How to Keep Diabetes Under Control?
In order to improve the diabetic patient’s condition the doctor needs to apply a treatment which will reduce the level of glucose in blood and will keep it constant. This way the symptoms will disappear gradually and the patient will feel better. In this way complication given by diabetes can be avoided and the life can be prolonged.
Before resorting to medication the doctor will try to reduce the symptoms with a diet and daily exercises. The doctor will help the patient to test his level of glucose in blood by its own; will let him know what he is allowed to eat and what he must avoid; will advise him what to do when he feels sick and will tell him where he can procure his diabetes supplies.
Adopting a new lifestyle is not an easy thing to do and people suffering of diabetes must have patients and will in educating themselves.
Testing the level of glucose in blood can be done by the patient without the doctor’s help. These tests are usually done before meals and at bedtime. Sometimes they can be done more frequent if the patient feels sick or is under stress. The patient will monitor its level of glucose in blood with the help of a glucometer. The patient will prick his finger with a small needle attached to the glucometer and a drop of blood will appear on the finger. The finger will then be placed on a test strip and then the test strip will be placed in the glucometer. After 30 seconds the blood test results will appear on the screen of the glucometer.
By keeping a record of the values obtained in several days the doctor will be able to set a more adequate treatment scheme for the patient.
The diet will be also set by the doctor and a nutritionist who will choose healthy foods for the patient, in adequate amounts, and will also set a schedule for taking meals. In most of the cases, loosing weight can do a lot of good in diabetic patients and by this way they can renounce taking medications even though they still have diabetes.
Daily exercising is essential for a diabetic patient. In this way the weight can be kept under control and the glucose level in blood will be reduced. It also decreases I the insulin resistance, making it more effective in the process of reducing the level of glucose in blood.
Before adopting certain exercised the patient should talk with the doctor to see whether those exercises are suitable for him or not. Also, before, during and after exercising the patient should drink fluids that do not contain sugar, and should monitor the level of glucose in blood before and after exercising.
If exercising and diet do not help the patient in lowering the level of glucose in blood, then the doctor will recommend medication like: oral sulfonylurea, Biguanides, Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, Thiazolidinediones, Meglitinides.
In the worse case insulin injections will be prescribed. These injections must be done from one to four times a day depending on the product and on the type of diabetes the patient has.
So, if you want to find out more about juvenile diabetes or even about diabetes mellitus please follow this link http://diabetes-info-center.com/
Groshan Fabiola
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/how-to-keep-diabetes-under-control-122766.html
admin on January 24th 2010 in Diabetes and Blood Glucose
Contemplative Chanteuse IDK TIRH responded on 24 Jan 2010 at 10:42 am #
How does diabetes damage the blood vessels in the brain? Other than keeping the diabetes under control, what?
can limit further damage?
Is it possible to reverse the damage?
My husband has type II diabetes and has had excellent A1Cs (less than 6 for the past 4 years), but we have no idea how long he had diabetes before it was diagnosed. We don’t know if the damage is recent or from before his diagnosis.
The MRI showed damage to the small blood vessels in the brain and they want to do an MRA as well. I just wonder what the ramifications are and if there’s anything proactive to be done about it.
VedVyas responded on 24 Jan 2010 at 3:44 pm #
The one bad thin about the human body is that there exists three types of tissue that are not insulin dependent. They are the blood vessels, the neurons and the kidneys.
Now, untreated the blood vessels are usually damaged on account of the high amount of blood glucose forming the endothelial wall defects(blood vessel wall rigidity).
Further on this account it may cause thrombosis/thromboembolism in untreated cases.
I doubt there is a way to reverse it but there are ways to prevent serious complicatoins caused by diabetic angiopathy like sclerosis and stroke of the blood vessels.
Apart from the glibenclamide and buguanide therapy(metformin?) the standard type II drugs I suugest you to also go for aspirin therapy which will prevent any platelet agrregation which may cause stroke.
Further, if you are sensitive to aspirin and you have a predisposition to hemodynamic abnormalities I’d suggest you try a drug called clopidogerel.
Consult you physician in this regard and dont run off to the drug store to buy them yourself.
Coz the dosage and the suggestive therapy may be given by the physician himself.
References :
Ginny B responded on 24 Jan 2010 at 3:46 pm #
The most proactive thing that your husband can do it to keep his sugar in the well controlled area and limit all his risk factors. They are total cholesterol, LDL’s, HDL’s, triglycerides, take a blood pressure med like lisoprinal, and a statin, have an acceptable BMI for his weight and height and exercise.
The previous poster gave you a good explaination on the blood vessels in the brain. I have had 2 mini strokes so I speak from experience on the risk factors.
References :
My neurologist and family doctor.
Mazher responded on 24 Jan 2010 at 3:48 pm #
Contemplativ
Chanteuse !
People with diabetes, especially those with type 2 diabetes, are two to ? ve times more likely to have problems with circulation to the heart, the legs, and the head when compared to individuals without diabetes. This is because diabetes predisposes a person to a condition called atherosclerosis. If you imagine a blood vessel as a water or drainage pipe, then atherosclerosis is buildup in the pipe narrowing the channel and impairing the ?ow. In the case of the blood vessel the buildup, called plaque, consists of a core of in?ammatory cells, cholesterol, and lipids with a ?brous cap of smooth muscle cells. The plaque can narrow the blood vessel, impairing blood ?ow. Occasionally the ?brous cap can rupture, and when this happens a blood clot forms, causing an acute blockage of the blood vessel. If the acute blockage happens in one of the blood vessels to the heart, it results in a heart attack. If it occurs in one of the blood vessels supplying brain tissue, it results in a stroke.
To know much more about diabetes visit
http://www.reddiabetes.com/Circulatory_Problems.html
References :