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Living with diabetes
With 1.5 million sufferers in the UK - half of these women - more and more have to get through their day coping with diabetes
Life as a diabetic is a balancing act. If your blood sugar gets too high or too low, your body can't use it properly. Coping with dizziness, tiredness, the shakes and blurred vision, as well as the inconvenience of taking medication, insulin injections or drugs and regular blood testing will inevitably impact the way you live.
Diabetes day-to-day
Living with diabetes means taking part in certain daily rituals to keep symptoms at bay, regardless of whether you may have had a pressured day in the office or lead a hectic family life. Professor Barnett, who heads the biggest diabetes unit in the UK for the NHS in Birmingham, outlines the impact, 'Diet needs to be adjusted and more exercise needs to be taken. Diabetes sufferers may need to take tablets daily or have insulin injections. Also as blood pressure increases in up to 80 per cent of sufferers, so treatment may need to be taken to prevent heart attacks and strokes,' he says.
As well as the medication, there is also the monitoring, which a diabetic has to fit into their everyday lives. 'A diabetes sufferer will need to monitor lifestyle carefully - testing blood or urine, depending on their treatment. In addition more care in diet and increased physical activity are required, which should make people feel a lot better,' adds Professor Barnett.
As well as the short-term care, there are longer-term implications for type 2 sufferers. With this strand of diabetes, the body doesn't make enough insulin, or the insulin produced does not work properly. 'As there is a dramatic increase in heart attacks, diabetes sufferers will commonly need to take blood pressure and cholesterol tablets. Half of all type 2 diabetics will need to go on to insulin to maintain control,' explains Professor Barnett.
Rachel Underhill, 29, has type 1 diabetes which appears at a younger age where the body is unable to produce insulin. She has a busy career and is the single parent of young twins. When her sugar levels plummet, she feels faint and shaky; if they are too high, she feels sick, sweaty and confused. Like many diabetics she takes insulin in tablet form every day and tests her own blood first thing in the morning.
Life as a diabetic is a balancing act. If your blood sugar gets too high or too low, your body can't use it properly. Coping with dizziness, tiredness, the shakes and blurred vision, as well as the inconvenience of taking medication, insulin injections or drugs and regular blood testing will inevitably impact the way you live.
Diabetes day-to-day
Living with diabetes means taking part in certain daily rituals to keep symptoms at bay, regardless of whether you may have had a pressured day in the office or lead a hectic family life. Professor Barnett, who heads the biggest diabetes unit in the UK for the NHS in Birmingham, outlines the impact, 'Diet needs to be adjusted and more exercise needs to be taken. Diabetes sufferers may need to take tablets daily or have insulin injections. Also as blood pressure increases in up to 80 per cent of sufferers, so treatment may need to be taken to prevent heart attacks and strokes,' he says.
As well as the medication, there is also the monitoring, which a diabetic has to fit into their everyday lives. 'A diabetes sufferer will need to monitor lifestyle carefully - testing blood or urine, depending on their treatment. In addition more care in diet and increased physical activity are required, which should make people feel a lot better,' adds Professor Barnett.
As well as the short-term care, there are longer-term implications for type 2 sufferers. With this strand of diabetes, the body doesn't make enough insulin, or the insulin produced does not work properly. 'As there is a dramatic increase in heart attacks, diabetes sufferers will commonly need to take blood pressure and cholesterol tablets. Half of all type 2 diabetics will need to go on to insulin to maintain control,' explains Professor Barnett.
Rachel Underhill, 29, has type 1 diabetes which appears at a younger age where the body is unable to produce insulin. She has a busy career and is the single parent of young twins. When her sugar levels plummet, she feels faint and shaky; if they are too high, she feels sick, sweaty and confused. Like many diabetics she takes insulin in tablet form every day and tests her own blood first thing in the morning.
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iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB