BBC's Doctor Xand has revealed a lesser-known way diabetes can affect daily life: it can impair your balance, increasing the risk of falls and injuries unless you actively work on what he calls an "other kind of fitness."
Diabetes and the Body's 'Sixth Sense'
Appearing on Morning Live on Tuesday, May 12, Dr Xand recalled how he was "closer to falling over than I should be" during the show's Strictly Fitness segment the previous day. He explained that balance is often underestimated but is actually our body's "sixth sense," and certain conditions can significantly impact it.
"There are causes of balance problems that are a hard medical diagnosis. You might have an inner ear problem giving you vertigo. You might have multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's, in which case that needs to be managed," Dr Xand said. "Diabetes is probably the biggest one because your balance involves nerve signals going to your brain, from your eyes, your ear and your muscles. Diabetes can interfere with all of that."
How Diabetes Affects Balance
A 2015 study noted that diabetes can cause nerve damage and vision problems, directly affecting balance and increasing fall risk. Additionally, high blood sugar can lead to reduced sensation in the feet, muscle weakness, and vertigo, making it even harder to maintain stability.
Dr Xand advised: "If you are unsteady, you're tripping or stumbling or worried about falls, definitely talk to your GP. And if you have any of those things that make you more vulnerable, if your vision is deteriorating, if you have any problems with dizziness or vertigo, or you find that any part of your muscles or your nerves aren't working…speak to your GP."
Exercises to Improve Balance
Dr Xand also shared ways to strengthen this "sixth sense," noting that dance or yoga can be particularly effective. For those who prefer a simpler exercise, he demonstrated a technique using a water bottle.
"I've got a water bottle - you could use a tin of beans, you could use anything you wanted. If I stand on one leg and be careful standing on one leg, have a chair nearby, grab your water bottle as well… Stand on one leg and pass the water bottle around you. Your centre of gravity changes a little bit and you can feel all the muscles work all the way up and down your body," he explained.
He added that balance exercises are important even for wheelchair users: "Balance is still important. It's still your ability to locate yourself in the world, so we can also think of anything that moves your centre of gravity off and then returns to the neutral position." He demonstrated by sitting and stretching one arm out far to one side before returning to a neutral sitting position.
Falls Are Not Just an Age Issue
Dr Xand warned against assuming that fall risk only concerns elderly people. "I think it's really important that we don't frame it in terms of age and we just think about the sort of extremes of life," he said.
