Diabetes Mellitus (from here forward referred to only as “diabetes”) is taking over our lives, whether you want to admit it or not.  You may not have diabetes (yet), and you may not get it.  You must be aware that diabetes will affect you, though.  If you’re lucky enough to avoid diabetes, it is almost guaranteed that you know someone who has it (or will have it), as the rates have continued to soar past epidemic levels.

As evidence of this epidemic, diabetes costs the United States $174 BILLION annually.  It is the seventh leading cause of death annually (although it is often a contributing factor in some other deaths).  To add to this 79 MILLION Americans have pre-diabetes (which precludes them to developing type 2 diabetes in the future).  If that isn’t shocking enough, 1 out of every 2 (yes, 50%) of kids born today are expected to suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives.

What is just as frustrating is knowing that the only real treatment (other than insulin) is to watch your diet.  While watching your diet will keep your blood sugar in check, it doesn’t address the other damage that diabetes causes.  A lot of the damage that diabetes causes is linked to circulatory issues (which can cause muscle pain, the associated foot problems, eye-sight damage, etc…).  There are two great ways to help avoid these problems though.  Exercise and muscle therapies (chiropractic, massage, stretching, etc…).

Exercise plays a couple of vital roles in the diabetic patient.  First of all, it is going to help control your blood sugar levels.  Blood sugar levels are important for all of us, and especially important for diabetics.  Better control of sugar levels is going to decrease the damage that those sugars do on the rest of the body.

This isn’t all that exercise will help diabetics accomplish, though.  It will also increase blood flow, which is very important to the body tissues.  The more blood flow an area gets, the more toxins are flushed out, and the more nutrients are brought in.  This ebb and flow helps the body minimize the damage caused by toxins sitting too long in those tissues, while simultaneously brining in the nutrients that are needed to repair those tissues.  You can compare blood delivery to the tissues to the trucking industry.  We have trucks that are bringing in needed supplies, as well as garbage trucks that are taking out the waste.  If the either of these systems is removed, a less healthy environment will be the result.

Exercise’s role is best played by those that do not yet suffer from diabetes.  If you exercise consistently, you will decrease your chances of getting diabetes.  Obviously prevention is much better than the having to deal with this damaging disease.

Circulatory issues can be approached from a different angle, as well.  Different forms of muscle therapy not only break up knots and scar tissue, but also increase the circulation in the “worked” areas.  This form of therapy is very effective for people with diabetes (along with a host of other problems), and can range from chiropractic therapies to massage therapies and beyond.

I have seen a lot of diabetic patients that have had dramatic improvements with this approach.  It is something that I feel is VERY important to the overall treatment of these patients, as frozen shoulders, muscle pain, and many other problems are very common in this demographic.  If we fail to address these problems, we are not treating the person as a whole, which many of you know from personal experience, is less than ideal.

Of course these approaches are not a cure all.  They must still be added to what your doctor has prescribed for your situation.  Diet changes, medication and other modifications have to be made to effectively treat diabetes.  Just be sure that you discuss these options with your doctor, and let them know that you are interested in avoiding, rather than treating, future problems.

 

If you have questions, or would like to discuss this further, please contact me at:

Jeffrey L. Cumro, Doctor of Chiropractic, Certified Personal Trainer
Better Life Chiropractic and Wellness, LLC
          Better Care > Better Health > Better Life
402-210-1472
BetterLifeNE@gmail.com
www.BetterLifeNE.com