Diabetics in the sport elite - Novo Nordisk team

David Lozano (Tarrasa, 28 years old) is with Javier Mejías the duo of Spaniards that make up the Novo Nordisk, a very particular equipment, since its 20 runners have a common stamp: type one diabetes.

All of them compete, explains to Efe Lozano, "with special care but normally" in the international squad, trying to demonstrate that "the disease does not have to prostrate an athlete on a sofa.

"If we, that we already suffer a hard sport in itself, we can compete at the highest level, you can do everything," says the Catalan cyclist, an excorrer of cyclocross and mountain bike.

Lozano fell the world over 22 years, "one day before a world cup test", when he was diagnosed with diabetes."I started to lose weight, I was fatal, and I met the news of the disease."

"I found out late, but the news had some logic because my father was diabetic. He stopped competing on a motorcycle and doing activities, and I didn't want to finish like this. It was when I met Javier Mejías, he spoke with me and encouraged me to move on.

Looking back, Lozano feels satisfied with the step of moving forward, of not being defeated by being diabetic.Now he is still on the road cycling, "very different what he did before", but also happy to be "fighting with the best."

Lozano explains that with the necessary care and controls "they are not up to date, but at the hours", since constantly the runners of the Novo Nordisk team must be controlling the level of blood glucose.

"We eat the same as others, but we have to adapt diabetes to the rhythm of the day we carry. You learn to know your body, sometimes because of the sticks you take, you see how rice, pasta feels you, what amounts ofInsulin you need for exercise ... It is a learning process, "he explains.

The glycemia control is performed in the race through an apparatus similar to the potentiometer."If you see that glucose rises a lot of insulin shots and if you come down."

In short, the message of Lozano and the Novo Nosdisk to the diabetics is to react against an adversity that does not have to assume an insurmountable wall for physical activity.

"I would tell the diabetics that we have all gone through. When you find out you see everything black and you don't know howHere we are competing, "he reflects.

The American team carries out information campaigns and among other activities they teach talks in schools "to teach children to move with the disease, not to stop."That is the way to sweeten life.

I saw a television report that made them, and regardless of continuous meters, in a sport as hard as cycling, eat an energy bar in the face of a low glucose descent, or ingest any other means of glucose, it has an advantage in the racein front of other "non -diabetic" competitors.

They are an example to follow, a great merit, but compete in inequality of conditions at a professional level.

ruthbia said:
I saw a television report that they made, and regardless of continuous meters, in a sport as hard as cycling to eat an energy bar before a low glucose, orIngesting any other means of glucose, you have advantage in the race against other "non -diabetic" competitors.

They are an example to follow, a great merit, but compete in inequality of conditions at a professional level.

The problem is that when you do high performance sport, especially any intake that you make increases your heart rate enough or it makes you reduce performance, and those seconds are very important.We are forced many times to eat more food than others and that is a problem.