My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. — Hosea 4:6
In sharing with you, the readers, the story of my family’s struggle with Type 2 diabetes, it is my prayer that each reader will benefit.
Let me conclude this series with words I heard during an interview from a medical doctor from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease. Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers, during his C-SPAN interview, took the following question from a caller: “My mother had triggered diabetes. I don’t recall what type it was. I have a brother and sister that are 10 years older than I am. They both take insulin shots and have had difficulties with this disease. Here I am so far in my life, I’ve been disease-free of sugar diabetes. This genetic makeup — if they have the gene and I don’t, I would like to know why I succeeded in life without becoming a victim of that.”
Dr. Griffin Rodgers answered by saying, “Our genetic makeup says a lot about what we are likely to become. You may or may not have the same risk because we have two parents and you inherit half of your genes from one parent and half from the other. It could be that, that susceptibility gene, you may have been lucky to not inherit. A lot has to do with our environment, how much we are exposed to, what we eat.
“As it turns out, in Type 2 diabetes, our environment begins even earlier,” Rodgers said. “For studies we have funded, both in our NIH Phoenix branch and other sites nationally, determines that our environment begins in utero. A mother who develops Type 2 diabetes or who has diabetes during pregnancy, the infant born to that mother when they have diabetes is more likely to develop diabetes later on in life than an infant born to that same mother who was not affected with just a small diabetes, known as gestational diabetes. There is something in our environment we are trying to understand. That’s another factor to be considered. Of course, if it runs in your family, that does put you at higher risk. It sounds like you’re doing the right thing and you are being checked periodically to determine whether you have any signs of it. A good prescription, however, is exercise and maintaining your weight at a level that your doctor approves.”
I wanted to share this with very significant question and answer that I took the time to transcribe for you, as I conclude this important column on how we must battle the diabetes epidemic. The research of millions of people who have this now, and those millions who don’t even know that they have it, is a problem we must face, head on! It is not our fault, when it is in our genes; some are born with that, according to Dr. Rogers. Read his answer again and again so you will understand. This shows more why early detection is important.
Type 2 diabetes did run in my mother’s family, but it wasn’t discussed. They didn’t understand what they needed to know and share. With me sharing with my family and you the thousands of readers, I have taken the bull by the horns to teach as many as will hear, the way to save yourselves. This story will be told for the rest of my life.
Dr. Griffin said a good prescription is:
1. Get checked early and regularly for Type 2 diabetes.
2. Learn how to eat properly when you discover you are a candidate.
3. Exercise and lose weight!
When you follow this simple 1-2-3 plan, you will save yourselves and your loved ones from experiencing a life filled with pain, unnecessary suffering and regrets!
Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, visit her website, www.lyndiagrantshow.com, email lyndiagrant@gmail.com or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on Twitter @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.