Once You Become a Pickle, You’re a Cucumber Never Again!

Metabolic Syndrome: Weight Management Turns Back The Clock

Diabetes Is On The Rise
By the year 2030 deaths from diabetes and metabolic syndrome worldwide will at least double from today’s troubling numbers, dramatically increasing the need to focus on individual weight management. Being overweight at any age,
seriously increases the chances of becoming diabetic. If there are diabetics on one or both sides of a family, the chances one will experience the disease appear to skyrocket. If one is obese or morbidly obese, and genetically predisposed, metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes) most likely exists which invariably leads to full-blown diabetes. The earlier in life excess weight accumulates, the sooner conversion occurs and the longer one suffers.

The Big Problem
On average diabetic men will lose 11 years of life from their expected longevity and women 17 years! Even worse are the loss of many productive financial years and the physical disability that you will almost assuredly face before your demise.

The Timeline Conundrum
Once you become a pickle, you’re a cucumber never again! Diabetes is permanent and irreversible. When you move from pre-diabetes (a condition of which you are most often never aware) to diabetes proper, a clock begins ticking on all the disabling side effects and longevity. The best strategy is recognition of pre-diabetes and concrete measures to prevent conversion to full-blown type 2 diabetes.

Unfortunately, that opportunity having been lost, there are entirely reasonable weight management methods to slow the diabetes clock’s ticking to a near standstill. You can understand and control diabetes & metabolic syndrome at any age, taking control of the timeline, and avoiding most if not all the potentially grave consequences, if you choose to understand the disease. Act in your own best interest and refuse to be a passive victim. That’s all it takes. Really. Now you are in charge.

Sixty years ago, the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes usually meant a total life span of about 5 to 7 years. As insulin therapy became commonplace, that span finally reached about 20 years. In the current medical environment, that has all changed and living a diabetes-free lifestyle is easily achievable with consistent effort, medical coordination, and a willingness to accept personal responsibility for health outcomes.

When you are a poorly controlled diabetic, at about 5-7 years painful neuropathy develops with increasing numbness and pain in the legs and sometimes hands. At about 10 years changes in vision leading to eventual blindness appear. Between 10 and 15 years, vascular complications abound with heart attacks, congestive heart failure, strokes, and finally peripheral arterial disease resulting in loss of toes, feet, and legs. By the 15-year stage, kidney failure and dialysis loom on the near horizon. Sometimes quicker, sometimes a bit slower the hands of the diabetes clock move forward. Disability leads to loss of income, and productive people become helpless victims of an uncaring progression of illness and injury.

The Solution
Research now clearly confirms that aggressive weight management with dietary education, rational changes, and appropriate, sustainable exercise makes a significant difference in the speed we travel the timeline. The crucial components are meticulous weight control, medically supervised utilization of newer medications preserving, end-organ function, such as the heart and kidneys, and close self-monitoring of glucose.

These steps will dramatically slow the speed we travel that timeline, perhaps bringing the clock hands to a near standstill. If we stop the hands from moving, we can live almost as if we don’t have diabetes or metabolic syndrome, free of its stranglehold on our health and happiness.

The Benefit
The single most critical piece of the puzzle is the patient’s self-education and personal self-weight management. For a moderate and sustained effort, one gains exceptional benefits. Optimal health, free of disability, expensive medical procedures, and repeated hospitalizations are the tangible fruits. A longer financially profitable lifespan and normal longevity will once again be restored.

Resources
Research by the National Weight Loss Registry, a ten-year ongoing study of individuals who have lost at least 60lbs and maintained that loss for at least five years, definitely shows multi-faceted support is an absolute necessity for permanent success. Your physician or other medical providers office may be aware of other programs in your area with a high rate of success, or access to individuals with limited personal resources.

If you are morbidly obese with a BMI of 40 or more, there is almost certainly a measure of real food addiction involved. In that case, and before you consider permanent irreversible procedures such as bariatric surgery, you should seriously consider researching the local availability of meetings associated with FoodAddictsAnonymous.org. Failure to address underlying addiction before

The Final Call To Action
Be aware that the ball is on your field. You are the team. Failure to show up for the game is a guaranteed loss by default. Take the ball, learn the plays, and you will win the game! The diabetic timeline clock is ticking. Turn the hands back now and don’t let yourself become a “pickle”.

Related Articles By Cathe:

How to Lower Your Risk of Metabolic Syndrome

5 Factors that Contribute to a Fast or Slow Metabolism

How Much Weight Loss Do You Need To Improve Your Health? You Might Be Surprised!

Walking After a Meal Can Improve Your Metabolic Health

Longevity: Is There a Limit to How Long We Can Live?

Can Exercise Stop the Growing Epidemic of Metabolic Syndrome

Normal Weight Obesity: Can You Be of Normal Weight and Still Be Obese?