Healthy- Arthritis and Diabetes Are They Related?

Arthritis and diabetes are two health conditions that if combined, can really wreck havoc in ones life if not managed properly. I am happy to say that a person can have both these conditions and still have a happy life. Arthritis is a condition that involves the inflammation of the joints causing discomfort, swelling and pain on the joints. Diabetes is a condition in which the body does not produce or use the hormone insulin sufficiently. If diabetes is not controlled properly, it can lead to more serious health problems such as heart attacks and stroke, to mention just a few.

What do the two conditions have in common with each other? Without getting too technical, the two conditions are not related, at least not directly. What has been found however is that in a lot of the cases the two diseases seem to overlap.

There are two types of diabetes, type 1 diabetes is when the body does not produce enough insulin and type 2 diabetes is when the body does not respond the way it is supposed to respond to the insulin, causing the sugar levels in the blood to be high. Research has shown that there is a correlation between people who have type 1 diabetes and Rheumatoid.

The relationship that I am going to focus on is type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis. These two conditions seem to share 2 major commonalities, they both seem to affect people based on a persons age and a persons weight. The joints become more strained as we age because we have been using them for a very long time, and so the wear on them becomes apparent. With diabetes, people tend to be less active as they get older, to the point of gaining weight to being overweight as well as the loss of muscle mass.

With weight gain, we know that the more heavy one is, the more weight the body has to carry and the more strain that will be put on ones joints. On top of the wear and tear that the joints experience as a result of the weight, the overweight body makes it harder for the insulin to do its job properly, and that increases the blood glucose levels.

That is not to say that arthritis causes diabetes or that diabetes can cause arthritis. It is just to note that diabetes affects the body in a way that can cause symptoms such as those of arthritis like joint pain, stiffness and swelling. It is clear though that just managing ones weight can have a major impact on ones health when it comes to these two diseases.

There is not much that one can do about their age, but you can take control of your weight by introducing exercise to your lifestyle. Exercise will improve your overall wellness and help you manage your weight. Weight loss will definitely reduce your joint pain and can help you lower your blood glucose levels.

Also, your diet can play a very important role in managing these two diseases. Diet can help you manage your diabetes, sometimes to the point where you do not need medication, and a proper diet can help you with weight management so that you are in a better position to lose weight.

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