Nutrition And Diabetes

Have you ever asked yourself, “What details make your life unique?” or “What is the reason why you are more conscious about some aspects of daily life?”. It was not until now that I have come to realize the real bases of my interest in nutrition. My mind have undergone through an indirect learning process. My life has taken a different course since an incident occurred years ago, an interviewto my mother. I analyzed the experiences my mother had as a result of my grandmother’s condition. I also realized how diseases change over time, and their impact at personal, social, economic, and political levels.

Cecilia Alejandro was diagnosed with Type I diabetes in the 1980’s, after presenting symptoms such as sleepiness and weight loss. According to Rosenburg’s article such processis called “framing the disease”. This is a big responsibility for the physician as Kelinman said: “For the practitioner, too, has been socialized into a particular collective experience of illness”. My family trusted the doctor’s diagnosis and immediately became aware of the risks of the disease. My family had a lot of expectations in terms of treatment results. A new low-calorie diet wasstarted at home. Years later my grandmother started losing her vision due to retinal detachment. She was only being able to see shades. She developed two ulcers, one on the sole of her foot and the other on her back, both due to bad circulation and high blood pressure. My mother was in charge of taking care of my grandmother. She made sure that everything was sterile and clean around her. A person whotakes care of a patient with diabetes must be aware of feeding him/her with the appropriate food, checking his/her sugar levels. The care giver has to make sure that the patient does not get injured, and that he/she takes the medications to control the glucose levels, such as glucophage. She passed away when I was nine years old. I have only few memories of her, but I always think about herwith great appreciation. She used to cook for me and asked me to brush her long gray hair. As far as I remember, I got to see her with both legs. Few years later, and as a consequence of her disease, she had her first leg amputation. This happened because her pills were not very effective. This amputation was devastating for her and the family. She was always thankful and faithful in God even underthe circumstances of her condition. At the same time, she did not like the idea of using prosthetics because she refused having medical therapy or treatment.

The author of “Welcome to Cancerland” explained the way she felt and how commercialization wants to make people feel fragile. Her denial on using prosthetics had to do on relaying or depending on people, a life style that she had toadapt to. My family supported her and had high expectations on the treatment she was receiving. Unfortunately, two years later she had both legs amputated, after a catheterization surgery that did not worked out. One morning in 2003, while I was watching TV I saw my mother come up stairs after telling my aunt to call the ambulance. Few minutes later, she breathed for the last time. I was toldthat she died at that instant. I can still remember that moment as a vivid image in my mind. Today, the Marquez Alejandro family has to take care of their health in order to prevent diabetes and its consequences. Personally, I like to have good nutrition habits, which started when my grandmother’s diet was modified as a result of the diabetes diagnosis. Normally, I like to eat low-sugar andlow-sodium foods, including fruits. This process is called by Charles E. Rosenberg as “negotiating disease” because is the disciplinary elements and adjustments individuals and families go through.

The first written reference about a strange illness, nowadays called diabetes, was found by the Egyptologist George Ebers in 1873 at Ayur Veda Suruta’s book were a type of illness common in obese and...