Diabetes is a long-term (chronic) disease in which the body cannot control blood sugar levels, because the sugar in the blood cannot be used effectively to form energy for the body.
What are the diabetes myths that are developing in society? Hey, but don't believe them easily!
1. People with diabetes need special food to survive.
Foods like chocolate, cakes and cookies marketed for people with diabetes may be sugar-free, but that doesn't mean they're a good choice. They're often still high in saturated fat and calories, and the sweeteners used can have a laxative effect if consumed in excess, and as long as they're still high in calories, they're sure to raise blood sugar levels.
Make sure you consume daily food in measured amounts, so that the number of calories consumed is in accordance with the body's needs and is not excessive.
2. People with diabetes should not consume fruit.
Fruit is a healthy choice and, along with vegetables, should be an important part of a healthy, balanced diet. Fruit contains more natural sugar (fructose) than vegetables, so it can raise blood sugar levels.
Consuming fruit in controlled amounts/portions can help in efforts to control blood sugar levels.
3. Diabetics should not eat sweet foods
If you have diabetes, it doesn't mean you can't eat sweet foods. These sweet foods are definitely high in calories and can increase blood sugar levels, so it's important to regulate the amount consumed as part of your total daily calorie needs.
4. Diabetes Will Definitely Show Symptoms
Many people believe that diabetes must show symptoms. In fact, not all diabetes sufferers complain of severe symptoms. In fact, the early symptoms of diabetes are often asymptomatic so that they are rarely realized or even if there are symptoms of diabetes such as: fast hunger, fast thirst, frequent urination, and weight loss in a short time are often ignored by the sufferer.
In general, diabetes is only realized when symptoms of complications due to diabetes appear, such as: wounds that do not heal, vision that becomes blurry very quickly, pain in the tips of the feet that comes and goes and gets worse, and so on.
5. Diabetes Medication Causes Kidney Disease
This myth about diabetes often causes diabetics to be reluctant to undergo maximum treatment. In fact, the assumption that consuming diabetes medication causes kidney disease is not true.
In fact, not taking diabetes medication regularly can actually make blood sugar levels uncontrolled which can gradually cause kidney disorders. Doctors in giving diabetes medication to patients in addition to blood sugar levels will certainly also take into account other factors such as kidney function, liver function and so on, so that the drugs given can effectively control blood sugar levels, without causing disruption to the function of various organs of the body or worsening organ damage that has occurred due to diabetes. In fact, if you are a diabetic who does not or does not undergo treatment as it should, it will result in kidney damage in the future due to diabetes itself.
For diabetics, continue to undergo treatment, either with the help of drugs including doing a healthy lifestyle such as: regulating diet and exercise. Do not forget to do regular laboratory tests according to doctor's advice.
6. Diabetes Cannot Be Prevented? Is That True?
Many people are still confused: can diabetes be prevented?
In fact, Diabetes can be prevented even if there is a family history of diabetes. The emergence of Diabetes or not depends not only on hereditary factors but also on unhealthy lifestyles in everyday life, such as: lots of high-calorie foods and drinks and being lazy to do physical activities/exercise.
So even if there is no history of diabetes in the family, you can still suffer from diabetes due to an unhealthy lifestyle. It is highly recommended from a young age to implement a healthy lifestyle so as not to enter the pre-diabetes or diabetes stage and do not forget to check your health regularly to find out your current body condition so that if something abnormal is found it can be treated immediately and appropriately.
7. Diabetes is an old person's disease
Diabetes is actually suffered by many adults and the average age is over 40 years, which is often known as type 2 diabetes, apart from those who have suffered from diabetes since infancy or type 1 diabetes.
However, as time goes by, technology and people's creativity are increasingly advanced, making people increasingly lazy to move and eating/drinking more because there are more and more choices of very tempting food variations.
By the end of 2023, the International Diabetes Federation has warned of the increasing number of diabetes in young people in their 20s, known as Young Diabetes . Those who are included in young diabetes will have a worse prognosis, because it is estimated that if their diabetes is not controlled properly, it will cause various complications of diabetes at a relatively young age in their early 30s.
Article written by dr. Wardhana, Sp.PD, SubSp.EMD(K), FINASIM (Internal Medicine Specialist, Endocrine, Metabolic & Diabetes Consultant, EMC Grha Kedoya & EMC Alam Sutera Hospital).