BY SANDRA GUY
Diabetes has a new, sobering risk: Its link to heart disease has long been established, and now it’s become a risk for dying of COVID-19, health experts say.
A person’s risk of dying from COVID19 is up to 50 percent higher in people with diabetes — a disease that happens when your blood sugar is too high — than in those without, according to reports from hospitals, health centers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
That’s a sobering hazard, on top of the fact that, over time, diabetics’ erratic blood sugar levels can eventually wear out their hearts’ blood vessels.
A blood sugar level less than 100 grams per liter is normal; from 100 to 125 is considered pre-diabetic and 126 or higher on two separate tests indicates diabetes.
The American Heart Association says at least 68 percent of people 65 or older will die from some type of heart disease, and adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to die from heart disease than adults without diabetes.
November — National Diabetes Month — offers the perfect opportunity to take steps to avoid diabetes or overcome pre-diabetes as much as possible, given that genetics often plays a role.
People who’ve lost as much as 100 pounds and reversed their pre-diabetic conditions say anyone who is overweight, who has a family history of diabetes or who simply believes he or she is at risk should get a baseline screening as soon as possible, and prepare for a long but ultimately fulfilling journey.
They offer these tips:
- Put movement, nutrition and recovery at the center of your new lifestyle. This isn’t about dieting and exercise. It’s about how you live.
- Find a support system, including a doctor you trust, an exercise or lifestyle coach, and/or a motivational group.
- Start reading food labels and measuring the amounts of starch, sugar, calories and other ingredients you’re consuming.
- Replace high-carb foods such as pasta, bread and tortillas with high-fiber lentils and vegetables, and substitute fish, chicken and black beans for red meat.
- Lose the soda pop and, as much as possible, beer and alcohol.
- Drink lots of water. Make it more palatable by adding lime, cucumbers, strawberries or sparkling water.
Healthy people with diabetes should also remain vigilant about masks and social distancing, health experts say.