Celebrity Influence on Diabetes & Healthy Living

Diabetes can sometimes make you feel alone or singled out; however, it's important to understand that all types of people have diabetes and many suffer through the same hardships you do, even celebrities. Reading about others' hardships with diabetes and their efforts to give back to the diabetic community can be inspirational. Celebrities have a tremendous impact on societal views in many ways; which can be both positive and negative. However, in the case of diabetes education and exposure, we have found some celebrities who use their status to educate and promote healthy living.

Mary Tyler Moore is one celebrity that's constantly in the spotlight who works hard to tightly control her diabetes and dedicates her personal time to the diabetes community. According to an article titled "Mary Tyler Moore tells how she took control of diabetes," written in USA Today,"few viewers knew that around the time The Mary Tyler Moore Show launched, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes." This was in the 1970s, and Moore was 33 years old. Since then, Mary has worked to live a healthy lifestyle in order to keep her career and life on track. Her management of healthy foods and insulin injections has kept her as healthy as possible. Today, Moore is the international chair woman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the author of Growing Up Again, a powerful story that offers her personal account of living with diabetes. She has spent endless amounts of time advocating for diabetes and educating people on the subject. She is truly an inspiration for healthy living with diabetes.

Another celebrity who lives with diabetes is Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers. Nick is notorious for his role in the pop-rock band that he formed with his brothers Joe and Kevin. He has touched even more lives through his positive influence and public speaking about life with diabetes. In 2007, the Jonas Brothers performed at a Diabetes Research Institute fundraiser in New York. According to Kidshealth.org, Nick asked everyone in the audience to raise their hand if they had diabetes and included himself to publicly announce for the first time that he too had diabetes. During the concert, Nick encouraged kids to be positive about their condition, and explained that his positive attitude is what helps him combat his personal struggles with diabetes. With a hectic touring schedule, Nick has to work extremely hard to maintain a healthy diet and effective diabetes management regimen, and he is a constant reminder that even superstars are not invincible. His personal story gives hope to those struggling with diabetes.

 

Managing Diabetes and Living Life Well

Diabetes Mellitus has a great impact to the health of many individuals particularly the obese and those who live a sedentary lifestyle. The first thing that probably pops out into your mind when you hear about the disease diabetes is minimizing intake of high sugar foods. It helps but it does not necessarily mean that you will just have to deprive yourself from eating food preparations with sugar. Control and self discipline is all we need if we want to stay away from the disease.

The body needs sugar as sugar is one of the major sources of energy in our body. Without sugar, we will feel weak, constantly feel irritated and will have loss of body malaise. As much as possible, we should try to at least maintain a normal blood sugar level that way we can stay away from any health conditions associated with the disease diabetes mellitus.

Each day, millions of diabetics walk a tightrope between having too little sugar in the body and having too much. Too little insulin brings about dizziness, fatigue, headache, sweating and trembling. In some cases, having less insulin in the bloodstream results to loss of consciousness or worse, coma. When an individual is having too much insulin in the body, he may experience weakness, fatigue, excessive thirst, labored breathing and loss of consciousness as well.

Since the initial symptoms are usually mild, half of all diabetics fail to realize that they have the disease or the disease have already progressed. If early diagnosis and early treatment is made, the chances of living a long and productive life are higher than if the disease comes along undetected. If diabetes is left untreated, it may lead to several life threatening conditions such as kidney failure, infections, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and will eventually lead to comatose.

When you have a family history of diabetes, it is best that you visit the nearest hospital so you can undergo several physical examinations. A blood sample is all it takes to determine whether you too have diabetes mellitus. You can acquire diabetes genetically so if you are concerned of your health, do not waste time and immediately seek for a physician's consultation.

If you have a certain type of diabetes mellitus like for instance type 2 diabetes, you can actually manage the disease if you make lifestyle changes and try to live a happy and normal life. One way to manage type 2 diabetes is through reducing the risks by doing exercise or losing weight. Engaging in sports activities also help diabetics with type 2 diabetes mellitus. To prevent infections and possible wounds, wear a strong foothold. Neuropathy is very common problem among diabetics. Therefore, all the diabetics should be careful with all the things they do.

Eating the right and nutritious foods can also help manage the disease. Intake of fiber rich foods helps enormously towards achieving weight loss and maintenance. And lastly, try to live a happy life. It does not mean that when you have diabetes, you are already doomed. It's not. You just have to believe and to do your best in managing the disease. With the right diabetes care, you are assured of a longer and productive life.