Diabetes is one of the leading causes of health problems. Type-2 diabetes is common among large population of people around the world. It can cause various problems related to heart health, kidney problems, high blood sugar, blood pressure and many more. Diabetes is impairment in the body in the sense it uses its glucose as fuels. Long term conditions that are related to diabetes lead to disorders and syndrome cause variety of health issues. People still have a lot of misconceptions about type-2 diseases and accuse the diseased person for not coping up. Today we are going to discuss about some misconceptions about type-2 diabetes that need to be resolved.
Inputs from Dr. Sumeet Nigam, General Physician, Sahara Hospital, Lucknow
Misconceptions about Diabetes That Should be corrected
1. Diabetes is not a serious condition
Many people still have this belief that diabetes is not a serious problem. The reasons they believe so is that there are not much direct cases where people die of diabetes. However the truth is that diabetes causes many affects which lead to health diseases leading to severe complications such as heart attack and stroke. Type-2 diabetes should not be ignored at a cost where you feel that situation goes out of your hands. There are numerous cases in which diabetes has been the key to life threatening complications which have lasted for lifetime.
2. Obese people have diabetes
Well, this is a partially true statement, obese people may have increased risk of diseases but it is not the only cause. Obesity is linked to diabetes but it is not the compulsory that people who are suffering from diabetes will have this condition. There are people who are obese and still have normal parameters and blood sugar etc. in check. Therefore it is necessary to get it out of people mind that obesity is the only major cause of diabetes. Totally healthy looking people may also have diabetes if we see the other side of the coin.
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3. Exercising during diabetes leads to low blood sugar
There is a misconception in people’s mind that if they exercise too much, then it may lead them to low blood sugar levels in the body. It is good for diabetic people to exercise and there is no harm of exercising a long as you keep your body hydrated. This condition can only occur when you put excess pressure on your which in any case can lead you to this condition. If you fear your insulin levels, then the best thing to do is to regulate your diet and have diet according to intensity of exercises.
4. Diabetes means having less insulin levels
The fact is that people have adequate amount of insulin levels in their body even when they fell for diabetes. It is not a immediate condition in which the insulin decreases, it is only with time and dietary restrictions that could lead you to low amounts of insulin in their body.
Most of the people who are initial stage of diabetes do not have any requirement of taking additional insulin till their diet is regulated. Parameters can also be kept under check with help of diet and exercise.
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5. High or Low blood sugar levels can be determined without test
This is a serious misconception that is important to be corrected. People believe they can control or determine their blood sugar levels without testing it. This is actually very risky; the reason behind this is you get to know about flow of blood sugar levels at extreme conditions where the symptoms become evident. That is the time which should always be avoided because it can lead you to complications. Therefore it is always better to check your blood sugar levels regularly from time to time in order to keep yourself healthy and avoid health issues.
6. People with diabetes cannot have sweets
This is a very common misconception which is believed by a number of people. It is important for people with type-2 diabetic people to regulate their blood sugar levels but that does not mean that they cannot have sweets. Since you need to regulate your sugar levels in the body, you can cut down on additional sugar from your beverages and have some sweets in the meanwhile. Also people having intense level of diabetes have more problems having sweets not at basic levels of type-2 diabetes.
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