Diabetes Awareness Week – Type 2 diabetes
Every two minutes someone finds out that they have Type 2 diabetes. It can be a very serious health condition but there’s lots you can do to reduce your risk of developing it.
We know it can be tough to make lifestyle changes but with the right help it is possible to make simple changes that can significantly reduce your risk. Acting now is really important as it can reduce your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, and other health problems such as sight loss, stroke, or heart attack.
Do it for yourself and for the people who care about you. There is local and national support for you to get more active or make changes to your diet if appropriate.
During this awareness week Diabetes UK are inviting you, your friends, family, neighbours, and pets to join in for the first ever Big Diabetes Week Dog Walk! Everyone can get involved, whether they’re human or canine. You might decide to go for a solo stroll, a family-friendly weekend wander, organise a walk around a local park, or go for a more ambitious trek with friends. Wherever and whenever you walk, it’s completely up to you. But you will be perhaps, taking the first steps to a healthier you!
Diabetes UK are also running the ‘One Million Step Challenge’ from July through to September with the aim this summer for everybody to take around 10,000 steps per day for three months.
Being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes can have a huge impact on you and your family and can mean lots of changes to the way you live your life. Make simple changes now to reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
It’s very important that you find out if you are at high risk of Type 2 diabetes so you can get support to lower your risk. The Diabetes UK risk tool can help you find out if you’re at risk of developing the condition. It takes just a few minutes and could be the most important thing you do today.
(Make sure to have a tape measure handy as you’ll need to measure your waist)
Click here to go to the Diabetes UK risk tool
Everybody should take part in exercise to help maintain a healthy lifestyle and boost circulation. Controlling your blood pressure, glucose, weight, and stopping smoking are all steps to improve your overall well-being and improve your emotional health. These factors will increase your chances of remaining complication free if you already have or do develop Type 2 diabetes.
People with diabetes are not more likely to have colds or other illnesses. But having diabetes makes the management of blood glucose levels more difficult, which can increase the severity of an illness or infection. Prevention of illness is particularly important and therefore vaccinations like Covid and Flu are advisable and free.
Diabetes UK have a Learning Zone which over 75,000 people use for advice on what to eat and tips for managing diabetes day-to-day – all completely free and tailored to you.
To discover more about your diabetes with the Learning Zone, click here.
