With the UK’s temperatures falling, diabetics are at a higher chance of fluctuation in blood sugar levels.
Diabetes is when your body cannot produce or effectively use the right amount of insulin. Insulin is produced by your pancreas and used to regulate you blood sugar levels.
Without enough insulin carbohydrates are not broken down causing high blood sugar levels called hyperglycemia. Hypoglycaemia, is when your blood sugar level drop too low this can be caused by skipping meal or excessive exercise.
There are two types of diabetes, type one is when the immune system attacks and destroys the beta cells which produces insulin and type two is when the body becomes resistant to insulin or the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin.
Karen Harvey, whose daughter has type 1 diabetes, explained how the cold weather affects diabetics.
Listen to Ruby Richards’ audio report here:
Karen said that walking through a freezer department at supermarket or jumping into a cold pool – especially if the weather is hot – has made blood sugar levels drop rapidly.
During the winter a lot of the time people like to stay indoors and out of the close, Karen mention that hyperglycemia episode are more common.
She said: “In the winter your sometimes less mobile tend to stay indoor and eat more whilst sitting and watch tv which has an impact on your glucose levels.”
Looking into the effect of cold weather on type two diabetes, Andrew Davies said: “I feel less likely to exercise when it is cold and overall the cold weather makes my blood glucose a lot lower, this mean I have to make sure I’m eating correctly, having healthy balanced meals and mostly try to make sure they are hot meal.
There is more medical research on the NHS website that can help give advice to how to stay safe in cold temperature. One of the main factors to stay warm in the winter is to keep heating your home to at least 18°C and to keep bedroom windows closed at night.
Featuring image (c) UK Diabetes
