Diabetes – Exposing A Silent Killer!

I am writing this article as a lay person who wants to raise an alarm for all of us to act, with the help of our experts, to save lives. Until recently, I thought of diabetes as a disease that is reserved for those who eat a lot of sugar and for obese individuals. After all, in the Akan language, it is called Asikyire Yare? or “sugar disease.” Recently, however, I have come to acquire a bit of knowledge on the subject of diabetes and have developed interest in knowing more about the disease. I went for my usual annual checkup in August 2011 and my Doctor told me that everything was perfect except for the fact that my blood glucose level was “slightly elevated”. This was the second time in a row he had told me that. My Doctor did not show any sense of urgency but began asking me if there was any incidence of diabetes in my family. I told him I did not know as my folks were in the village in Ghana and probably wouldn’t know either, even if they had the disease. He told me to continue doing what I have been doing and increase my exercise routine and watch my diet. When I came home, I was curious to find out more about this glucose level thing and “boy, was I shocked” at what I found!
A short Note on Diabetes (Source: PubMed Health): Diabetes is a disease in which there are high levels of sugar in the blood. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas to control blood sugar. Diabetes can be caused by too little insulin, resistance to insulin, or both. To understand diabetes, it is important to first understand the normal process by which food is broken down and used by the body for energy. Several things happen when food is digested:
• A sugar called glucose enters the bloodstream. Glucose is a source of fuel for the body.
• An organ called the pancreas makes insulin. The role of insulin is to move glucose from the bloodstream into muscle, fat, and liver cells, where it can be used as fuel.
People with diabetes have high blood sugar because their body cannot move sugar into fat, liver, and muscle cells to be stored for energy. This is because either:
• Their pancreas does not make enough insulin
• Their cells do not respond to insulin normally
• Both of the above
There are three major types of diabetes. The causes and risk factors are different for each type:
• Type 1 diabetes can occur at any age, but it is most often diagnosed in children, teens, or young adults. In this disease, the body makes little or no insulin. Daily injections of insulin are needed. The exact cause is unknown.
• Type 2 diabetes makes up most of diabetes cases. It most often occurs in adulthood, but teens and young adults are now being diagnosed with it because of high obesity rates. Many people with type 2 diabetes do not know they have it.
• Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar that develops at any time during pregnancy in a woman who does not have diabetes.

First, I found out my fasting blood glucose level of 118 mg/dl was in the pre-diabetic range of 100-125 mg/dl. My A1c level of 5.9% confirmed that I was indeed in the pre-diabetic range (5.7% to 6.4%). The A1c test measures the average blood glucose level in the past 6 to 12 weeks. (The A1c reading for a normal person is below 5.7% and for a diabetic it is 6.5% or higher.) Then I read about the fact that if nothing is done, the probability that I will develop diabetes in the next 10 years is very high. I also found out that diabetes and diabetes related complications account for very high percentage of deaths in the world, and that many diabetics don’t even know that they have the disease. In this short article, I just want to present some of the information I have gathered in hope that readers will also learn what I have learned and make changes to their diet and exercise regimes to overcome this menace. Please consult your physician for authoritative facts about diabetes. A lot of good information can also be obtained on the internet using Google search or any other search engine. I was 183 pounds (83 kgs) and 5ft 11 inches tall when my fasting blood glucose level was 118 mg/dl. Most people thought I looked fit and strong; and I did feel fit and strong but here I was with this reading. I immediately began the fight to bring this reading down.
The first thing I learned was that the main culprit is carbohydrate and not sugar per se, as the carbohydrate turns into sugar (glucose) anyway. My research led me to the importance of conducting blood glucose tests before and after each meal to determine the effect of each meal on my blood glucose level. I tested just before a meal, then one hour after eating, two hours after eating, and three or four hours after eating. I did this consistently for each meal for a week or so. This process enabled me to identify the chief culprits for raising my blood glucose level and for me the worst foods were also the ones I ate most of the time: bread (especially the sweet Ghanaian bread), rice, sweet plantain chips, fufu, yam, and plantain (both fried and green for ampesi). I determined to cut down on my carbohydrate intake. This proved to be much more difficult than I thought because the very foods that were bad for me were also the ones that we ate in my home. But I was still determined. I started by completely eliminating rice and Ghanaian bread from my diet. I ate mostly vegetables and chicken. For my main meal of the day, I would eat roasted chicken breast or chicken drumsticks and spinach stew or cabbage stew. The only source of “starchy carbohydrate” for me was bagel in the morning, which I ate with a cup of coffee or tea. Other times, I ate oats for breakfast, with reduced portions. In addition to the diet, I also spent an hour in the gym three or four times a week.
After four months, in December 2011, I went for another test. My weight was down to 168 pounds (76 kgs) and my fasting blood glucose reading was 103 mg/dl. The A1c test also came back with a reading of 5.5%. My doctor was ecstatic and commended me for a good job done. He encouraged me to keep on working to reduce the fasting blood glucose level to a reading below 100 mg/dl. I got back to work and now my naked early morning weight is 163 pounds (74 kg), fasting blood glucose level ranges between 74 mg/dl and 94 mg/dl, and, by God’s grace, I feel great!
It took a few months for me to arrive at an “equilibrium” eating and exercising routine that works for me. Now, I eat mostly bagel or oats (and sometimes) eggs in the morning. I substitute splenda for sugar in my coffee or tea. I still use evaporated milk but at most two tablespoonfuls in my coffee. For my lunch and or dinner, I eat a lot of chicken and fish, spinach and cabbage and sometimes one plantain cut into four pieces. For snack, I munch on lightly salted peanuts or the salt-free version. Of course, I have completely cut soda (soft drinks) from my diet; instead I drink a lot of water. Folks, if I can do this, you can do it too.
Please, I am not saying that you have to cut out carbohydrates completely from your diet. However, for those at risk like me, it is essential that you reduce your carbohydrate intake drastically. Also, walk a lot. If you work behind the computer all day, take occasional breaks and walk for a few minutes. If you cannot join a health club and you can afford to, please buy a treadmill and spend some time on it regularly. Alternatively, take regular walks at a park near you. Lastly, I cannot overemphasize the importance of testing for your blood glucose level. For those in the US, these kits are available at your local Walgreens, CVS or Rite Aid. The cheapest I have found is sold in WalMart and is called ReliOn Confirm. ReliOn is very accurate and 100 test strips cost about $36 at Walmart. Let us all join together to expose and defeat this Silent Killer called DIABETES.