One’s health is fragile and can change in the matter of seconds. Becoming aware of what you and your family are susceptible to is crucial for maintaining health. Being in tune with what could possibly happen is an important step to being able to prevent as much suffering as possible. Steps can always be taken to maintain or improve someone’s health. My family has a quite the history of undesirable diseases and choices but with proper knowledge and research I have the ability to prevent or postpone the continuation of some of the behaviors.
My mother has high cholesterol, a severe gluten and grass allergy, and endometriosis which has caused cysts. My mother’s brother has a congenital Aortic Bicuspid Valve as well as a heart murmur which has been a consistent problem in his everyday life. My mother’s father has high cholesterol; like my mother, heart disease which caused him to get a quintuple bypass surgery in 2016 (age 60); similar to my uncle, type two diabetes, and testicular cancer.
My mother’s mother is prone to obesity, has a heart murmur, atrial fibrillation, type two diabetes, Rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and an allergy to gluten and milk products. My mothers side also has a history of alcohol addiction, smoking, unhealthy eating habits, and lack or exercise. My father is rather lucky in the sense he has never had any real issues other than recurrent kidney stones. His mother is prone to obesity, brain tumors, and struggles with type two diabetes. His father has both type two diabetes and prostate cancer.
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I have been blessed with depression, anxiety, asthma, recurrent infections, several autoimmune deficiencies, bone tumors (Osteoid osteoma in right femur), unexplained inflammatory blood markers, muscular/ bone marrow inflammation, gluten allergy, and grass allergy. My sister has been lucky to have no health issues thus far. When it came to choosing one disease to study further the easy choice was type two diabetes.
Diabetes is something that is recurrent in both sides of my family and doctors believe it could be the reason for my unexplained inflammation. I also know very little about the disease itself so I figured it was time to dig in and gain a better understanding. The mayo clinic describes type two diabetes as “a chronic condition that affects the way your body metabolizes sugar (glucose) — an important source of fuel for your body.”
The disease is typically brought on by the bodies resistance to the effect insulin is supposed to have. Insulin is a specific hormone that is produced by ones pancreas that turns the sugar that is ingested into energy that can be either stored or used. Insulin allows blood sugar to be stable and avoid becoming hyperglycemic or hypoglycemic.
References
- American Diabetes Association
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Diabetes
- Mayo Clinic – Type 2 Diabetes
- Medical News Today – Type 2 Diabetes
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- WebMD – Diabetes Center
- Diabetes.co.uk
- Diabetes Research Connection
- Diatribe – Practical Tips for Living Well with Diabetes
- American Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation
