Texans: Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Type 2 Diabetes
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 34 million Americans have diabetes. And how much of that are cases of Type 2 Diabetes, you might ask? 90 and 95 percent.
In Texas alone, 5.8 percent of our population was diagnosed with diabetes in 1994. As of 2016, that percentage has doubled to 10.9 percent of our total population.
And while there are many different types of diabetes (gestational, Type 1/juvenile), we’re going to focus this article on Type 2 Diabetes.
What is Type 2 Diabetes?
Type 2 Diabetes is caused by a resistance to the hormone insulin. Your pancreas typically acts as a gatekeeper, allowing blood sugar into your body to get converted into energy. When your pancreas can no longer keep up with the amount of blood sugar flowing into your body, you’re seeing the stage get set for pre-diabetes.
When your cells no longer respond normally to insulin, this is called insulin resistance, or Type 2 Diabetes.
But here’s the positive news—you can manage and even recover from Type 2 Diabetes. Here are our tips.
What’s the State of Type 2 Diabetes in Texas?
According to the Texas Demographic Center, “Diabetes disproportionately impacts older adults, racial/ethnic minorities, men, and the population with lower levels of education.” Additionally, “Diabetes prevalence is unevenly distributed across the state, but concentrated in East Texas,” having the greatest impact on populations 65 and older.
Who’s the Most At-Risk for Type 2 Diabetes?
The CDC tells us that the populations most at-risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes are overweight, 45 and older, have a family member with Type 2 Diabetes, are sedentary 5-out-of-7 days a week, have ever dealt with gestational diabetes, has given birth to a baby that weighed more than 9 pounds, have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or are of “African American, Hispanic/Latino American, American Indian, or Alaska Native (some Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans are also at higher risk)” descent.
Managing Type 2 Diabetes
There’s no single trick that can help you get your Type 2 Diabetes under control, but there are a lot of ways that together, can help manage it a little easier.
Ask your doctor how often you should be checking your insulin levels, and keep monitoring it.
Regular exercise is extremely helpful. Make a plan for regular activity, and keep it up.
Your family doctor can prescribe insulin, along with other medications you can inject or take orally.
Keep tabs on possible swelling in your feet and extremities.
Above all else, watch what you eat. Create a nutrition plan that involves accountability, where you can track and sustain healthy eating habits over a long period of time.