Yes, this is what ignored and uncontrolled diabetes is. Recently I saw a TV commercial for a diabetes- testing device. The actor said, and I paraphrase: “When my doctor said I had diabetes, I thought: that’s all it is? And I was relieved”. Well I could not believe what I heard, but it made me aware of the casual approach toward diabetes, which is rampant in the Bahamas. Most people do not want to speak about their cancer, it is scary and may signal a death sentence, yet diabetes seems to be a more casual condition. It is not!
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes and ignore it, you are in a high- risk category (up to 80%)for the following fatal diseases: heart and kidney failure, and stroke. Other debilitating diseases include: retinopathy (which is the shriveling up of tiny blood vessels in your eyes, leading to blindness), neuropathy, which is nerve damage that does not only affect your hands and feet, but can spread to other areas like your bladder, intestines and sex organs, impairing their function. Ulcers of the foot and leg that do not heal due to an advanced diabetic condition have to be amputated. Not a pretty picture! I don’t want to scare you, but you need to wake up and pay attention to this hideously spreading disease that can be controlled but better has to be prevented with every effort.
