Attorney Wellness
| Publication year | 2023 |
| Pages | 0046 |
Living With Type 2 Diabetes
While there is no cure for Type 2 diabetes, it is possible to live a full life and avoid the more serious complications through treatment and management.
BY ERIC A. BALLINGER
Hardly a week goes by when I do not hear from another lawyer in my age group struggling with their blood sugar and diabetes. A little more than five years ago, I was diagnosed with prediabetes and needed to start monitoring my own blood sugar. When I was younger, I rarely thought about my weight or what I ate, but as I started aging and was in my 50s, my metabolism and lifestyle started catching up with me. The long hours behind a desk, poor eating habits and insufficient exercise took their toll on my health. Left untreated, diabetes can lead to much more serious health conditions, such as damage to the heart and blood vessels, nerve damage in the limbs, kidney disease, loss of eyesight, hearing impairment, sleep apnea and dementia.
Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is an impairment of the way that the body regulates glucose and uses it as fuel. The chronic condition results in too much sugar in the bloodstream. According to the Mayo Clinic,[1]Type 2 diabetes is primarily caused by two interrelated problems. First, muscle, fat and liver cells become resistant to insulin and do not take in enough sugar. This results in too much insulin in the
blood. Second, the pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin to manage blood sugar levels. Scientists are not sure why this happens, but the key contributing factors are being overweight and inactive.
Let's face the fact that, as lawyers, we can easily fall into habits that can result in prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes. The long hours spent at work in a sedentary position, high stress, little opportunity to exercise, poor eating habits and inattention to our health create the perfect conditions for the onset of diabetes as we get older. We must pay attention to our blood chemistry as a part of managing our wellness.
The signs and symptoms of Type 2 diabetes develop slowly, and it is possible for people to go years without knowing they have it. Some symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, fatigue, blurred vision, slow healing of cuts or sores and numbness or tingling in the feet. The main tool to test for diabetes or prediabetes is the glycated hemoglobin test or the A1C...
To continue reading
Request your trial