There are many people with type 2 diabetes that do not take their disease seriously and do not adhere to their treatment or engage in lifestyle changes to potentially reverse the disease. Unfortunately, not taking the disease seriously can lead to a cascade of irreversible complications.
It Becomes Harder To Control
Simply taking your medication and not taking other steps, such as weight control, diet, and exercise does little to help the long-term ramifications of the disease. When you just take your medication, you can reduce the complications associated with seriously elevated blood glucose, but you may not be reducing the long-term risks. Without serious changes to your lifestyle, the disease becomes harder to control, which translates into taking higher doses of medications or the need to take additional medications just to keep your blood glucose from becoming dangerously high.
Diabetic Neuropathy
Neuropathy is a nerve condition that can cause painful sensations in your legs and/or arms and there is also reduced sensation in the extremities. Some people describe neuropathy as a pins and needles sensation, but the sensation can also be like a lightning bolt and cause shooting and firey pain throughout the affected nerve. Few medications are truly helpful in addressing this type of pain. Some people find relief by taking medications that were originally marketed as anticonvulsants or antidepressants. Even when these medications reduce pain, they do nothing to bring back sensation in your extremities. With you have less pain sensation in your extremities, it increases your risk of injury and infection because normal painful stimuli go unnoticed.
Peripheral Vascular Disease
Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) is another serious condition that is often caused by poorly-controlled diabetes. When you have PVD, there is poor blood flow to the extremities, which in itself can lead to amputations. Lack of blood flow to the extremities primarily affects the feet. When the feet are lacking in blood flow, they may become necrotic and die, leading to an amputation. Another concern with PVD is even minor injuries, some caused by having peripheral neuropathy, do not heal. When injuries do not easily heal, there is an increased risk of infection. Additionally, antibiotics used to treat the infection may not work because of the lack of blood flow to the area. As you can see, there is a significant "domino effect" that occurs with diabetes and the complications associated with the disease.
Taking type 2 diabetes seriously is not just about taking your medication. You must engage in the lifestyle changes recommended by doctors that have reversed the disease in some people, or at least prevent the disease from becoming worse.
You likely found this blog because you are dedicated to improving your health. You may simply not know what a healthy lifestyle consists of or you may understand what good health habits are, but lack the motivation to put this knowledge into action.
No matter what gets in the way of achieving good health, we plan to help you every step of the way. Whether you need to learn what a healthy meal consists of, how often you should exercise to maintain good cardiovascular health, or how to improve your motivation to work out, we hope you can find the answers to your questions on this blog or the healthcare resources we share here. While we are not health experts, we strive to lead healthy lifestyles, just like you.