Diabetes Management

Diabetes Mellitus or diabetes is a progressive chronic disorder of impaired carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism caused by the body’s deficiency to produce insulin. Diabetes simply means that your blood glucose is too high. It is a predominant disease in the twentieth century and is slowly taking over HIV-Aids as the world’s top silent killer disease.

Diabetes management involves a lot of discipline as diabetes management involves diet and lifestyle changes. To control your diabetes for life there are four major factors you should focus on.

First, educate yourself on the disease. There’s a wealth of information from books, journals and the internet that could give you valid information. Researching on the disease will tell you that diabetes is a serious disease that could affect any part of your body. All people with diabetes need to make healthy food choices, maintain a healthy weight, and exercise every day. If you haven’t been doing this, then make the necessary changes in taking good care of yourself and your diabetes to help you feel better and avoid health problems that may complicate from having diabetes.

Second, consult your doctor how to control your blood sugar, blood pressure and take cholesterol readings. High blood glucose levels can lead to problems in your heart and blood vessels, kidneys, feet, and eyes. High blood pressure puts too much work load on your overworked heart. It can cause heart attack, stroke, and degenerative kidney disease.
Cholesterol has two kinds, LDL and HDL. The bad ones or LDL can cause your blood vessels to clog while the good one helps remove cholesterol from your blood vessels.

Thirdly, you should have the will to manage your diabetes. Consult with your doctor in preparing a self-care plan and work with your team to achieve your goals. Formulate a diabetes food plan and follow this strictly. Engage in a 30 to 60 minute of physical exercise at least four times a week .Experts say brisk walking is the best activity to involve all parts of the body. If overweight, aim to reduce weight and maintain it by serving healthy food choices on your dinner table.

Enlist the help of your family, relatives and friends in this endeavor so they can provide you the support you need. Joining diabetes management groups will help a lot as you all have the same agenda, to manage your diabetes. Learn to cope with stress as it is a contributory factor in raising your blood glucose. Stress may be impossible to remove from our life, but learning how to handle it is the best solution. Stop smoking. Smoking has harmful effects that show a correlation to increase of blood pressure. A doctor will usually prescribe a pill or two for maintenance medicines. These medicines have to be taken even when you think you are feeling good.

Finally, have a regular checkup to avoid problems. Each time you visit the doctor, ask him to perform these four things: blood pressure check, foot check, weight check and review of your self-care plan which you formulated from the start.

Thomas Mitchelle enjoys writing for Uniformhaven.com which sells cherokee scrubs and landau scrubs as well as a host of additional products.