Contents:
- Medical Video: My Life With Diabetes
- Why can diabetes in adolescents have more fatal consequences?
- What causes diabetes to occur in adolescence?
- How to prevent diabetes in adolescents?
- 1. Maintaining an ideal body weight
- 2. Eat fruits and vegetables
- 3. Replace sugar with a low-calorie sweetener
- 4. Actively exercising
Medical Video: My Life With Diabetes
Diabetes is not only experienced by people who are elderly. Teenagers or young people can also have diabetes. In fact, research shows that diabetes that occurs in adolescence is even more dangerous. See the facts below.
Why can diabetes in adolescents have more fatal consequences?
A study by Diabetes Treatment Options for Type 2 in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY), said that diabetes developed more rapidly in adolescents compared to adults or the elderly.Type 2 diabetes in adolescents, generally quickly cause complications such as heart and kidney disease.
The findings, published in the special edition of Diabetes Care journal, basically show the bad effects that can occur in adolescents with diabetes, even though these teenagers have received optimal care and close monitoring from the team of diabetes experts.
The study published in 2004 also involved young people with type 2 diabetes while testing the efficacy of various diabetes drugs used. It was found that in diabetic participants aged 10 to 17 years, metformin drugs were not effective in reducing their blood sugar levels.
Please note that metformin is a drug that is usually used as the primary treatment for type 2 diabetes in adults. But honey,metformin does not produce good influence on adolescents who have diabetes.
Half of teenagers taking metformin drugs cannot make their blood sugar stable at the normal target range, and eventually have to start taking insulin drugs. This is an important warning that diabetes experienced at a young age is more dangerous and difficult to deal with.
What causes diabetes to occur in adolescence?
Diabetes in adolescents is likely caused by lifestyle and health problems. Factors such as genetics can increase the risk of adolescents suffering from diabetes, but many unhealthy lifestyles are the main problems causing young people to finally have diabetes.
Factors that increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in adolescents include:
- Being overweight or obese
- Live an unhealthy lifestyle such as smoking and consuming alcoholic beverages
- Like to consume sweet intake and ready meals
- Have family members with diabetes
- Have a history of gestational diabetes
- Have levelshigh cholesterol
- Diagnosed with prediabetes
Having a prediabetes diagnosis does not mean you have type diabetes. This means that your blood sugar is already high and above the normal limit, but not too high to be categorized as diabetes. If left unchecked, you can get type 2 diabetes.
How to prevent diabetes in adolescents?
The development of type 2 diabetes in adolescence does tend to be dangerous, so it can cause more serious disease complications. Examples include retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, and cardiovascular disease.
Unfortunately in times or periods of the body being productive, teens even have to take drugs and limit their activities to control blood sugar so as not to overdo it. Therefore it is important to take preventative measures against adolescents in the following ways:
1. Maintaining an ideal body weight
Obesity is one of the main factors adolescents at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. If you feel your weight is excessive, you can reduce about 5-10% of your weight to reduce risk. Calorie and low fat diets are highly recommended as the best way to lose weight and prevent diabetes.
2. Eat fruits and vegetables
By eating a variety of fruits and vegetables every day, you can reduce your risk of diabetes by 22%. This fact was taken according to the results of a 12-year diet study of 21,831 adults. The risk reduction is directly related to how many fruits and vegetables you consume.
3. Replace sugar with a low-calorie sweetener
A health data study of 43,960 women showed that women who drank 2 or more sweet drinks a day (eg soda or fruit juice) had a 25-30% higher risk of developing diabetes than others who did not. If necessary, you can use low-calorie sweeteners and contain chromium to improve insulin function in the body, thus helping diabetics to control blood sugar.
4. Actively exercising
To prevent diabetes in adolescents, try to exercise at least 30 minutes a day. This aims to maximize the achievement of targets for weight loss and to reduce your risk of developing diabetes. In addition, exercise can also reduce blood sugar levels and increase insulin levels in the body.
