Are You at Risk for Diabetes?

by Molly M. Ginty

Whatever stage of life you’re in, and whether you’re physically fit or living with chronic illness, you can find ways to be a wise steward of your health and well-being. Our health and wholeness are important keys to responding to God’s call for us and acting boldly on that call. That’s why Women of the ELCA have embarked on a new health initiative: Raising up Healthy Women and Girls. This ongoing column represents our commitment to the issue of women’s health.

Nancy Gleeson never said no. When she saw sugar, she ate it, gorging on cookies, chocolate, and banana splits every day for decades. She didn’t worry about the weight gain that left her tipping the scales at 225 pounds. She didn’t heed the family history that put her at high risk for diabetes — until she wound up in the emergency room with debilitating fatigue and a blood sugar reading that was triple the norm.

"I didn’t realize I had to take care of my body until it was nearly too late," says Gleeson, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, mother and one of the growing number of American women with diabetes, an incurable disease that wreaks havoc with the body’s ability to unlock the energy in food.

Exacerbated by Americans’ sedentary lifestyles and growing girths, diabetes is now at a record high the United States. It affects 9 percent of American women, and has become so widespread that one in three girls is likely to develop it during her lifetime.

"Diabetes is a silent killer," says Cathy Tibbetts, a spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association, which has proclaimed November American Diabetes Month. "Because this disease can develop gradually with no obvious outward signs — and because poor health habits have become so commonplace — a third of the women who have diabetes don’t even realize they are affected."

Diabetes strikes when the body fails to produce or process insulin, a hormone that is manufactured by the pancreas and that helps convert food into energy. Over time, the disease causes glucose or sugar to accumulate in the bloodstream instead of being used for fuel. This buildup causes excessive thirst, frequent urination, and physical exhaustion It can also trigger secondary complications such as heart, eye, and kidney disease.

Depending on the symptoms and the age of onset, diabetes can fall into one of two categories. Type 1, in which the pancreas makes little or no insulin, usually starts in childhood and can be treated with injectable insulin. Type 2, in which the body is resistant to insulin, usually strikes in adulthood and can be treated with prescription medication.

Though both types are affected by genetic predisposition, health habits are more likely to trigger type 2. In recent decades, the incidence of type 2 has spiked dramatically. It now accounts for 95 percent of total cases.

Since two-thirds of American women are overweight and one-third are obese (figures that are slightly higher than those for men), women face a greater likelihood of developing both types of diabetes.

Health advocates estimate that nine million American women have diabetes — and that twenty million more have pre-diabetes: elevated blood sugar that puts them at risk for the full-fledged disease.

Conditions unique to women (such as polycystic ovarian syndrome or giving birth to a baby that weighs more than nine pounds) can increase their risk. Women are the only ones who develop gestational diabetes, a condition in which the hormones produced by the placenta interfere with insulin production in the mother, affecting 4 percent of pregnancies. With all types of diabetes, women are more likely than men to develop complications, including cardiovascular disease, reduced blood flow to the hands and feet, and damage to the nerves and heart.

Since women experience more fluctuations in the level of the hormone estrogen, which makes cells more receptive to insulin and thus lowers blood sugar, women diabetics must monitor their glucose levels more carefully than male diabetics.

Given their special needs when it comes to diabetes, how can women protect themselves from this debilitating disease? Experts say women should be aware of their risk factors (being overweight and having a family history of the disease can double the risk). Women should get regular exercise, avoid smoking, monitor their blood pressure and watch for such warning signs as frequent urination and insatiable thirst. Regular screenings, including a fasting blood glucose test at age forty-five and then every three years, are also important.

Health advocates say that if a woman does develop diabetes, she should follow the example set by Nancy Gleeson, who checks her blood sugar every morning, takes her medication twice daily as directed, shuns desserts, walks daily, and is now forty-five pounds slimmer than she was when diagnosed.

"Diabetes has likely shortened my life, but I’m determined to make my remaining years my healthiest," says Gleeson. "This disease maybe a silent killer, but it’s a killer we can work to control."

Additional information: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Diabetes Education Program

Article published in Lutheran Woman Today, November 2005