Diabetes Ribbon
Diabetes Ribbon. Awareness of diabetes is among the most common phenomenon in the world.
Even though many symbols signify diabetes, one that is apparent is the diabetes ribbon.
With many people increasingly suffering from diabetes, awareness is essential to teach people to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
What this article outlines is purely based on awareness about this potentially deadly illness.
From the impact of the ribbon in terms of disease awareness to the ways of adopting a healthy lifestyle, this article sheds light on everything you need to know about diabetes awareness.
The Blue Circle
The blue color was chosen since it represents the United Nations flag and the sky. So, the blue circle is used to symbolize health, mother earth, and life according to Diabetes Mine.
The solid representation of unity reflects the global community of diabetes-affected individuals.
World nations passed the World Diabetes Day resolution on the 20th of December of 2006, recognizing the blue circle as a symbol of diabetes day.
However, many used the grey-colored ribbon to symbolize diabetes awareness before 2006. But the current ribbon is both grey and blue.
So, where and how did the blue circle originate from? As previously stated, it was initially developed for the United Nations resolution campaign.
Its primary role was to sensitize people globally on the dangers of diabetes and support those ailing from it.
Also, it was to make people shift their attention to it as a major pandemic that is overwhelming the health care centers.
By then, the circle was used as it seems to occur naturally and has been in use since the dawn of time.
Also, the circle symbolizes health and life across multiple cultures. Instrumentally, the circle was to show a common unity in the campaign against diabetes.
What An Awareness Ribbon Represents
In simple terms, awareness means advocating and supporting a universal cause by showing appreciation and love for others.
So, when you wear your lapel, your heart on your sleeve with a blood drop on the ribbon, remember the cause, i.e., diabetes awareness.
Over the decades, awareness ribbons have been used to sensitize and educate people on conditions in silently sending powerful information to the people and raising money for extensive research.
By wearing the awareness ribbon pin, you proudly honor and appreciate the affected person while advocating for them.
Note that these awareness ribbons are an indicator that shows how much you love and support the affected persons during trying moments.
Some of the significant fundraised items for such awareness include;
• Memorial gifts
• Survivor gifts
• Donor rewards
• Promotional products
How Diabetes Awareness Ribbon Pin Is Worn
Diabetes Awareness Ribbons pins can be worn in many different forms apart from just wearing them on your lapel.
These ribbon pins can be used on gym and yoga bags (commonly baseball hats). Another instance involves the use of the employee badge, lanyards of festival-goers.
Also, teachers use the ribbons pins as their bulletin board push-pins. As for the students, they support their struggling classmates by wearing them on their backpacks.
Additionally, the PTA uses the ribbon pins for their social issues and budget cuts fundraiser.
Awareness Ribbon lists
You should know the meaning behind each awareness ribbon depending on its patterns and color-blend.
For example, those awareness ribbons signify more than one cause due to the multiple colors they bear.
On the other hand, multiple ribbons might mean multiple causes. Below are some of the ribbons with colors alongside what they mean.
• Substance abuse awareness: identified by a red ribbon in whose week occurs in the American schools.
• Breast cancer awareness: Noted by a pink ribbon
• HIV/AIDS awareness: It is identified by the red ribbon
• Military force support: commonly practiced in the US and Canada, their ribbon color is yellow.
The practice usually occurs during deployment to overseas and conflict-inflicted areas.
Color And Awareness of The Ribbons
To distinguish one awareness and cause from the other, different colors are used.
That way, it is easy to identify that particular cause or awareness being preached in line with conditions such as; public health, disability, medical conditions, and others.
If you want to know awareness ribbons, you will spot one folded across itself, creating a loop shape or related representation.
Many colored ribbon awareness is used globally by wearers in making support statements for a particular issue or cause.
As you already know, the most common ribbons are the red one for HIV/AIDS and the pink one for Breast cancer.
Understanding What Diabetes Is Before getting to know more about diabetes awareness, you should understand what the disease is.
Surprisingly, in America alone, many millions live with diabetes, yet they don’t know it, according to American Diabetes Associations.
Some of the risks diabetes puts you into are; cardiovascular complications, vision problems, limb injuries, nerve damage, and other nasty complications.
These problems arise due to the unmonitored and uncontrolled blood glucose levels.
According to the CDC (Center for Diseases Control), diabetes makes your body susceptible to uncurbable illnesses such as COVID-19.
Knowing how to manage diabetes is essential in ensuring you’re always healthy.
Diabetes mellitus consists of a group of metabolic disorders that cause a spike in blood glucose levels, which prevents the body from properly utilizing the energy generated from the beverages you’ve consumed.
Diagnosis Of Diabetes
Understanding the diabetes diagnosis number is far more critical compared to diabetes stats.
Remember, you can be diagnosed with any version of this disease, depending on your lifestyle.
Some of the situations that might land you to a potential diagnosis are as follows;
• Your hemoglobin A1C test will most likely be higher than 6.5 which will show that there’s a high amount of glucose attached to your red blood cells’ hemoglobin for the past quarter of the year.
• Before a meal and after fasting, your blood glucose levels my test up to 126mg/dl or higher.
• The test might reveal a random spike in glucose levels of up to 200mg/ dl or even higher.
On the other hand, during your fasting period, you may have prediabetes. That is if your blood glucose levels fall between 100mg/dl and 125mg/dl.
Otherwise, your random blood glucose levels can fall between 140 and 200 mg/dl. Also, your A1C might average in the range of 5.7 and 6.5.
What Is Diabetes Awareness?
Note that there are other different diabetes awareness symbols apart from the blue and grey colored ribbon with a red drop.
The red drop is used to signify the blood for testing the blood sugar levels.
Also, different colors of the ribbon are used for different types of diabetes. For example, type 1 diabetic people have ribbons.
As much as you might be inclined to believe this, they have a portion of the ribbon to represent them. Remember, the ribbon is both blue and grey.
Some will wear blue and grey socks to show their support to the affected individuals on other occasions.
Don’t forget that the blue circle is the unifying symbol of support for all people ailing from diabetes.
Types of Diabetes
Diabetes, as you know, is typically caused by the body’s inability to use glucose energy in the body cells, leading to a gradual buildup of sugar in the bloodstream. Some of the most common types of diabetes are;
Type 1 Diabetes
As an autoimmune disorder, this type of diabetes can begin earlier before adulthood.
With this type of illness, your immune system will destroy the body cells responsible for the manufacture and secretion of insulin hormone, which significantly aids in blood sugar regulation.
Type 1 diabetes was once known as juvenile or insulin-dependent diabetes. That also means that the body produces a tiny amount of insulin.
Various factors may lead to one developing this type of diabetes. Some of the factors include various viruses and genetics.
As for the signs and symptoms, they are;
• Weakness and fatigue
• High urination frequency
• Feeling extremely hungry
• Blurred vision
• Sudden unintended loss of body weight
• Bedwetting at night in children.
The above symptoms are enough to signal you to see a doctor. So, what are the causes of this diabetes? since it is one of the rare types of diabetes, its cause isn’t precisely known.
Typically, your body’s immune system responsible for destroying free radicles, including viruses and bacteria, may destroy the pancreatic cells, i.e., islets of Langerhans that manufacture insulin, unknowingly.
After a significant number of these cells are destroyed, your body will produce little to no insulin.
Roles of the insulin hormone are as follows;
• Insulin circulation allows the entry of sugar into your body cells
• Insulin secretion correspondingly declines with a decrease in your blood glucose levels.
• Insulin’s principal role is to lower your blood glucose to optimal levels
Since you are already aware of the roles of insulin in your body, you should also be aware of the role of glucose as it is the primary source of energy.
Also, note that the energy it provides makes up the muscles, other cells, and tissues.
With the aid of insulin hormone, sugar enters the bloodstream. The liver also stores glucose in the form of glycogen.
It’s worth noting that the two primary sources of glucose are your liver and food.
So, when there’s a drop in glucose in the body, your liver breaks down the stored glycogen to glucose.
It is a phenomenon that occurs as a mode of survival mechanism, such as when you haven’t eaten for a long time. That way, your body can maintain the glucose level at an optimal range.
Some life-threatening conditions can be caused as a result of sugar buildup in the bloodstream.
It is due to the lack of insulin to allow glucose into the cells in type 1 diabetic people.
Also, some of the risk factors of type I diabetes are;
• Age in which it can manifest at any age. Since type 1 diabetes has two peaks, the first one appears at ages 4 – 7. On the other hand, the second peak occurs between the ages of 10 and 14.
• Genetics where some genes show elevated risk of developing the illness
• Geography. According to researchers, there are chances of increased risk of diabetes as you move further away from the equator.
Type 2 Diabetes
For this type of diabetes, individuals start ailing from it at middle age due to the body’s incapacity to utilize the available insulin to regulate blood sugar levels properly.
Being the most common of all the diabetes types, it is the most dangerous as you might be living with it without knowing.
Compared to type 1 diabetes, type 2 has apparent signs and symptoms, so most awareness is centered on it.
Some of these signs and symptoms are;
• Tingling and numbness on the limbs
• Sores that heal slowly
• Fatigue
• Drastic weight loss
• Some areas of your skin darken, including the armpits and the neck region
Note that there are two types of causes related to this diabetes type. First, the pancreas’ inability to produce enough insulin to cancel out the imbalance.
Also, the liver, muscles cells, and fat become significantly resistant to insulin effects. It is because lack of consistent interaction between these muscles as they don’t take in an adequate, sustainable amount of sugar.
How these occurrences are possible isn’t known but inactivity and being overweight are potential causes.
So, how does insulin hormone work in the case of this diabetes? As you already know, the pancreas produces insulin.
The presence of sugar in the bloodstream triggers insulin secretion. As insulin circulates the bloodstream, it allows the intake of sugar into the cells.
As a result, the blood sugar level drops, leading to a drop of insulin in the bloodstream.
With such as a disease in your system, some of the complications that might arise as a result are;
• Sleep Apnea: For type 2 diabetes patients, a common sleep disorder is obtrusive sleep apnea. Even though it isn’t known whether sleeping regulates blood sugar levels, obesity has been identified as the primary contributing factor.
• Kidney disease: with this type of diabetes, there’s a possibility of developing chronic kidney diseases that may require dialysis or transplant.
• Eye damage: Also, diabetes can make you develop some of the most severe eye problems, such as glaucoma and cataracts. That might damage the blood vessels of the retina that might lead to blindness.
• Dementia: Alzheimer’s disease might progress significantly for a person who has type 2 diabetes. Due to poor regulation of blood sugars levels, there’s a high risk of memory decline.
As for prevention, a healthy lifestyle is an ideal choice if you want to keep your blood sugar levels regulated significantly. You should know that once you’re diagnosed, your lifestyle will change.
To maintain healthy blood glucose levels, consider;
• Losing weight: You can delay the progression of diabetes from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes by losing a considerably reasonable weight.
• Consuming healthy foods: Your ideal choice of food should contain non-fatty or low-calorie fiber-rich foods.
• Do a lot of exercises: Not taking up exercise can put you at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
At least get a 30 minutes physical activity. You can do something as basic as walking for a few minutes.
Gestational Diabetes
During pregnancy, periods are when this condition is common. Similar to type 2 diabetes, this condition is coupled with the body’s inability to utilize insulin properly.
Since this type of diabetes poses a threat to both you and the baby, early detection can significantly help put it under control.
Also, note that any pregnant woman is at an increased risk of developing this disease if;
• You had gestational diabetes the last time you were pregnant
• Your body mass index is over 30. You can use the healthy weight calculator to work it out.
• A sibling or one of your parents is ailing from diabetes
• You’re of African-Caribbean, middle-east, black, or South Asian descent
• You’ve previously delivered a baby weighing 10lbs or more.
If you have encountered any of the above incidences, consider getting a gestational diabetes screening. Notably, most cases related to this type of diabetes are detected after screening.
Some women, though, may develop some signs and symptoms if their blood sugar level is elevated.
Some of these signs are;
• Dry mouth
• Fatigue
• The need to constantly pee
• Elevated thirst
Some of the above signs might not necessarily mean that you have diabetes but are typical pregnancy signs. If you’re not sure, consider consulting your doctor or a qualified midwife.
But then again, how can this diabetes affect your pregnancy? Many gestational diabetic women have had a normal healthy pregnancy and delivered healthy babies.
Problems this diabetes come bundled up with are;
• Premature birth, i.e., early delivery before the elapse of 37 weeks.
• Having a baby growing bigger than average size may lead to delivery complications that might require cesarean section or some form of an induced labor
• Your baby may develop low blood glucose levels leading to jaundice after birth.
• Polyhydramnios is caused due to too much amniotic fluid that may result in complications during birth.
• Pre-eclampsia is a high blood pressure condition during pregnancy that can cause complications if not treated.
It is worth noting that type 2 diabetes affects the majority of people, approximately 95% of diabetic individuals. The remaining 5% consist of those ailing from type 1 1 and gestational diabetes.
Awareness On Fakes Diabetes Treatment
You already know what diabetes is, its effects, symptoms, and what the ribbon means with its historical origin.
During awareness month, it is essential to be aware of the scams and misinformation about diabetes.
You should know that diabetes is a manageable disease which is why you should be aware of the following misinformation on cure;
Detoxes
Commonly, detoxes have been associated with type 2 diabetes cure. The claims state that through a strict dietary routine, detoxes can cure diabetes.
So, a detox effectivity can take a day to a week accompanied by limiting to water infused fruits, water, and vegetables for some time.
Since these kinds of information lack solid scientific backing, they also claim that tests indicate that some of the essential gradients have anti-inflammatory effects.
In this report, the viable amount of the key ingredient to facilitate the desired results is lacking. On top of that, no data is showing its effect on diabetic people.
If you read closely at the small print info of some of these vendors, they say that more research needs to be conducted to ascertain the credibility of that particular key ingredient.
Supplements And Pills
These vendors pitch to people that there’s the miracle ingredient in the pills and the supplements that regulate the blood glucose levels and restore your health to normal.
Mostly the so claimed substance is said to be fulvic acid. The supplements could also be made from benign substances such as cinnamon.
Extreme Restrictions on Dietary Programs
According to these fake cures, these restrictions are essential in restoring and maintaining your blood sugar to healthy levels.
Some of these bogus dietary restrictions limit you to certain groups of food and possibly leave out the most essential ones helpful in managing the disease.
In the long run, you’re bound to suffer from malnutrition due to a lack of certain nutrients in your diet. That might in turn cause diabetes to worsen.
Conclusively, these kinds of misleading information on the cure of diabetes can have long-lasting effects on your body.
Beware because some of these products of these vendors are FDA approved but that doesn’t mean they are effective.
Being FDA-approved only means that they aren’t using harmful amounts of ingredients in the manufacturing practices.
But still, such kinds of information might derail you from looking after yourself which might lead to the progression of diabetes to chronic levels
Conclusion
Diabetes ribbon among other signs that represent diabetes has played and will continue playing a fundamental role in society.
Sensitizing people on the dangers and associated misinformation alongside general information is essential in making people aware of it.
Because of the blue circle and the diabetes ribbon, many have learned to appreciate the role played by the affected individuals in society.
For example, fundraising has helped many pay off their medical bills and buy drugs. The fact remains that that particular ribbon has had a significant positive impact on the lives of many.
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