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Diabetes management is
something that many must deal with on a day-to-day basis. About 16 million
Americans suffer from diabetes mellitus, a chronic disease in which the pancreas
produces too little or no insulin, impairing the body's ability to turn sugar
into usable energy. While it is treatable, diabetes is still a killer. Thus,
diabetes management is extremely important. The fourth leading cause of death in
America, diabetes claims an estimated 178,000 lives each year.
Diabetes patient are
vulnerable to a variety of complications like blood vessels disease, heart
disease, stroke, eye disease etc. Thus, having diabetes means that one should
take a closer look on their health in general. The essence of good diabetes
management includes regular blood glucose monitoring, physical exercise and good
nutrition. Therefore, the treatment is aimed at holding the disease in check,
reversing it where possible, and preventing complications.
At the heart of diabetes
control are dietary management and drug treatment. The increasing emphasis on
the importance of a healthy diet, the availability of glucose monitoring devices
than can help diabetics keep a close watch over blood sugar levels, and the wide
range of drug treatments enable most diabetics to live a near-normal life.
Managing the diet is easier now because of food labeling regulations that went
into effect in 1994.
The essence of good diabetes management
includes the following:
How Food in Your Diet Affects Your Blood Glucose
Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, what, when, and how
much you eat all affect
your blood glucose. Blood glucose is the main sugar found in the blood and the
body's main source of energy. If
you have diabetes (or impaired glucose tolerance), your blood glucose can go
too high if you eat too much. If your blood glucose goes too high, you can get
sick.
Your blood glucose can also go too high or drop too low if you don't take the
right amount of diabetes medicine. If
your blood glucose stays high too much of the time, you can get heart, eye,
foot, kidney, and other problems. You can also have problems if your blood
glucose gets too low (hypoglycemia).
Keeping your blood glucose at a healthy level will prevent or slow down
diabetes problems. Ask your doctor or diabetes teacher what a healthy blood
glucose level is for you.
Physical Exercise
Exercise plus a good diet control helps in controlling
diabetes. Beside burning calories, improving the body's response to the
hormone insulin, a regular exercise plan will make oral diabetes medications
and insulin more effective and directly help control blood sugar levels.
Frequent exercise also helps in lowering fat and cholesterol levels in bloods
thus reducing some risk factors for heart disease.
For an inactive person, walking will be a great exercise.
Walk for about 20 minutes, three to four times a week, and increase he
distance or speed of walks gradually. Avoid doing strenuous exercise
especially for those on oral drugs and insulin as it can cause dangerous low
blood sugar. Though exercise is highly beneficial to patients with diabetes,
special precautions are necessary for those who have diabetes complications.
Bear in mind that each individual has his or her own
metabolic response to exercise. An exercise program should be started slowly
and with the advice of a doctor.
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