Welcome to Connecting the Dots on Diabetes, a series by Sydney Williams of Hiking My Feelings chronicling the organizations mission to hike 1 million miles for diabetes awareness in 2021.
Throughout the series, Sydney, who received a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes in 2017, will interview diabetes advocates, community organizers, policy makers, and patients to answer the question: Is there a relationship between trauma and diabetes? If so, if we treat the trauma, can we more effectively treat diabetes?
When I was first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I had a lot of questions. What is happening inside my body? What can I eat? Will I be on medications for the rest of my life?
There are a ton of resources available to answer these questions, but I wanted to take my health into my own hands and be my own best advocate.
In the wake of this diagnosis, I came to a shocking realization: I didnt really know myself.
Sure, I had been existing in this body on this planet for 32 years when I got the call that changed my life, but who was I really? What did I believe? What had I internalized from society, my parents, my coaches, and other people in my life?
How had that informed my life choices, circumstances, and overall outlook on what life should be? I realized I was living the life I thought I should be living, not one of my own design.
Ive said it before and Ill say it again, diabetes is the best thing that ever happened to me.
Just 9 months before my diagnosis, I started backpacking.
It was December 2016, and this was the next chapter of my healing journey. I had no idea how my life would unfold when I went on that trip, but it undeniably changed my life on a cellular level.
When I got home, I was sore for 3 weeks. I couldnt walk right and my feet were healing from an onslaught of blisters from ill-fitting shoes and a lack of physical preparation. Yet, at the same time, I felt a deep love for the body I had been occupying for the 31 years prior to that hike.
I didnt know how my life would change or who would help me get to where I wanted to go, but for the first time, I was clear on what I wanted and why. I wanted to be fit, to get healthy. Not a new goal for me in January, but this time it was different.
I fell in love with backpacking on that trip. I fell in love with how my body felt in the wilderness, the healing power of nature, and how refreshed and clearheaded I felt when it was all said and done.
Despite the blisters and aches and pains, I came home a new woman and I wanted to honor that new woman with every step I took for the rest of my life.
I wanted to be able to hike as much as possible and enjoy the experience. If there was any way I could do more hiking and backpacking and not have my body get in the way of the miles I wanted to do per day, or how many days I could be out in the backcountry in a row, I wanted to explore that.
So I did.
I picked up paddleboarding during the summer of 2017 and declared to myself that I was a multi-sport athlete. When it was too hot to hike, Id be on the water. When it was too cold to paddle, Id be in the mountains.
For all of my life, I never called myself an athlete because I figured if I wasnt going to the Olympics and winning gold medals, then who am I? In that moment, I squashed that old story and wrote a new one: Im an athlete. Time to live like one.
After a summer full of paddleboarding, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. As it got cooler and paddleboarding wasnt as appealing, I started walking every day around my neighborhood, eventually graduating to local hiking trails.
Slowly but surely, my life started to change before my eyes.
On my walks and hikes, I didnt listen to music, podcasts, or audiobooks. My phone stayed in my pocket. I was able to hear my inner voice.
Intense physical activity brought up lots of painful memories. When my body started getting tired, my brain told me wild stories about how Im too fat and too out of shape to be out here.
I didnt like how I was talking to myself and I remembered my first backpacking trip, where I learned how to be my own best friend.
Instead of running away from difficult feelings and memories, or numbing them with alcohol or ice cream, I listened.
When I started to peel back the layers of the life I had built for myself, I gained context and insights about the life events that led to the behaviors that contributed to my diagnosis.
I repeated that 2016 backpacking trip in June 2018, 10 months into my journey managing diabetes, and once again, my life was changed.
Without all the distractions of life, I was able to connect the dots between trauma I had experienced earlier in my life (a sexual assault in college) and how, when I didnt get help, I started coping by eating and drinking my feelings.
After more than a decade of neglecting my health, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
When I cut out the harmful behaviors and started hiking and tending to my mental health, my A1C improved, and my daily readings were in the healthy zone.
Diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes, has a horrible stigma around it. A common trope is that we made unhealthy choices and brought it on ourselves.
While I did make some unhealthy choices, the trauma of the sexual assault is what informed those choices. For some people with diabetes, lifestyle plays no role.
We could all stand to have a bit more empathy and compassion for folks who have diabetes. Every experience with diabetes is personal.
In the wake of my diagnosis and subsequent love for hiking, I founded a nonprofit organization called Hiking My Feelings. We started in 2018, and since then weve hosted more than 200 events around the United States introducing people to the healing power of nature.
My work explores how trauma manifests in our minds and bodies, and how the outdoors can help us heal. The question were looking to explore in 2021 is a big one:
Is trauma a root cause of diabetes? If so, if we address the trauma, can we manage diabetes more effectively?
The inspiration for addressing this question came as a result of my own journey navigating type 2 diabetes. Once I faced the trauma head-on and addressed my mental health, my physical health followed closely behind.
According to 2018 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in America, some of the most disturbing statistics come to light when breaking the prevalence down by race:
If you look at these groups and think about issues like poverty, access to healthcare, education, food deserts (and food swamps), the pay gaps in America, and the historical trauma experienced by these communities colonization, racism, slavery, oppression, systemic issues then its even more evident that trauma could be a root cause of diabetes.
In this column, you can look forward to interviews with the people who are working to make the world a better place by means of diabetes awareness and education, learn about hiking and walking for mental and physical health, and hear from the community leaders, organizations and brands who are helping increase accessibility of recreation opportunities in marginalized communities.
This year, we are on a mission to hike 1 million miles for diabetes awareness and were taking our work on the road through our Take a Hike, Diabetes tour.
Obviously, we cant hike 1 million miles in a year by ourselves, so were counting on our community and all of the friends we havent met yet to help us meet and exceed our goal.
Were just getting started, and its never too late to join us. Healing happens one step at a time.
Sydney Williams is an adventure athlete and author based in San Diego. Her work explores how trauma manifests in our minds and bodies and how the outdoors can help us heal. Sydney is the founder of Hiking My Feelings, a nonprofit organization on a mission to improve community health by creating opportunities for people to experience the healing power of nature. Join the Hiking My Feelings Family, and follow along on YouTube and Instagram.
Read the original post:
Connecting the Dots on Diabetes: My Mission to Address the Root Cause of Diabetes - Healthline
- Fresh health warning over common additive used in thousands of ultra-processed foods including mayo and bread - Daily Mail - April 25th, 2024
- Vertex jumps to TreeFrog to enhance production of Type 1 diabetes cell therapy candidates - FiercePharma - April 25th, 2024
- Spotting the warning signs of diabetes in your pets - CBC.ca - April 25th, 2024
- Lexington-Fayette County health department organizing weekend diabetes awareness expo - WEKU - April 25th, 2024
- Preventive effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on incident hypertension in patients with diabetes who do not have hypertension ... - Nature.com - April 25th, 2024
- Curbing the Price of Novel Diabetes and Obesity Medications - Yale School of Medicine - April 25th, 2024
- Stanford Health closing Livermore Diabetes and Bariatric Center - Pleasanton Weekly - April 25th, 2024
- The association of ALT to HDL-C ratio with type 2 diabetes in 5074 years old adults: a population-based study ... - Nature.com - April 25th, 2024
- VERTEX AND TREEFROG THERAPEUTICS ANNOUNCE LICENSING AGREEMENT AND COLLABORATION TO ... - PR Newswire - April 25th, 2024
- Understanding the Complexity of Hyperglycemic Emergencies: Exploring the Influence of the Type and Duration of ... - Cureus - April 25th, 2024
- What Every Parent Should Know About Raising a T1D Kid - Health Central - April 25th, 2024
- Healthy Living & Diabetes Awareness Fair 2024 - University of New Mexico - April 25th, 2024
- New findings on pancreatic anatomy may affect diabetes research and treatment - Medical Xpress - April 25th, 2024
- The role of yogurt in diabetes and obesity prevention - News-Medical.Net - April 25th, 2024
- How exercising outdoors can prevent depression and diabetes - inews - April 25th, 2024
- Heart of the Valley: Valley woman discusses how she improved her health following diabetes diagnosis - KRGV - April 25th, 2024
- The Right Amount of Sleep Could Help Prevent This Extremely Common Disease - Inverse - April 25th, 2024
- 'Bread and Butter': Societies Issue T2D Management Guidance - Medscape - April 25th, 2024
- She was fired after not endorsing Splenda-filled salads to people with diabetes. Why? - The Guardian - April 25th, 2024
- Glycemic index of diets: importance beyond diabetes control - The Hindu - April 25th, 2024
- 1 woman thought she was destined for diabetes. This 1 realization helped her lose 70 pounds - Yahoo! Voices - March 29th, 2024
- Franciscan Health offering diabetes education at local churches - The Times of Northwest Indiana - March 29th, 2024
- For diabetes patients, needle-free insulin injections are on the way - ScienceBlog.com - March 29th, 2024
- Las Vegas nonprofit hosting health workshop specifically aimed at local Latinos - KTNV 13 Action News Las Vegas - March 29th, 2024
- How Often Do You Really Need to Check Your Blood Sugar Levels? - WSJ - The Wall Street Journal - March 29th, 2024
- Unintended Effects of Caps on Insulin Out-of-Pocket Costs - Managed Healthcare Executive - March 29th, 2024
- Study: Pompe treatment Nexviazyme isn't linked to new or worsening... - Pompe Disease News - March 29th, 2024
- A Smoker With New-Onset Pain in Both Feet - Medscape Reference - March 29th, 2024
- Pre-diabetes leads to Type 2 diabetes; Here's how to prevent and reverse it - WXII12 Winston-Salem - March 29th, 2024
- 'From Interpretation to Action': Using CGM to Manage T2D - Medscape - March 29th, 2024
- March: diabetes-kidney | News and features - University of Bristol - March 29th, 2024
- Health centers attempt to prevent diabetes - WTVM - March 29th, 2024
- Beyond Meat Unveils New and Expanded Line of Beyond Crumbles, Now Certified by the American Heart ... - Yahoo Finance - March 29th, 2024
- Beyond Meat Launches Revamped Plant-Based Crumbles, Earning American Heart and Diabetes Association ... - vegconomist - the vegan business magazine - March 29th, 2024
- Ypsomed hands off insulin pen needle business to focus on smart pump, autoinjector development - Fierce Biotech - March 29th, 2024
- Take the online diabetes test that could help save your life - NBC Connecticut - March 29th, 2024
- Study evaluates the use of tirzepatide in overweight/obese adults with type 1 diabetes - News-Medical.Net - March 29th, 2024
- Risk prediction using genes and gut bacteria can improve early detection of diseases like type 2 diabetes - Medical Xpress - March 29th, 2024
- On a Healthy Vegan Diet, I've Healed My Liver, Reversed Type 2 Diabetes, and Lost 35 Pounds - Forks Over Knives - March 29th, 2024
- Study Links Diet, Diabetes, and Alzheimers - Neuroscience News - March 29th, 2024
- Novo Nordisk Isn't in The "Magnificent Seven," but Here's Why I Think It Should Be - Yahoo Finance - March 18th, 2024
- Doctor warns of strange telltale sign of diabetes which can appear on the legs - The Mirror - March 18th, 2024
- Unraveling the complexities of muscle repair in diabetes: A call for targeted research and therapies - News-Medical.Net - March 18th, 2024
- Popular diabetes and weight loss drugs often hard to get for people who need them - NBC News - March 18th, 2024
- Your Health Matters: The ABCs of diabetes - The Globe | News, weather, sports from Worthington, Minnesota - The Globe - March 18th, 2024
- The Link Between Pancreatic Cancer and Diabetes - Cedars-Sinai - March 18th, 2024
- Nikita Kuzmin diabetes: what was he holding in the CBB house? - Cosmopolitan UK - March 18th, 2024
- FDA Approves Rezdiffra, the First Drug for Diabetes-Related Liver Disease - diaTribe Foundation - March 18th, 2024
- He took up running rather than take diabetes medication. It worked - South China Morning Post - March 18th, 2024
- Can Eating Yogurt Really Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes? - Health.com - March 18th, 2024
- Even short periods of diabetes remission are linked to lower risk of heart attack and stroke - The BMJ - March 18th, 2024
- Kidney stone risk factors and how type 2 diabetes medication may help - WECT - March 18th, 2024
- 'Making the Invisible Visible': CGMs Offer Insights for T2D - Medscape - March 18th, 2024
- Novo Nordisk Discontinues Insulin Medication After Cutting Its Price - The American Prospect - March 18th, 2024
- Infographic: Where GLP-1s Work Now -- and What's Coming - Medscape - March 18th, 2024
- Intermountain Health Experts Say Education Key to Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes | PRUnderground - PR Underground - March 18th, 2024
- International body recommends more sensitive test to indicate risk of developing diabetes - The Hindu - March 18th, 2024
- The importance of knowing your A1C level - KSAT San Antonio - March 18th, 2024
- Tandem Diabetes Care's t:slim X2 Insulin Pump is the First Automated Insulin Delivery System to Integrate with ... - Business Wire - January 9th, 2024
- Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage Occurring Suddenly in a Diabetic Patient With Asthma Exacerbation - Cureus - January 9th, 2024
- Virginia Tech researchers find drugs used to treat Type 2 diabetes reduce alcohol cravings - WRIC ABC 8News - January 9th, 2024
- FDA looking into reports of hair loss, suicidal thoughts in people using popular drugs for diabetes and weight loss - CNN - January 9th, 2024
- Glycemic control and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease according to ... - Cardiovascular Diabetology - January 9th, 2024
- Insulin price cap: More Americans will now pay no more than $35 - USA TODAY - January 9th, 2024
- Eli Lilly cracks down on the use of weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound for cosmetic reasons instead of for diabetes and obesity - Fortune - January 9th, 2024
- No Increased Risk of Suicidal Ideation With GLP-1 Drugs - Medpage Today - January 9th, 2024
- Ask the Doctors | New research being conducted to treat diabetes - Eureka Times-Standard - January 9th, 2024
- Salivary Chloride Intracellular Channel 1 (CLIC1) as a Hub of Gene-Gene Interactome of Periodontitis With Diabetes ... - Cureus - January 9th, 2024
- Why Omada's CEO Thinks Amazon Selected His Startup as the 1st Partner for Its New Program - MedCity News - January 9th, 2024
- Researchers find drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity reduce alcohol cravings - Medical Xpress - January 9th, 2024
- Randomized open-label trial of semaglutide and dapagliflozin in patients with type 2 diabetes of different ... - Nature.com - January 9th, 2024
- CV Safety Profile of TheracosBio's BRENZAVVY (bexagliflozin) Confirmed in Research Published in Diabetes ... - Business Wire - January 9th, 2024
- 6 "Bad" Fruits You Should Be Eating When You Have Diabetes, According to Dietitians - EatingWell - January 9th, 2024
- Children of Women with Type 1 Diabetes Have Increased Heart Defect Risk - Inside Precision Medicine - January 9th, 2024
- Transforming Corporate Health: Fitterfly's Success in Tackling Diabetes and Weight Issues - Business Standard - January 9th, 2024
- Ozempic and weight loss | News and views - Diabetes UK - January 9th, 2024
- Drugs used to treat Type 2 diabetes reduce alcohol cravings - ScienceBlog.com - January 9th, 2024
- People taking Wegovy and Ozempic have lower risk of suicidal thoughts vs. older drugs, study finds - ABC News - January 9th, 2024
- For Those With Diabetes On Medicare Part D, Insulin Is $35...If Its Covered - Forbes - October 27th, 2023
- Biologist Douglas Melton: I was studying frogs until my son was diagnosed with diabetes then I started looking for a cure - EL PAS USA - October 27th, 2023