Do Diabetic Women Get Less Care Than Men?

Since diabetic women tend to have more complications faster than men and lower survival rates when it comes to the danger of diabetes complications like heart attacks, many might think that they get less care when it comes to diabetic management. Actually, it is about vulnerability of the women’s body to makes it so.

Diabetic women are more vulnerable to complications than men. It is not because they get less care but because of their unique body types and how their bodies respond to the disease.

Both men and women have different health issues, with their bodies which are quite different from each other. However, when it comes to diabetes, they face the same challenges. With their different types of bodies, responding to diabetes also varies. Diabetes is not a light condition. It affects many women in all types of life stages. Women tend to gain weight faster and more than men. They also have a higher risk of blindness than men. Non-diabetic women are said to live longer lives than those who are diagnosed as diabetic women.

Menstruation

Menstruation alone is something men do not have, but is uniquely for women and does not require less care at all. This menstruation has an impact on blood sugar control. Through the menstrual cycle, hormone levels fluctuate which in turn have an effect the sugar in the blood. The body might become resistant to insulin when the levels of estrogen are high. Women see their blood sugar having the tendency to go high about three to five days before menstruation; or during or after.

The way these processes affect the body can be addressed with adjustments in terms carbohydrates intake and insulin doses. In this way, the rise and fall of blood sugar can be controlled. It is recommended that diabetic women should know the blood glucose pattern at least four times a day the week before menstruation; and also during and after. That is not a less care for diabetes. Do this for at least two or three months.

For some women, they may want to refrain from exercise during their period. When there is no exercise, they may increase their insulin intake to keep the blood glucose from rising. For pregnant women, diabetes should be well-managed as it can affect both the mother and the unborn child.

Complications

Diabetic women have a higher risk of depression, heart and kidney disease than diabetic men. Survival rates are lower for women than men among the diabetic population who have heart attacks. Children of diabetic women tend to become obese when they reach childhood, and develop type 2 diabetes in later life.