Risk Factors for Diabetes

You can significantly reduce the risk of developing diabetes if you adopt a healthy lifestyle which combines a balanced diet with regular exercise.

In this article:

What is diabetes?

What are risk factors for diabetes?

How to reduce the risk of developing diabetes

How Chemist Online can help

Advice & Support

What is diabetes?
Diabetes can be categorised into 2 types:

Type 1 – Diabetes: This type of diabetes affects over 2 million people in the UK alone, and generally occurs in children and young adults. It develops when there is an excessive amount of glucose in the blood (and your body stops making a pancreatic generated hormone called insulin which keeps your blood glucose levels under control).

Type 2 – Diabetes: This type of diabetes is different because it occurs in people over 40 years of age and develops gradually over time. Cells resist (or reject) the sufficient amounts of insulin the pancreas creates, and so therefore fail to be stimulated by it. This has knock-on effect which causes the insulin generating cells in the pancreas to become exhausted and stop functioning properly.

How to reduce the risk of developing diabetes
The most common link to developing diabetes is obesity. By adopting a healthier lifestyle through the combination of maintaining a nutritious and balanced diet with regular exercise, you can reduce your risk of developing diabetes hugely.

Other measures you can take to reduce your risk of developing diabetes include:

Seek regular screening – Have your blood sugar levels checked regularly (you can buy
monitoring kits from us – see How Chemist Online Can Help section below), or arrange an appointment with your GP where you can talk over your concerns and ask that they carry out appropriate tests to measure your blood sugar levels at regular intervals.

Consider reducing your refined carbohydrate intake – Although carbohydrates are an important part of your daily diet, there can be a danger of overdoing your carbohydrate intake in an effort to maintain a healthy diet and to keep your blood sugar levels under control. This is because many people confuse ‘normal’ carbohydrates with refined carbohydrates (such as cakes, bread…). Refined carbohydrates can only boost your blood glucose levels and put you at risk of developing diabetes, so it is best not to eat them to excess.

Lift weights as part of your exercise routine – Developing muscle mass will help you to burn off fat. So, as well as doing cardiovascular–orientated exercises in the gym (using the cross trainer, treadmill and exercise bike, etc.) also integrate lifting weights into your gym routine. This can be through taking advantage of the weight lifting exercises offered by a multi-gym set up (leg curls, tricep pull downs, and quad presses, for example) and also through using lose weights to do exercises such as bicep curls and bench presses. Explain to your personal trainer or the gym’s resident fitness instructor your reason for wanting to lift weights, and they will give you a course of exercises to suit you.

As well as these above tips on reducing your risk of diabetes, also stop smoking; do not use artificial sweeteners, and do not drink milk to excess.

How Chemist Online can help
Through this website we have a range of products available to buy which can help you to monitor your blood glucose levels.


www.chemistonline.co.uk


Advice & Support
Diabetes UK – The charity for people with diabetes
Tel: 0845 120 2960
Website: www.diabetes.org.uk

Hypoglycaemia Support Foundation
Website: www.hypoglycaemia.org


This information and advice is not intended to replace the advice of your GP or chemist. Chemist Online is also not responsible or liable for any diagnosis made by a user based upon the content of the Chemist Online website. Chemist Online is also not liable for the contents of any external internet sites listed, nor does it endorse any commercial product or service mentioned or advised on any of the sites.





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