How Diabetes Affects Men

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.

Circulation released a report in 2006 about the higher possibilities for diabetes to develop in men. According to this report, the lack of knowledge and awareness of males about this lifelong disease contributes to the fast development of different complications. In addition to that, males are also more likely to experience the premature development of complications like heart and cardiac arrests, improper functioning of kidneys, blindness and other eye-sight problems, and amputation of lower and upper extremities such as hands, legs and feet. This may also cause erectile dysfunction.

Possibly due to the male genders need to appear "macho" or "manly" many do not make the critical lifestyle changes that are essential to controlling their blood sugar levels. This puts them at even greater risks of severe complications. Men, for still unproven reasons, are two to three times more likely to need an amputation and are found to go blind more quickly than women.

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 fail to take the precious minutes necessary to monitor their blood sugar levels if they have faced the fact that they have diabetes. By failing to keep their blood sugar levels under control causes many highs and drops which is extremely unsafe.

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.

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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.

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