diabetes is one of these things, if you are in a high risk group then you should do something to reduce your risk.

Who is at risk of developing diabetes? Sadly enough diabetes is becoming a very common condition in the western world. We are all eating more junk food and spending more time in our cars rather than out in the fresh air. As more people are at risk now than ever before it is a a good idea for anybody over 40 to have their blood sugar levels tested from time to time.

Weight is a major factor in developing type 2 diabetes, this is different from type 1 diabetics as they tend to be of normal weight or even under weight. This is why type 2 is sometimes known as adult onset diabetes, because we tend to put on weight as we become older.

While you can do something about your weight, you can't do anything about getting older. When you add middle aged and overweight together you really are increasing the likelihood that you will end up being diabetic at some point.

Do you have high blood pressure already? Well then you are increasing your risk for diabetes. This is another one of the illness that can be improved so much just by reducing your weight. If you are clinically obese then diabetes and hypertension together could very well be reducing your life span.

Sedentary lifestyle - lack of exercise can make people more likely to develop diabetes. Often this goes along with being very overweight.

Losing weight to stop you developing diabetes may sound silly but it is true and the benefits associated with losing weight and generally improving your health are huge. So while your aim may be to reduce your chances of developing diabetes you will also see a increase in your enjoyment of life.

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