Healthy lifestyle helps avert diabetes

JAKARTA (JP): If you belong to the group at high risk for diabetes mellitus, you should make certain adjustments to your lifestyle.

Experts warn that if significant, long-term lifestyle changes are not made, your health could be affected and this could lead to the condition.

Diabetes mellitus is an inherited condition in which the pancreas cannot produce an adequate amount of insulin to control the glucose level in the blood. Glucose, obtained from the food we eat, is the source of energy for our body's cells.

An insulin deficiency will hamper the cells from taking on the sugar and the unused glucose will then accumulate in the blood and affect the functions of other organs.

This condition can affect people from different age groups and can be fatal.

People at high risk -- those who have a history of diabetes in the family and who are obese -- are advised to watch for the symptoms of diabetes mellitus, such as constant thirst, frequent urination, unusual weight loss, weakness, blurred vision, jock itch, urinary tract infections, impotency in men, amenorrhea and vaginal dryness in women.

"People at high risk are advised to make some positive changes to their lifestyle to prevent its onset," an internist with Pelni Hospital's diabetes and endocrine clinic, Mardi Santoso, said during a seminar on diabetes held by the Indonesian Diabetic Association (Persadia).

Mardi stressed that those at risk should maintain a normal body weight, exercise regularly and adopt healthy eating habits, including limiting their sugar intake, avoiding high fat food, eating lots of fruit and vegetables and avoiding alcohol.

Sarlito W. Sarwono, a psychologist from the University of Indonesia, underlined the importance of family support to help establish discipline and encourage its high-risk members to make necessary changes. Those who already have diabetes are suggested to periodically take their insulin injections as directed, which is part of the treatment plan.

There are two kinds of diabetes. Type I diabetics depend on periodic insulin injections to regulate his or her blood sugar level. Type II diabetes, which arises from the pancreas's failure to produce enough insulin, can be effectively controlled through an improved diet and exercise and/or a combination of those along with medication. Data from the hospital's clinic showed that 90 percent of Indonesian patients suffer from Type II diabetes.

Pregnant women

Pregnant women may also be at risk for pregnancy-induced diabetes, which goes away after labor. They may also need medication and insulin injections to control their blood sugar level during pregnancy.

Lifestyle changes and medication are important factors for diabetic treatment because a failure to properly treat the problem could expose sufferers to health problems, such as arteriosclerosis, vision loss due to rethinopathy, delirium, dementia, digestion problems, vaginal yeast infections and other systemic health problems.

Another speaker, W.M. Roan, a psychiatrist at Omni Medical Center Hospital, Jakarta, explained that dementia caused by diabetes stems from a high glucose level in the blood. It affects the brain's functions, while delirium can be triggered by hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia and metabolic disturbances due to a lack of calorie intake.

A sexologist from Udayana University, Denpasar, Bali, Wimpie Pangkahila, said diabetes could affect a person's sex life. The disease makes the sufferer less sensitive to sexual stimulus because of neuropathy. It also affects blood flow in the body and genitalia because of angiopathy or blood vessel damage.

In women, the obstruction of blood flow to the genitalia can hamper transudation and lubrication, creating dryness that leads to painful intercourse and most likely failure to orgasm. Vaginal dryness can also make them prone to infections, Pangkahila said.

Meanwhile, the most common sexual dysfunction in men is retrograde ejaculation, a condition triggered by neuropathy that leads to sperm discharge to the urethral gland, which would be discharged along with urine.

"Diabetic men can reach orgasm, but unlike the normal orgasm, theirs is not followed by ejaculation," he said, adding that this problem affects 40 percent to 60 percent of diabetic men.

"Many people are unaware that their sexual problem comes from diabetes. There are patients who have come for consultation but after a thorough check, we find out that their problem stemmed from diabetes," he added.

Pangkahila pointed out that people at high risk of diabetes should immediately consult their doctor before their health worsens and their condition becomes more difficult to treat. (lup)