Diabetes Care Management

Diabetes is known as a life-long health condition when the body either doesn't produce the insulin it needs due to impaired glucose cycle or resists the insulin the body does produce negatively affects an individual’s metabolism.

IMPORTANT: Although several treatments are involved in the proper care of this disease, still, the quality of the lifestyle while living with diabetes ultimately lies in your own hands. It's all about how good you take care of yourself and manage your health condition.

Options of Diabetes Care and Management

Diabetes Mellitus, commonly referred as Diabetes, is a metabolic disorder which nowadays becomes increasingly common among not only the U.S. residents but people all over the world. These are the options of your diabetes care and how do those options work all together for proper management of your diabetes.

How Diabetes is Diagnosed

The diagnosis of diabetes is done typically after doing fasting blood test. Normally patient is asked to fast about eight hours or stay overnight without food. In fasting blood tests the glucose level in the blood should fall below 100 mg/dl, while two occurrences of fasting blood sugar levels higher than 126 mg/dl may indicate diabetes. Sometimes blood testing after eating food can also be undertaken in order to measure glucose levels in the blood. If glucose levels in the blood are over 200mg/dl this indicate diabetes. Then, based on the results of the blood test, doctor will recommend treatment alternatives while taking into account the type of diabetes, stage of the disease, lifestyle, age and everyday diet.

Close Medical Supervision

If you already are diagnosed to have diabetes, it's imperative to make a full-fledged commitment to your condition in order to properly manage it. This means to seek a physician and make him involved in your care plan. Educating yourself as much as possible and following the advice and instructions will help your diabetes to be professionally diagnosed and monitored.

Commmon symptoms of Diabetes are: frequent urination, excessive hunger and excessive thirst, blurry vision, irritability, slow healing of wounds, weight loss and fatigue.

Possible Triggers of Diabetes -- Health care professonals mention several factors as the possible diabetes triggers. Obesity, aging, heredity, consumption of high fat diet, pregnancy, excessive alcohol intake, over-eating habits, stress, hypertension, high triglyceride levels in the blood and physical inactivity.

NOTE: Diabetes when left untreated may result in serious health complications.

Your doctor will perform standard glucose tests in order to screen you health condition for diabetes as well as pre-diabetes.

The standard blood sugar tests include:

1. FPG - Fasting Plasma Glucose,
2. FBS - Fasting Blood Sugar,
3. Post Prandial,
4. Glucose Tolerance Test,
5. Random Glucose Test.

In case you are diagnosed as having diabetes, the next step in determining which type of diabetes you have:

• Type 1 (insulin dependent), also known as “juvenile diabetes”;
• Type 2 (non-insulin dependent), also known as “adult onset diabetes”; or hypoglycemia (low blood glucose).
• Gestational diabetes -- This type of blood sugar level disorder mainly affects women who are pregnant.

Diabetes Management through Medications

Medication to manage diabetes is typically prescribed to help maintain the type of diabetes that a patient is diagnosed for. Oral hypoglycemic drugs like Thiazolidinediones, Meglitinides, Sulfonylureas, Biguanides, etc. are widely used to help in keeping blood glucose levels under control.

Here is short rundown of medications available to manage diabetes (hypoglycemia):

• Glucophage (Metformin HCL ) is prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes which can't be managed via diet alone
• Glucotrol XL (Glipizide SR) is effective in lowering of glucose level in the blood for Type 2 Diabetes
• Diamicron (Gliclazide) is used to stimulate production of beta cells in pancreas to raise insulin creation
• Pioglitazone (generic name of "Actos")is typically used to treat diabetes mellitus type 2
• Glynase or Glibenclamide -- adult diabetes type 2 often are treated with this medicine as it's effective for treating of insulin-dependent patients

Diet for Diabetes Management

Staying healthy once diagnosed with diabetes requires you to make several lifestyle and diet modifications. The very first step in successful management of diabetes is making healthy modifications in diabetic's everyday diet plan and a physician after examining of an existing diet comes up with suggestions about what foods diabetic should or shouldn't eat. It's important to realize that complete elimination of all sugars and carbohydrates isn't option in healthy dietary food intake plan.

Long-term weight loss is always good point to start management of your diabetes and glucose levels in the blood.

Plenty of fiber in the diet, fresh fruits and non-starchy vegetables, whole grain foods, fish and lean meats rich in high protein, and non-fat dairy foods are highly recommended alternatives in diabetic menu.

The avoidance of high saturated fats, Trans fats, as well as other high calorie options plays is an important part in balancing nutrition for diabetic person.

Common Health Problems among Diabetics

Diabetes is serious metabolic disorder which when left untreated may result into life-threatening health complications just like: coronary disease, stroke, renal failures, lose of eye sight, nerve damage in the pripherals and leg ulcers.

Diabetes Damages The Nervous Sysytem -- Nerve damage and poor circulation of the blood in peripherals is common problem among people who suffer from diabetes. These issues when paired can result into serious podiatry problems just like open sores, infections and sometimes even amputation of peripherals. Good personal hygiene can successfully prevent these situations from occurring and ensure your safety. Washing feed every day; careful drying them, using lotion to soften the skin and looking for any areas of redness, cuts or open sores can do wonders in preventing devastating results.

Diabetes Increases The Risk of Cancer -- The recent study suggests that diabetes increases the risk of dying from different types of cancer -- just like the liver, pancreas, ovary, colorectal cancer, lung, bladder, and breast cancer -- up to 25%.

Diabetes Affects Menthal Health -- Diabetes not only affects the body on a physical level but takes a toll on the mental health of diabetic as well. Managing diabetes demands attention on a daily basis as well as making significant lifestyle changes to keep this health treating condition under control, and this obviously can take a heavy psychological toll. Moreover, depression makes it even more difficult for diabetic person to manage diabetes properly which in turn results into poor Glycemic control and an increased risk of health complications associated with diabetes.

NOTE: Feelings of anger, denial and depression are common in people when they first are diagnosed with having diabetes.

Diabetes shortens life expectancy -- Diabetes shortens life expectancy at every age and National Academy on Aging Society suggests that

• At age 50 diabetes reduces life expectancy by an average of 8.5 years
• At age 60, over 5 years are shaved off from expected lifespan
• At age 90 lifespan is reduces by one year

Today, simpe device known as Glucometer makes it fairly simple to self-monitor blood glucose levels any time you want and at home. This is mandatory in order to check glucose levels in the blood and take timely precautions to avoid soaring of glucose levels.

Regular exercise just like brisk walking can be quite beneficial measure for diabetes control as itnot only can help to do away with obesity through accelerating the metabolic rate, but it can help by better circulation of the blood through peripherals, thus better supply an oxigen and a necessary nutrients and avoid nerve damage and long-term ulcers.

Diabetes Increases the Risk of Drug Interactions -- Additionally there is a danger of drug interactions when using a mix of diabetes medications with other pharmaceutical drugs. The best way to prevent such kind of health complications, as a result of drug interaction, is to consult your doctor.

The Bottom Line on Managing Diabetes

Uncontrolled glucose levels in the blood will increase your risk of virtually every health complication out there associated with diabetes. Keep in mind, although this is very common among people today, still, diabetes is a very serious health condition which can cause debilitating complications and eventually even kill you. So, if you have told you have diabetes or pre-diabetes, or even if you have risk factors for this life-treating disease, it's important to take it very seriously and treat it properly, as with correct treatment, diabetes can be ultimately reversed.