Blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is your main source of energy and mostly comes from the food you eat. Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps the glucose in your blood cross into your cells to be used for energy.

With diabetes your body either does not produce enough insulin, or does not use it well so glucose levels in blood stay high and so are low where needed in your cells.

Māori, Asian, Middle Eastern or Pacific Island people are at a greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes from the age of 25 than New Zealanders of European descent.  Diabetes in Māori and Pacific adults aged 25–39 years is two to three and a half times higher compared to adults of European ethnicity.

To keep blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible requires lifelong insulin treatment for Type 1 diabetics, this coming by injection or via a continuous insulin pump. With insulin injections, a syringe with a fine needle or an insulin pen is used to inject insulin under the skin. Most people require two or more injections of insulin daily with different types of insulin depending on their blood glucose readings.

Diet and exercise and other lifestyle changes back up this insulin therapy.

In 2019 253,000 Kiwis were on the National Diabetes Register, up from 190,000 ten years earlier. Almost 7% of our population aged 15 or over have diabetes, and almost 1 in 5 Kiwis over 65 have the condition.

It is estimated that 8.3% of men in New Zealand are diabetics, compared to around 5.8% of the female population.  Diabetes is far more common in obese people (14.2%) compared with people in a ‘normal’ weight group. This is because the more fatty tissue you have, the more resistant your cells can become to insulin. Belly fat is a particular problem.

Estimates are that 18 to 20% of adults may have prediabetes, and 70% of cases will progress to full diabetes if not attended to.

Prediabetes is linked to insulin resistance which causes large amounts of sugar in your bloodstream. Insulin resistance is likely to be caused by obesity, when excess fats damage key organs like the pancreas and liver which control blood sugar regulation.

You can actually halve your chance of progressing to Type 2 diabetes by losing 5-10% of your body weight. You can do this by making healthy food choices and doing at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day.

Eating well and doing regular physical activity helps keep your blood sugar and cholesterol at the right levels and reduces your blood pressure, all key pointers to diabetes.

One accurate and easy test men can take to find out they may have or could be in danger of developing diabetes is the HbA1c test. This measures how much your blood glucose has stuck to your blood protein Haemoglobin over the last 2–3 months and gives an indication of your longer-term blood sugar control.

Normal is 40 or below, 40-50 means you’re heading into trouble and 50 or more means you’re there. Get it checked and know your number.

High sugar levels in your blood over a long period of time can seriously damage your blood vessels and some organs. If your blood vessels aren’t working properly, blood can’t travel to the parts of your body it needs to, meaning your nerves won’t work properly either and means you can lose feeling in parts of your body. With diabetes you are up to 20x more likely to experience an amputation.

Balanced diet with exerciseSome carbohydrates are high in fat and break down to sugars quickly, raising blood sugar levels.

Exercise is great but needs to be balanced with a diet that helps reduce your blood sugar levels.

A balanced diet, avoiding foods that raise blood sugar levels too high, and moderate exercise will help you maintain a good body weight and decrease your risk of developing diabetes.