How to Manage Diabetes Type 2
Statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that over 24 million Americans have diabetes, with approximately 6 million citizens undiagnosed of the condition.
Other reports suggest that about 2000 Americans are born with the status having inherited the trait from their ancestral lines.
Diabetes is a life-threatening condition that increases the blood sugar level in an individual. Diabetes Type 2, also referred to as hyperglycemia, is the most common form of diabetes.
It occurs when your pancreas fails to produce the correct amount of insulin or becomes resistant to the insulin produced.


The human body reacts to the resistance by increasing insulin levels to help break down glucose into energy. However, it is nearly impossible to keep up with, hence, glucose builds up, leading to high blood sugar levels.
Physiotherapy is a rehabilitation and medical specialty that promotes mobility and heals impairments. It offers quality and functional examination, diagnosis, prognosis, and physical intervention to a patient.
Apart from healing mobility impairments, physiotherapy can help remedy heart disease, acute exacerbation of pulmonary dysfunction, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes.
How Does Diet & Exercise Help You Manage Diabetes Type 2
Engaging in daily physical activities can prevent the development and progression of type 2 diabetes. It also balances blood sugar levels and enhances its control. Lastly, it increases the production of positive lipids and improves cardiovascular health.
In areas with high rates of type 2 diabetes cases, modest weight loss and physical activities combined with structured interventions have proven to lower diabetes risks by up to fifty-eight percent (58%).
According to Partridge, Diabetes Type 2 patients must do light exercises regularly and avoid skipping sessions unless they feel ill or have urinary or blood ketones.
Researchers also agree that increasing the intensity of the exercises and extending the program can lead to better and more meaningful results for diabetes patients.
To control type 2 diabetes, one should look no further than diet and exercise. Avoid using any medication or resorting to medical treatment, except for frequent blood-glucose levels and weight checks.
What is Physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy is a rehabilitation and medical specialty that promotes mobility and heals impairments. It offers quality and functional examination, diagnosis, prognosis, and physical intervention to a patient.
Apart from healing mobility impairments, physiotherapy can help remedy heart disease, acute exacerbation of pulmonary dysfunction, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes.
Physiotherapy is a broad discipline. Apart from the discipline’s clinical practices, it encompasses other activities such as education, administration, research, and consultation. The medical course is usually offered alongside other medical procedures.
Physical therapy remedies injuries and illnesses that inhibit an individual’s functional performance and movements.
How it helps diabetes patients
Physiotherapists seek to help patients maintain a balanced and healthy diet to prevent diseases. The profession facilitates and encourages recovery that allows patients to go about their daily errands while getting medical help.
Physical therapy employs the use of natural and historical examinations to make a diagnosis and develop a condition management plan.
It also uses imaging studies and laboratory results from tests like CT scans, MRI findings, electrodiagnostic testing, and X-rays to develop a case study of the patient’s illness.
The physician may also provide some medical prescriptions useful ineffective physical exercising, and manual therapy treatments.
Physiotherapy specializes in sports, cardiopulmonary, wound care, pediatrics, Electromyography (EMG), and geriatrics. Neurological rehabilitation is another emerging field in this practice. Furthermore, the profession works hand in hand with ordinary people to develop wellness-oriented programs and improve fitness for active and healthier lifestyles.

  • The Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes has several symptoms. The common signs include:

  • Slow-healing wounds
  • Thirsting time and again
  • Fatigue or sluggishness
  • Urinating time and again
  • Hunger
  • Blurry vision
  • Sudden weight gain
  • Headache
  • Fluctuating moods
  • Dizziness
  • Cramps in the legs

Type 2 diabetes is known for macro and microvascular complications that can lead to a patient’s death. Effective control is thus needed in preventing this illness.
Preventing hyperglycemia is a priority for the global healthcare community. Increased numbers of patients can have drastic consequences for the medical sector.
You can prevent diabetes through three key areas;

  • Joining physiotherapy or exercising regularly
  • Taking a Proper diet, and
  • Living an active lifestyle

It is also vital to educate people, especially those in the areas where the condition is prevalent.

Physical exercises for Diabetes Type 2 Patients
Physical exercises have a real impact on treating and preventing hyperglycemia. Exercise improves glycaemic control, body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, physical functioning, and well-being in patients.
Exercising is also beneficial in reducing body fat and improving a patient’s lean mass. Another critical advantage of workout is that it helps control hypertension. And lastly, it eases the management of common illnesses like type 2 diabetes.
According to Partridge, Type 2 patients must do light exercises regularly and avoid skipping sessions unless they feel ill and have urinary or blood ketones.
Researchers also agree that increasing the intensity of the exercises and extending the program can lead to better and more meaningful results for patients.
To control type 2 diabetes, one should look no further than diet and exercise. Avoid using any medication or resorting to medical treatment, except for constant blood glucose levels and weight checks.

Role of Physical Exercises
Several studies prove the benefit of regular exercise in preventing diabetes type 2 and other chronic illnesses. Exercise prevents diseases; it also helps patients avoid future treatments that may turn out costly.

Metabolic changes
Exercising triggers metabolic changes in insulin resistance and weight loss, among other things that affect the cardiovascular system. Individuals who exercise regularly show increased oxygen production and usage in the muscle cells.
Oxygen helps the mitochondria produce energy, and mitochondria increase due to training can increase an individual’s energy level.
Diabetic neuropathy or nerve disease is a prolonged condition in diabetic individuals where the nerve-making cells change in response to high sugar levels in the blood.
One case of neuropathy is proximal motor neuropathy that affects the muscle nerves. This disease can cause a burning feeling in the joints or severe fatigue. The best treatment for this is physiotherapy.
As one works out, the body oxygen intake increases considerably, and more may occur during the straining of muscles. To generate energy, the skeletal muscles use up their reserved glycogen, triglycerides, and FFAs derived from the breakdown of fatty tissue triglycerides and glucose released from the liver.

Balancing blood glucose
Regular physical exercising also balances blood-glucose levels, further stabilizing the central nervous system.
When individuals have low insulin because of insufficient therapy, a significant release of counter-insulin hormones as one exercise may increase the already high glucose levels and ketone bodies.
Hypoglycemia becomes less and less of an issue due to physiotherapy. Patients with type 2 diabetes no longer suffer from insulin resistance and lower blood glucose levels.
Several studies reveal the importance of physiotherapy in type 2 diabetes patients as well as its risks. However, one has to understand what physiotherapy entails first.

Should You Consider Physiotherapy for Diabetes Type 2 patients?
Your doctor should examine you before recommending this form of treatment. However, this should not be an excuse to avoid physiotherapy altogether.
The possible benefits of physical activity to a patient with type 2 diabetes are substantial. And recent studies reinforce the importance of long-term physical activity programs in the treatment and prevention of this common metabolic abnormality and its complications.
Specific metabolic problems can manifest as follows;

  • Patients with type 2 diabetes are not physically fit as compared to control patients. Poor fitness is linked to a lot of cardiovascular risks.
  • The development of these risks leads to a decline in insulin levels. Many of the beneficial effects of physical activity on cardiovascular risk are related to insulin levels.

In a nutshell, patients with type 2 diabetes should consider physiotherapy and exercise on a regular.
Aerobic and resistance training are compulsory but all customized to fit a specific patient’s situation. However, experts worldwide recommend aerobic exercise is more than resistance training.
It is less risky to go for physiotherapy than remain inactive, more so in adulthood stages. Exercise does not only include running and doing a lot of physical activities. It also involves discipline in your meals.
Physical training based on endurance and resistance can help reduce up to 0.6% of hemoglobin with glucose, according to randomized studies on short-period exercises. Adding such activity to your schedule helps the body sustain its organ operation and function, enabling patients to control the progress of diabetes in the body.
Stretching muscles regularly and activating body tissues through physical activity enables them to break down toxins, fats, and control glucose levels. Lifestyle changes, especially for people with eating habits that can lead to obesity, is a must-do to prevent and control type 2 diabetes.
Finally, regular exercises can reduce liver fat accumulation and masses of toxins removed through sweat, keeping the body fit and active.

Exercises & Diet go Together
A healthy meal plan is a must-do. A balanced diet ensures the body does not receive in excess one component or nutrient that can alter the body organs’ normal function.
Through exercise, an individual can balance the body glucose level and deal with the primary causes of this type of diabetes.
Controlling the sugar level is also helpful in preventing future complications that could be chronic, for example, nerve pains.
Patients who require glycemic control and have a high diabetic risk should consider including activities like jogging in their daily routine to maintain a healthy life. Those with overweight and obese bodies should lose weight as a treatment plan for reducing the likelihood of hyperlipidemia and hypertension.
Foods to Avoid in Diabetes
To control type 2 diabetes, one should look no further than diet and exercise. Avoid using any medication or resorting to medical treatment, except for frequent blood-glucose levels and weight checks.
Diet is everything when struggling to manage a disease like diabetes Type 2. Apart from knowing the foods that matter to your diet, it’s also essential to learn which meals to avoid at all costs.
Remember, the food you consume impacts blood glucose levels, so you want only what’s good for your blood sugar. Below are some foods to avoid.

  • Avoid Processed food

Any processed foodstuffs like sugary cereals, chips, carbonated drinks, juices, cheese, cakes, and biscuits have either excess sodium, extra sugar, or dangerous fat, all of which can cause trouble for diabetic people.

  • Carbs to keep off

Stay away from simple carbohydrate foodstuffs like baked wheat-flour snacks, white bread, sugared breakfast cereals, sweets, candy, and other stuff with added sugars.

  • Proteins to Cut Down or Avoid

Diabetic individuals should consider plant-proteins instead of animal protein. This is a clear warning that patients must reduce red fatty meat, fried fish, and related foods or keep off these foodstuffs altogether.

  • Dairy Products To Evade or Reduce

Whole milk, fatty cheese, sweetened and flavored yogurt, and so on are some of the dairy products to limit or boycott if you have diabetes type 2. These foods have high lactose levels, which are unsafe for diabetes patients.

  • Fruits to Keep Off

Fruits are okay, but fruit juices and foodstuffs like dried fruits should be limited or avoided entirely because they can increase blood glucose levels. Natural fruits are way healthier than these options.

Be sure to consult with your doctor before you choose to avoid or limit these foods. Following an expert’s advice is essential in ensuring your management plan works.

Value of Exercise to Physiotherapy in Type 2 diabetes
How do exercises really help in physiotherapy? The possible benefits of physical activity to a patient with type 2 diabetes are substantial.
Medics stress the importance of long-term physical activity programs in the treatment and prevention of this common metabolic abnormality and its complications.
Exercise and physical activity can help control diabetes type 2 in the following ways:

  • It keeps blood sugar in check by utilizing the available glucose
  • Increases insulin function by triggering your cells to breakdown more glucose
  • Reduces body fat
  • It reduces blood pressure and cholesterol.

Physical activity is a vital element in the management and control of type 2 diabetes. It is difficult to overlook the importance of fitness in reducing type 2’s chronic effects that could limit your activeness as a person.
Engaging in daily physical activities can prevent the development of type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, exercising develops blood sugar and enhances its control. And for the icing of the cake, it enhances positive lipids development, cardiovascular health, and improves your general well-being.
In areas with high levels of type 2 diabetes, modest weight loss and physical activities combined with structured interventions have proven to lower diabetes risks by up to fifty-eight percent (58%).
The chronic and acute progress of insulin action is one of the realizations fueling diabetic management through exercising. Resistance training and aerobics are useful in combating diabetes-related compilations such as gestational diabetes mellitus and blood glucose control.
Diabetes has touched the epidemic rating due to the rampant increase in incidents and dominance of level two diabetes.
Early treatment is essential in maintaining appropriate blood pressure levels and optimizing blood glucose and lipid generation, useful in preventing chronic complications.
People with diabetes Type 2 implement cardio practices to lose weight, follow a nutritional meal plan and can supplement with medication from a doctor.
Taking these steps prompts your body to supplement its insulin levels. At the same time, dieting and regular physical exercise prevent and manages type two diabetes by controlling blood pressure abnormalities, reducing weight loss, and preserving body mass.
During exercise, the integration and coordination of the endocrine and sympathetic nervous systems is crucial in preventing body blood sugar imbalance.
The uptake of blood glucose goes up tremendously as muscles contract and takes advantage of substitute fuels, such as excessive fatty acids and gluconeogenesis production through liver glycogenosis.
In short, manual activities help balance blood sugars, thus breaking down unnecessary body fats; these activities assist in the management and inhibition of level two diabetes.

The risk factors for Diabetes Type 2
The risk factors for diabetes include age, weight, ethnic background, and genes. Some medical practitioners narrow down to family genes and people’s lifestyle choices.

  • Weight

Overweightness is a primary risk factor for type 2, but one mustn’t be overweight to develop the disease.
The possible benefits of physical activity to a patient with type 2 diabetes are substantial. Medics stress the importance of long-term physical activity programs in the treatment and prevention of this type 2 diabetes.

  • Abdomen Fat

Those with more fat in the abdomen are at great danger of catching type 2 than those who store fat in other body parts as hips or thighs. Any female with over 35 inches of waist circumference is at a higher risk of type 2 diabetes. For men, anything beyond 40 inches is a risk factor.

  • Sedentary Lifestyle

If you live an inactive life, you are prone to type 2 diabetes. Exercising and moving up and down keeps your weight in check, uses up the glucose you produce, and increases cell sensitivity to insulin.

  • Family Background

You are likely to catch it if your parent or relative has diabetes type 2.

  • Race

Medical experts are yet to determine why Black Americans, Latin-Americans, American Indians, and people from Asian America are more likely to suffer from the disease.

  • Age

As you age, past 45 years, you are more likely to get type 2 diabetes. This is because people do less physical activity, lose muscle mass, and add extra weight as they grow old. But type 2 diabetes is also increasing dramatically among children, adolescents, and younger adults.

  • Prediabetes

This is when your blood sugar level exceeds the normal but hasn’t reached diabetic status. If not corrected, it can worsen to diabetes type 2.
Individuals aged forty-five and above are at the highest risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but cases have been found in young people. Older people are at risk because of weight complications or high blood pressure that comes with aging.
Families that report hyperglycemia are more likely to have more cases in the future because of genetic factors. A close relative diagnosed with the infection poses high risks to other family members -like a son or a sister- developing the condition.
Other factors like weight gain can also increase the risk of developing hyperglycemia, more so if the fat accumulates around the abdomen. Childhood obesity is the leading cause in children.
Symptoms of this condition are almost similar to those of type 1 diabetes. However, type 2 diabetes is not that easily observed, and thus, a routine check-up is required since the signs become visible with time.

Final Words on Managing Diabetes Type 2
Physiotherapy is a rehabilitation and medical specialty that promotes mobility and heals impairments. It offers quality and functional examination, diagnosis, prognosis, and physical intervention to a patient.
To control diabetes type 2, one should look no further than exercise and maintain a healthy diet. Avoid using any medication or resorting to medical treatment, except for constant blood glucose levels and weight checks.
Taking these steps prompts your body to supplement its insulin levels. At the same time, dieting and regular physical exercise prevent and manages type two diabetes by controlling blood pressure abnormalities, reducing weight loss, and preserving body mass.