Diabetes On the Rise

Diabetes, or an increased blood sugar level, is on the rise in the U. S. at an alarming rate.   One of the reasons cited for this rapid rise is that more people are being diagnosed with this medical condition.  Actually, the worst case scenario is if you are diabetic and are not aware of it since you would not be taking measures to control your blood glucose.
Are there things you can do to try to avoid being part of this grim statistic?  Absolutely, you can work with your physician to control some of the risk factors associated with diabetes.
Have your blood glucose levels checked regularly to see if you are at a high risk.  If your blood sugar levels become higher than normal but not high enough to be considered diabetic you would be classified as pre- diabetic.
At this point, you could take natural steps to avoid beconing diabetic.  Of utmost importance is attaining and maintaining a healthy weight.  Other important measures you should take are eating healthy and exercising.  These changes should be complete lifestyle changes and not just a crash diet and exercising for several weeks or months.
When approaching the weight loss issue, set a goal and a realistic time frame to achieve it.  Even a small amount of weight loss will help you to better control your blood glucose.
Keep your dietary intake high in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fat free milk, lean meats, poultry and fish.  Avoid foods high in saturated fats, cholesterol, trans fats or foods with added salt or sugar.
Reasons for the increase, besides better diagnosis of diabetes, are more people being overweight and sedentary and having high blood pressure and high cholesterol.  Raising awareness of the diabetes increase will hopefully help to curb incidence of this disease.
Diabetes, when uncontrolled, can lead to vision problems, circulatory problems and often kidney problems and failure.  It is imperative that, if you are diabetic or pre-diabetic, you make lifestyle changes to control your blood sugar for your overall health and longevity.