About 3.3 million Canadians have been diagnosed with diabetes, which translates to 93,000 in Canada. In order to raise funds and awareness for this issue, volunteers will be going door to door in Humboldt until May 15.
“The residential campaign has long been an important part of fundraising for the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA),” said Janice Daniels, community engagement co-ordinator for the North Saskatchewan branch of the CDA. “The people of Saskatchewan make an impressive effort when it comes to fundraising. It is always inspiring to see them come out to support those living with or affected by this disease.”
There are two kinds of diabetes: Type I and Type II. Type I is generally diagnosed in children, teens, and sometimes adults. In that case, the pancreas can’t produce insulin, so injections are needed. Ten per cent of people with diabetes have Type I.
Type II is preventable, and is usually diagnosed in adults over 40, though Angela Mueller, Humboldt’s community dietitian and certified diabetes educator, said more young people in high-risk populations are being diagnosed with the disease.
“We’re thinking it’s related to obesity and inactivity,” Mueller said.
Those with Type II have a body that doesn’t recognize insulin or doesn’t produce enough insulin. It’s a progressive disease, meaning the pancreas produces less and less insulin as time goes on. Later on, there are oral medications one can take, but injections might also be used in cases of Type II diabetes.
Symptoms of diabetes are a need to urinate, thirst, lack of energy, blurred vision, or frequent or recurring infections.
“We don’t want it to get to that point,” Mueller said.
Luckily, there are a lot of ways to prevent Type II diabetes. Above all, Mueller said to be screened; she recommends screening every three years once you reach the age of 40.
A healthy lifestyle is also important to help prevent diabetes. Mueller recommends increasing physical activity. The minimum recommended amount of exercise is 150 minutes a week of mild to moderate exercise.
“Most of us have really sedentary desk jobs. Park your car a little farther away from work,” she said. “Avoid long periods of inactivity.”
The 150 minutes works out to 30 minutes five days a week. That could just mean doing 15 minutes of physical activity in the morning and 15 in the evening.
In addition, increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables helps to prevent diabetes. Mueller also recommends eating more whole grains, legumes and pulses, and nuts and seeds.
“All these foods are high in fibre. Fibres help to stabilize blood sugars. They also help to lower cholesterol,” she said.
They also help you feel full faster, and since weight gain (especially weight around the midsection) is a risk factor for diabetes, it will also help in that way.
She does encourage people to be realistic with weight loss – setting ambitious goals makes it hard to achieve those goals, which leads to feeling discouraged when you don’t.
“We’re finding that even losing five, 10 per cent is very effective in helping to prevent diabetes,” Mueller said.
It’s also good to limit processed or manufactured foods, especially those with added sugars, added fat, and carbohydrates that are refined/lacking fibre.
But just cutting out sugar and junk food alone isn’t good enough.
“I think a lot people think avoiding sugars is going to help prevent diabetes. “It’s more complex than that. It’s looking at your whole diet,” she said. “If you’re not going to add in veggies and fruits and use healthier fats and more whole grains, you’re not going to get the whole benefit.”
Other risk factors are smoking, being part of high risk populations (First Nations, Hispanic, Asian, African), high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and being diagnosed with gestational diabetes in the past. People can also be diagnosed with pre-diabetes, which is basically the body’s warning signal that something is wrong. This happens when the blood sugar is abnormally high, but not high enough that it would be diagnosed as diabetes.
“You’ve got a greater risk of developing it, but we think we can prevent it from progressing,” Mueller said.
The consequences of not getting treatment or mismanaging diabetes are heart disease, kidney disease, loss of vision, potential nerve damage (especially the feet), which makes parts of the body vulnerable to injuries and could lead to amputation. That’s why it’s important to be screened.
If you or someone you know has diabetes, there’s a diabetes education team that works within the Saskatoon Health Region. They mainly see adults with Type I or Type II, and offer education and treatment to interested parties.
