BY MARIE MIGUEL
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
Just hearing the word diabetes is enough to make you drop whatever candy, ice cream or cake you are holding. The word diabetes can make you stop eating rice or anything made with starch for several days. In fact, you may immediately stop consuming sodas and juices for a long time if your doctor tells you that you possibly have diabetes.
The problem is, are these types of food the only causes of diabetes?
What are the different types of diabetes?
There are at least 2 categories for diabetes. These are polygenic and monogenic.
Polygenic diabetes are Type 1 and 2 Diabetes, gestational diabetes and LADA or latent autoimmune diabetes in adults. Monogenic diabetes are maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY) and neonatal diabetes mellitus (NDM).
What else can cause diabetes?
Other than the food you eat, stress can also cause an elevated level of glucose in your blood. Stress can come in the form of physical stress or emotional stress. When you get sick, are injured or if you’ve just undergone surgery, your body can experience stress. Likewise, emotional stress can be due to the loss of a loved one, work-related stress or even due to over excitement.
Have you ever noticed how your heart would race when you are in a stressful situation or in anticipation? When that happens, your blood sugar level would also go up. It is to prepare your body for whatever action you need to take. It is your body’s way of protecting itself. Unfortunately, the amount of sugar that your body generated will have nowhere to go.
What can you do?
First, you need to teach yourself to relax so that your body will not think that it needs to produce more sugar to gear you up for action. When you are experiencing stress, try breathing exercises until you sense your heart is no longer racing.
A change in lifestyle or routine may also be necessary. For example, if you like staying out late and then waking up early to get to work, that can add to your stress; both physical and emotional. Your body will lack rest and regeneration, so it will be stressed. You will also be emotionally stressed because your body is telling you that you need more rest, but your mind is telling you that you need to get to work. This internal conflict is a stressor. To avoid this, you may want to limit your night time activities to one to two days a week.
Work is also a common cause for stress. It may be that you are dealing with a lot of projects at work or you have too much on your plate. One way to relieve yourself of too much stress is to choose your projects well. There are projects that are better for your career than others. You do not need to take on everything. You can also delegate more, so you have more time for tasks that need your attention specifically.
See your healthcare provider regularly, too. If you have a history of diabetes or if you have previously been diagnosed of diabetes, you will need your doctor to regularly monitor your sugar levels to see if you need further medical intervention. The good thing is, with the development of EHR software or electronic health records, not only is your doctor able to monitor your condition better. You are also able to take an active role in it. Find out from your doctor if the EHR software that he or she is using has a patient’s portal. This way, you can guard your health, easily be reminded of medical appointments, and point out progress in your condition.
Finally, spend enough time with your family or in doing the things that you love. Your family can help you de-stress. Doing the things you love to do such as traveling, watching movies, etc. can also go a long way in helping you manage stress.
There are a lot of things that you can do to manage diabetes. Taking medication is one of the common ones. Being aware of what can contribute to your elevated sugar levels is another. Knowing what brings you stress is also important.
