This probably will not come as a surprise to anyone, but the mixture of diabetes and heart disease is often a deadly combination. A research study found that when someone goes into the hospital with congestive heart failure and has type 2 diabetes, there is a one in four chance of them passing away in the next 18 months. Now add this to the fact that those with type 2 diabetes have a much higher risk of heart disease than the general population (two to three times the norm), and you can see why this is such a huge problem. This study was done on a global scale, and wasn’t just pertinent to the United States, but it does illustrate many of the problems that are seen here.
Most doctors and medical professionals were already aware of the deadly link between these two diseases, but the situation is a lot worse than most people were aware of. For many people, these diseases already exist. However, in millions more, there is an opportunity to take preventative measures now that many potentially save their lives someday. Knowing how to do this is an essential part of a caregiver’s duty, even if the results are minimal. Just educating and putting measures into place to help the people that you care for can go a very long way toward improving the lives of the people that we love.
As we care for our elderly loved ones, it is important that we go above and beyond their most basic needs. Cleaning up, providing companionship, and making sure that they are clean and well groomed is important, but taking steps toward improving health is also a key factor. Heart disease and diabetes are often preventable, if healthy lifestyle choices are consistently made. However, when it comes to our loved ones, those decisions are often made by us. By helping our children to eat healthier and to get plenty of exercise, we can set them up for success later on in life. With our elderly loved ones, we can’t go back in time and change their lifestyles, but we can help them to eat well by preparing meals for them, and we can help them to get exercise, even if it’s only a few minutes of walking per day. Little things like this, even now, can have great benefits to their quality of life. It can even help them to not become one of the statistics mentioned above.
Some family caregivers really struggle with this, despite their best intentions. This shouldn’t be taken as a sign of inadequacy or that you do not love your family, but rather that you are human and cannot do it all. This is why professional caregivers are out there; they want to help you and your family have better lives. When you do find yourself struggling, hiring an in-home care service to come and assist your family isn’t you giving up, then. It is you proactively taking the steps needed to improve the quality of life for your elderly parents or grandparents.
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