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Diabetes: It Is Affecting Our Community

© Larshal Veronica Vance

November was National Diabetes Awareness Month. This is the disease, which is also called sugar "is a disease that affects the body’s ability to produce or respond to insulin that falls into two categories, type one that usually begin during childhood or adolescence and type two that usually occurs after age 40" (Tennessee Tribune, 1996).

The first type, which is, called type one happens when your body fails to produce insulin. Type one also comes in two forms. The first form is called immune-mediated diabetes mellitus; the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin producing cells of the pancreas. The second form called idiopathic type I is a rare form of type 1 diabetes that causes a person to take insulin injections daily to just stay alive (Burlington County Woman, 2001).

Type two diabetes comes from your body not producing insulin; it is a insulin resistance combined with insulin deficiency. (Burlington County Woman, 2001).

The complication that you can get from having diabetes is quite wide in variety. The symptoms range from heart disease, high blood pressure and amputations of body parts.

African Americans are greatly affected by diabetes today. Diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death among African Americans as well as being the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure and amputation within our community (Next Stop, 1998). And if you are an African American woman you have about a 2.4 percent greater risk of developing diabetes (Tracey, 2000).

One of the ways to help either prevent or control your diabetes is to watch your diet and to exercise. Of course there are medications and insulin injections you can take if your doctor says you need to.

As a person in my twenties there are steps that I can start to take now which will effect my future health and beauty. I will be hard but it is something that has to be done. And even if you have diabetes now, there are things you can do to make your life easier and healthier.

Here are some definitions for terms used in the article:

Insulin- hormone that allows blood glucose (blood sugar) to enter the cells of the body and be used for energy. (Tennessee Tribune, 1996)

Insulin Resistance- this is a condition which the body fails to make enough or to properly use insulin. (Burlington County Woman, 2001)

Here are some organizations where you can get information about diabetes:

Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi, Inc 16 Northtown Drive