What You Need To Know About Diabetes That Could Save Your Life

This article will focus on diabetes and the importance that Black people must adopt for their health and well-being if they want to survive as the odds are stacked against them.  Covid-19 and the co-morbidities (underlying health issues) associated with this disease such as diabetes, heart/kidney disease; high blood pressure, dementia, lack of vitamin D, asthma, overweight and obesity are more prevalent amongst Black ethnic groups.  However one must not lose sight of systemic/structural racism which encompasses health and racial disparities/inequalities thus rendering them more prone/susceptible to suffering unduly from this awful virus and subsequently dying from it.

London  born but raised in Jamaica before returning 1979 to live in Birmingham, I witnessed first-hand as a child, relatives with strokes, blindness, heart attacks, kidney failure,  lower limb amputations as well as  early/premature deaths who constantly referred to the medical condition diabetes as ‘a touch of sugar’. I am well aware of the suffering  that they experienced. Back then growing up in the sixties no one ever called it by the proper name diabetes so I always associated it with sugar.

Now in my sixties, but 18 years ago I developed the classic diabetes symptoms of tired, toilet, thirsty and thinner known as the 4 ‘T’s. Initially being  in denial I finally plucked up courage  and visited my doctor who confirmed that the early morning  urine sample before eating anything that I provided and a blood sample sent to the lab,  meant a diagnosis of  type 2 diabetes, in my case hereditary.  I had flashbacks of what I saw amongst relatives of mine in rural Jamaica which were immense pain, trauma and discomfort from this medical condition.

I consciously made the lifestyle/behavioural changes after those childhood memories came to the fore and with the right mindset and disciplined approach have never taken any medication for my type two diabetes. With the family I eat healthy well-balanced meals along with physical activity such as aqua-fit, Pilates, yoga, badminton, zumba and now learning to swim.  Never been an advocate for popping pills and much prefer the social prescribing approach which my doctor and diabetic nurse have always encouraged me to pursue. Simply put it is about movement of the body and keeping oneself as active as possible instead of leading a sedentary (couch potato) existence.

With such success, for nearly a decade I have been a diabetes ambassador/advocate delivering diabetes awareness presentations locally, nationally and internationally with approved National Health Service slides showing the patient perspective. Nothing in my view beats the real life/lived experience of someone who has ‘been there, done it and worn the ‘T’ shirt’ so to speak  as it resonates better  in communities  whether they are White working class, Black African, Black Caribbean or Asian.

If one looks on the internet the term ‘hard to reach’ is found on several pages and mainly refers to the aforementioned ethnic groups. I always encourage everyone not to use such a patronizing term since  no one is on a celestial body, in the forest/jungle or on Mount Everest as then they would indeed be ‘hard to reach’.  Words mean a lot and if we all get in to the habit of saying instead, marginalized, historically neglected/ignored or underserved that would be a far better way to change the narrative and bring about effective community engagement with the health and well-being message.      Contact details: [email protected]