History Snapshot
Diabetes is not a new disease, it was first seen in 1552 B.C when an Egyptian physician noted a mysterious disease that caused people to loose weight rapidly and urinate much more than usual. He also noted that the urine seemed to attract more ants, which was due to the increased sugar concentration within the urine (like dropping a piece of fruit on the floor).
Since then the understanding and science has continuously moved on, and in 2015 Dr Edward Damiano introduced the iLet, a bionic pancreas that delivers both insulin and glucagon every five minutes. Damiano describes the device as a “bridge to a cure”.
Today there are numerous different drugs and artificial insulin types that help to manage the disease so that people with diabetes can live a normal life. Unfortunately these drugs do not prevent the disease but only manage its symptoms, which is represented by the numbers of people being diagnosed with the disease every year that are increasing across the globe!
Scary STATS
Since 1996, the number of people with diabetes in the UK has risen from 1.4 million to 3.5 million. Diabetes prevalence is estimated to rise to 5 million by 2025.
Prevention is better than cure
We have been attempting to cure diabetes since 1552 B.C with no results. This has seen multi-national pharmaceutical companies producing more and more drugs in trying to help "manage" the disease but with no cure. Many of these drugs have been successful in helping people living with diabetes to function, but it is true to say that the reliance on these "management" drugs has inadvertently become one of the primary barriers to prevention.
The question needs to be asked, why have we not looked to exercise to help cure this disease and even better prevent diabetes from occurring in the first place? Prevention is always better than cure not only for an individuals health but also for the bottom line (finances that is).
Prevention costs so much less than cure, right?
This is a common fact, isn't it?
So why then are governments prepared and happy to throw billions of dollars and sterling into more and more medicines trying to "manage" the disease instead of spending a little money on creating awareness strategies and work cultures to help get people active, moving more and educating the masses on healthy nutrition and coaching cooking skills.
Is it because these huge pharmaceutical companies have too much money and power? Or is it that people in government are disillusioned? I'll let you decide...
Mind-set shift from reactive management to proactive strategies
Until there is a mind-set shift of the government and higher organisations toward prevention of the disease rather than management, then the numbers of people diagnosed will keep increasing year on year.
By actually committing a serious amount of money to target the disease head on even before it arrives, through targeted exercise and healthy eating habits, will the numbers start to reduce as the magic of proactive prevention kicks in!
This is not anything new right, it's just common sense! Unfortunately this day an age common-sense is surprisingly not that common! Let's hope we get more of it over the next few years, using natures most simple yet powerful medicines of exercise and healthy eating, to start curing the disease for good or at least reducing its impact on our lives.
Contact the team for more health advice...
If you know of anyone who has diabetes or is pre-diabetic that is looking for advice on health and exercise that is suitable, then please get in touch with one of our coaches.
We're here to help get people healthier through natural means, reducing the reliance on medicines.
Until next time,
FF Team
p.s our personal training is open to all levels of fitness no matter your state of health. We help coach people to better health and do not discriminate :)
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