HEART HEALTH
Time to get aggressive
November 6, 2008
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Paul Irish
STAFF REPORTER
Nobody said it was going to be easy.
Eating properly and exercising are the two best two ways to control Type 2 diabetes. And the more medical researchers learn about the disease, the more patients are urged to intervene in their own health – or lack of it.
The most recent clinical practice guidelines released by the Canadian Diabetes Association say it's imperative that Type 2 diabetics achieve tight control of blood pressure and cholesterol. A highlight of the recently released report says, "people with diabetes who are at risk for developing heart disease should be aggressively treated to lower LDL or `bad' cholesterol."
"If there's one message that we'd like to get to the public through these latest guidelines, it is the effect diabetes has on your heart," says Dr. Stewart Harris, Canadian Diabetes Association Chair in Diabetes Management at the University of Western Ontario, and part of the team that puts out the guidelines. "But we also want to make clear that diabetes is not a death sentence ... it can be controlled."
The panel responsible for the Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes in Canada – to use its full and proper title – includes close to 100 men and women from a broad variety of health-care professions – including physicians and dieticians from across the country.
The guidelines are internationally recognized as comprehensive and evidence-based facts incorporating revised recommendations as well as preventive measures.
Harris says the panel constantly reflects on every new detail, discovery or conjecture regarding diabetes and, every five years, publishes an updated report.
He says the medical field has always been aware of a link between diabetes and heart disease, but the amount of new information garnered since the 2003 report makes it a done deal.
Jung-Yul Kim, 35, a former offensive lineman for the Calgary Stampeders and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, knows about working hard – he has a Grey Cup championship ring to prove it – and accepts the fact that people with diabetes are being told they must be more vigilant in controlling their disease.
"It's not easy," says Kim, who reduced his weight to 235 pounds from almost 300, "and it sure isn't fun."
He says Type 2 diabetes – his was diagnosed in 2001 – ended his football career after he lost his bulk to save his life. Linemen are in top shape and can be very quick on their feet, but many will purposely fatten themselves up to become more solid on the job.
"When I lost all that weight, I could tell I just wasn't getting the job done ... I was too light and it showed on the field."
After leaving football, Kim spiralled into a "deep, black pit" and is just now coming to grips with the loss of his career.
"I lost something that I loved and was forced to live with something I didn't want ... diabetes."
He drew on knowledge he developed on and off the field to start a new life.
He now works as an actor and a stuntman, and is part of the coaching staff for the University of Toronto Blues football team.
He earned a degree from the same university before starting his professional sports career, and says he may even land in teachers' college one day.
Best of all, he says his diabetes is under control – even though he admits to occasionally partaking in all-you-can-eat buffets with players on the university team.
The one message he wants to give to all people with diabetes, especially the newly diagnosed, is that your life is in your own hands.
Harris agrees with Kim that it really is up to the individual, but stresses that the road to a healthy life is attainable and there is plenty of organized support for those living with the disease.
"If we never came up with another major medical breakthrough, we would still have enough tools in our kit bag to give us a long and healthy life," he says. "Two of the pillars would be eating properly and exercising."
Although Harris is optimistic, he agrees obesity is a major problem facing Canada as a whole, and that it's urgent we take action, perhaps through better and more aggressive education programs.
Meanwhile, the newly released guidelines still recommend a multifaceted, comprehensive approach to diabetes management, which includes healthy meal planning, physical activity, cessation of smoking and tight control of important targets, such as blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose levels.
The guidelines provide clinicians with detailed information about how best to manage diabetes.
Toronto Star