EXERCISE AND DIET KEY IN PREVENTING DIABETES

I RECENTLY had to have an X-ray of my right foot to check on blood circulation to my foot bones.

I met a 45-year-old patient who, because of chronic sugar diabetes, had to have the toes on one of his feet removed and one of his legs amputated below the knee. He told me that he had been out of work for two years, adapting to his new physical condition. He was fortunate to find a job from home doing administrative work for a person he had worked for in building. His wife has to work full time to support the family. He has an energetic 11-year-old son at school.

If one’s sugar level is above 7, glucose can have a disastrous effect on your body. It can cause the blood vessels in your feet to narrow and your blood to be starved of nutrients. Gangrene can set in in your feet, and eventually you can lose your lower limbs. The hormone insulin in the pancreas converts the excess glucose into glycogen and stores it in the liver. When the body needs more glucose, the insulin converts the glycogen to glucose. Your glucose reading should be below 7 to be healthy.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 517 million people in the world were living with diabetes and 89 834 in SA in 2019. I think we should all be educated about a healthy diet at home, at school, at places where we study and places at work. It should be advertised widely and taken seriously by everybody.

Speak to any person who has been affected by diabetes through diminishing eyesight and loss of toes and lower limbs and they will tell you how their lives have been affected adversely. Just simply watching a simple diet and exercising regularly will guarantee one a healthier life and make the life of yourself and others around you better.

In primary and high schools, in very simple terms, teachers can explain to students the diet that students should follow to ensure that their sugar levels are kept at a level below 7. At schools, periods should be made available for physical education classes (sadly, it has been done away with) and students encouraged to play sports after school, to control their glucose levels in the body.

Schools have an important role to control healthy glucose levels in students. According to science, diabetes can be inherited from parents, but is mostly acquired through a bad diet.