9781422288450

Not So Sweet: Diabetes / 35

Decreased circulation is a very common side effect of diabetes and has a

negative impact on all parts of the body. For example, circulation problems

can impact internal organs like the kidneys. Chronic high blood-sugar levels

eventually cause blood vessels in the kidneys to block or leak, resulting in

impaired ability to filter waste from the blood. Harmful waste products then

remain in the blood and build up, a potentially fatal condition. Thirty-three

percent of serious kidney disease—that which requires

dialysis

—is dia-

betes related. But damage to blood vessels is not limited to the kidneys.

Diabetes can attack blood vessels everywhere, from the nerves in your eyes

to the muscles in your feet and legs. Damage to the vessels that supply blood

to the eyes leads to diabetic retinopathy (the leading cause of new cases of

adult blindness in the United States), glaucoma, and cataracts. Damage to

blood vessels in the legs frequently leads to slow-healing ulcers on the feet or

lower extremities. Because of blood-vessel damage and related circulatory

complications, infection becomes a huge risk.

Over time, diabetes can also cause nerve damage (neuropathy), including

paralysis. As many as 70 percent of diabetics have some form of diabetic neu-

ropathy. This condition can affect many parts of the body and limit a per-

son’s mobility. Limited mobility can compound overweight and obesity by

making exercise difficult or impossible.

Premature death, heart disease, slow-healing and painful wounds, infec-

tions, blindness, nerve damage—all are common, eventual outcomes of

diabetes. This disease means business! And it’s frequently a side effect of

being overweight. Especially if diabetes runs in our families, we

must

pay

attention to any weight gain and our overall fitness, in addition to other risk

factors.

So what are the risk factors for type 2 diabetes? The biggest risk factors

are genetics, a BMI over 25, a sedentary lifestyle, and

ethnicity

. The first,

genetics, plays a major role in developing diabetes. If one of your parents or

siblings has type 2 diabetes, you are at an elevated risk of developing it

because you likely carry the genetic predisposition for it. Having