How Diabetes Affects Men

By Julia Hanf in Diabetes on April 16th, 2008

-->

by Julia Hanf

It is a common belief that the effects of diabetes are the same in all people suffering from the disease. While this can be true to some, it is still factual to say that the effects of diabetes vary from one person to another. There are also some other things that may change the effects of diabetes. These are gender, race, lifestyle, diet, family history and level of activity.

Based on the report published by Circulation in 2006, men are more prone to having diabetes. Moreover, men tend to be unaware of the diabetes symptoms and this increases the chance for complications to develop. Complications that developed because diabetes was not diagnosed and treated early may be the cause of modification of a certain lifestyle. Early stages of complications in males may be visual problems, kidney failures, damages in nerves, cardiovascular and heart-related problems, legs, feet and hand amputation and impotence.

One possible reason why males do not follow lifestyle modification is that they possess the manly or macho image. Unfortunately, these changes are necessary to control level of their blood sugar. Being unable to do this aggravates the risk factors for complications. For unknown reasons, men are still said to be two or three times more prone to have amputation. Moreover, they are also more likely to end up blind more rapidly than females.

Lifestyle changes that males fail to make include changes in their diets. Males are more likely to continue eating lots of fast foods, foods high in saturated fats, tans-fats, processed foods, junk foods, foods high in sodium, starches, as well as high in sugars. It is very rare that a male will order a salad when eating out with the guys. It is very important to eat a well balanced diet that includes vegetables, Omega 3 fatty acids (found in salmon) lean meats, fish, poultry, fiber, and other whole grains.

Another thing that males fail to do is to quit consuming of alcohol. The liver treats alcohol as a pollutant in the body and works to rid the body of alcohol as rapidly as possible. The liver will not manufacture glucose again until the alcohol has been processed and removed from the body causing the blood sugar levels to drop dangerously. The American Diabetes Association suggests that if a diabetic chooses to drink, that they do not drink on an empty stomach in order to guard themselves from low blood sugar, drinking only after eating a meal or a snack.

One of the hardest to stop is smoking. Although several lessons and information about how smoking harms the body and about how a person will benefit from quitting, men still do not care. People diagnosed with diabetes are said to be more prone to different types of heart and cardiovascular disease. In worse cases, these are often the cause of death of these people. Cigarettes contain substances that can make the blood pressure rise as well as the level of blood sugar. When this happens, it will be very difficult to control the diabetes from getting severe. Moreover, smoking may damage the blood vessels and continuous occurrence of this may lead to foot ulcers, foot and leg infections and atherosclerosis. People smoking are also very sensitive to infections that may cause colds and respiratory diseases.

Males are also considered to be very stubborn most especially in checking their blood sugar level. This is extremely bad for diabetic patients. As much as possible, they should monitor their blood pressure because rising and falling of blood sugar level is not good for patients suffering from diabetes.

Let us face a simple fact; men are stubborn and bull-headed! They do not want to appear weak, so they will not go to their physician when symptoms of diabetes arise. This ends up in them having diabetes for a longer period of time before treatments are initiated, which then results in complications such as blindness, heart attack, kidney disease, and amputation. All of which could have been easily avoided, if men had simply just went to their physician on a more regular basis, or opened up and discussed possible problems that they may be experiencing.

About the Author:

Julia Hanf author of the book How To Play the Diabetes Diet Game and Win Through a real life crisis Julia figured out how to live diabetes free. Visit www.yourdiabetescure.com and learn more about your solution for diabetes.