According to recent estimates, one and a half million Poles measure their sugar levels every day. These are people who know they have diabetes and have learned to live with it. Another half a million are those who also have diabetes – only they have never been diagnosed with it. There are also those who considered the warning about a slightly elevated blood sugar level, most often received during periodic examinations, as a doctor’s mistake or over-zealousness, or simply ignored it. Because the very thought of diabetes for a young, active person seems like a sentence.
Until recently, this disease was experienced mainly by grandmothers and aunts, most often obese, visually impaired and prematurely dying. For a 15- or 25-year-old man, such a diagnosis is, at least at the beginning, the real end of the world. However, it soon turns out that you can live with the disease and live actively. The best example is Michał Jeliński, Olympic champion and world rowing champion. When he found out about the disease, he thought he would have to give up sports, at least competitive sports. It was five years before his greatest Olympic success.
In interviews, Jeliński admits that he also disregarded the first disturbing research results. He was losing weight, getting tired faster than before … and yet he was afraid to hear the words ‘diabetes’ and ‘injections’. Today he is doing 4-5 injections a day. It controls the sugar level just before and immediately after the start. And on the water he always has energy bars and glucose conditioners with him. It is under constant medical supervision. He goes to the hospital for training. Because you just have to learn how to live with diabetes.
– There is constant, amazing progress in the treatment of diabetes – says Dr. Ewa Pańkowska, diabetologist, who conducts the Edu-Cukrzyca trainings. – That is why the patient should regularly verify the knowledge he acquired at the beginning of the disease. Education in diabetes is directed not only to those who just found out about the disease, but also to people who have been ill for several or several years. Because getting to know yourself, knowing the symptoms of hypoglycaemia and hypoglycaemia and quick recognition of the threatening situation are necessary to not only deal with this disease, but also to live with it actively and happily.
Physical activity in diabetes
Until recently, few people knew that it could be an active life. Today, thanks to Jeliński, all of Poland knows. This year, he was joined by four heroes of the project “I have a passion! My sugar will not jump! ”Who – despite diabetes – do not give up their dreams and still live life to the fullest. Marta Gielejza rides a horse, jumping over obstacles. Kasia Tupaczewska loves to dive and sail. She was also a goalkeeper for the women’s soccer team for several seasons. Mariusz Cebula is a mountaineer. Łukasz Piórkowski, on the other hand, practices an unusual urban sport, the so-called “Freerun”. He practices running through the city overcoming obstacles in the form of walls, barriers or fences in spectacular acrobatics.
However, there are still very few people like them. Most diabetics are afraid of going outside, jogging, playing football or going to the swimming pool. Because one of the very popular myths says that people with diabetes more easily than others catch the flu, catch colds and other diseases.
– It is not true – says doctor Pańkowska. – In fact, it is recommended that diabetics get vaccinated against the flu. Not because it is easier than others to catch it. Diabetes is not an immunocompromised condition. Only people who are metabolically misaligned are less resistant to infectious diseases, but the number of them is decreasing. Just the flu or any other infection makes it harder to control your blood sugar. This, in turn, increases the risk of hyperglycemia, i.e. excess sugar, or ketoacidosis, in which insulin deficiency causes dehydration, breathing problems, drowsiness, and in extreme cases even coma.
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Glucose during training
For patients with type 2 diabetes, where insulin is usually not injected, physical activity is, along with diet, the primary activity recommended by a physician. They don’t have to fight for the doctor to let them move. On the contrary: they are strongly encouraged to do so by their diabetologist and internist. It is enough that before training or going for a long walk, they measure the glucose level – and they will repeat it after returning. Just in case, they should always have something to eat with them, with a large dose of carbohydrates. If you want to train or relax actively for a long time, you should also take your blood glucose meter with you.
However, sport is also recommended for patients with type 1 diabetes. Physical activity increases the sensitivity of tissues to insulin, and this allows to reduce the doses of administered drugs. In order for a person with type 1 diabetes to be able to exercise, a thorough medical examination is necessary. You need to check whether the disease has not damaged, for example, the retina of the eye. If this has happened, certain hard sports will be banned as it could lead to further damage.
After receiving the green light for training from the doctor, the patient should always measure the glucose level immediately before class. If the concentration is too low, he should eat something that will provide him with carbohydrates, especially those that are slowly absorbed. It can be, for example, a dark bread sandwich with cheese and vegetables. For training or a walk – just like a patient with type 2 diabetes – the patient should also take a sandwich, sweet drinks, a glucose meter and additionally an insulin injection.
If the planned effort is to last several hours (e.g. we are going on a trip to the mountains), the insulin dose before leaving home should be 30-50 percent lower than normal. But these are only general recommendations – each patient should discuss this in detail with their doctor and discuss with them the type and timing of training that they can undertake without risk. And also establish a scheme of conduct before and during training. There is no fixed list of sports that cannot be practiced with diabetes. Well, maybe with one exception: sports that are played alone. Sailing around the globe alone on a small boat is a risk for a diabetic. Two people swimming around it – not anymore. Because there will always be someone nearby who will give you a sweet drink or injection if necessary.
Text: Liliana Fabisińska
See the photo gallery: How to deal with diabetes?