HUNTLEY – T2D A.K.A. Type 2 Diabetes A.K.A. Metabolic Syndrome. No matter how it’s referred to, this disease is a serious concern and health risk for the aging individual, especially those over 60.
But according to some experts, like Doctor of Physical Therapy John Voelz with NorthWest Senior Health & Fitness in Huntley, Type 2 Diabetes is not only manageable but preventable.
“Type 2 Diabetes involves your whole body’s metabolism,” Voelz said. “The amount of activity that you get and the types of food you [eat] really make a difference to how well your blood sugar is controlled.”
Voelz specializes in Type 2 Diabetes control and prevention and often hosts T2D presentations open to the public at his facility on Regency Parkway.
He defined Type 2 Diabetes or T2D as “a disease whereby the cells of the body are less able to take in, process, and metabolize glucose (sugar/carbohydrate) and use it for energy. Since the (primarily muscle) cells are unable to use glucose efficiently, the glucose levels in the blood steadily rise (hyperglycemia). Chronically high blood glucose damages organs and blood vessels, leading to cardiovascular disease, kidney failure (nephropathy), limb amputation, nerve damage (neuropathy), and retinal damage (retinopathy). Medications and eventually insulin injections are required to control rising blood glucose.”
Where Type 1 Diabetes is a condition usually originating in childhood, whereby the pancreas stops producing insulin, Type 2 Diabetes T2D is generally believed to be a function of aging, hereditary factors, and poor lifestyle habits, such as obesity and inactivity, explained Voelz.
Voelz said that regular exercise, activity, and eating healthy are primary combatants to developing Type 2 Diabetes.
“Exercise acts, in a way, like the hormone insulin does,” Voelz said, adding that insulin helps allow muscle cells to metabolize glucose. “In Type 2 Diabetes, the cells in your body aren’t able to respond to insulin, so they don’t metabolize glucose well. What exercise does is help the cells absorb the glucose from the bloodstream and use the glucose for energy.”
Voelz said that Type 2 Diabetes is “an incredibly complicated metabolic disease that involves all parts of your body.”
Type 2 Diabetes symptoms include: fatigue, feeling ill, thirst, and frequent urination.
“Ten years before the diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes, your body is already becoming less glucose tolerant or is more resistant to the effects of insulin,” Voelz said. He continued, “It’s very good to catch that as early as you can, begin an exercise program, and incorporate the correct diet.”
Detecting the onset of Type 2 Diabetes is a matter of watching out for symptoms and having regular testing, which, Voelz said, is conducted automatically by your doctor after a certain age.
“Type 2 Diabetes is a much more controllable disease than we think it is,” Voelz said. “Medications can be used [to control T2D], but current research shows that a combination of resistance exercises and cardiovascular exercises dramatically decreases the progression of the disease.”
If you’re interested in learning more about Type 2 Diabetes, Voelz is offering another Lunch & Learn session on this disease 12 p.m. Tuesday, September 27 at NorthWest Senior Health & Fitness, located at 12185 Regency Parkway (behind Citizen’s Bank in the same building as Provena.) You may also reach Voelz at 847-669-9497.
