An Always Present Challenge

A challenge for many persons with type-2 diabetes is the constant battle with their higher than normal blood sugar levels. Even though aware of what should be done, it can be a daunting task on occasions and a review and a reminder might be in order to help renew enthusiasms to beat the blood sugars challenge that most of us diabetics face from time to time. The standard approach does work and is probably the easiest to follow. That means paying attention to the four pillars of blood sugar control:

1. Follow an appropriate diet.
2. Inclusion of physical activity in your life.
3. Weight control, know what constitutes a healthy weight for your body type and work to achieve that weight, or close to it, in whatever way suits you.
4. Medication if needed and prescribed by your doctor.

1. An appropriate dietary plan We have to eat to provide energy and stay alive, but let’s make our food intake as enjoyable and healthy and affordable as possible. For the diabetic that means a diabetic menu adjusted to personal tastes and preferences but taking into account the acceptable ratios of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats and no greater number of daily calories than are needed to meet the energies expended in the daily work and lifestyle activities.

Suggestions for diabetic menu planning and related topics can be found on my companion website here: Diabetic Menu Guide.

2. Physical activity is part of life anyway and varies with what activities that are normally part of getting through the day and doing what you do. If you are not overweight or underweight by any significant amount, then there is less need to add any additional special exercise routines, at least as far as losing weight is concerned although a pleasant walk or swim or bicycle ride might add enjoyment and provide a sense of well-being in spirit and mind. If you are overweight, then some form of regular physical activity that burns up excess calories will need to be added to your routine, daily or perhaps several times a week, and the particular type of activity will depend on personal preferences of course. Comments elsewhere on my website regarding exercise can be found here: The Diabetic Menu and Exercise.

I might add that if you are not overweight then you are in the minority, the average American, according to poll published earlier this year shows that more than 60 percent of adults in the United States are overweight or even obese.

3. Weight Control – what is a healthy weight? To find out how your weight compares to the weight that is considered healthy for a person of about the same height, probably the easiest way is to check with a chart called the Body Mass Index (BMI). The BMI is a chart that shows a range of height and weight ranges and a numerical ranking of a combination of those two factors. The ranking number is what you need to know and it is easy to find it on the chart. Everyone’s target is “25”. You can check yours on the chart, with its simple instructions by clicking: Body Mass Index.

4. Diabetes Medications: Above normal blood sugar levels can be lowered with the aid of medications of which there are several different categories, mainly to either promote more production of insulin by the body’s pancreas or to lower the resistance to insulin by the cell receptors that normally should allow entry of the blood sugars into the cells. But this aspect is primarily a medical matter that we don’t need to go into here.

Important: There is no cure for diabetes
Anyone with diabetes must be under the care of a doctor who will provide appropriate treatment and advice and monitor the progress of the disease as it continues over time.

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Why we are here, why this website

The objective of this site is to gather and provide a wide range of diabetes related information that can inform and help fellow diabetes sufferers to better understand and learn about the disease, and to encourage improvement in its management and control, while understanding the demanding personal efforts required to battle the condition to achieve and keep a satisfactory state of health.

This site does not provide medical advice. That is the role reserved for the medical profession and I have no medical qualifications to do so. If you have diabetes you must be under the care of a doctor or your health and perhaps your life is at risk.

But reference will be made to properly qualified medical sources, institutions, associations, hospitals etc., that do, in general, provide medical opinion and/or recommendations on a wide range of medical topics related to the disease of diabetes and its complications, its treatments, risks, and dangers. That is why I believe a site such as this, with its aim of bringing forth information and views of fellow diabetics, is of value to others.

The material presented here is general in scope and may perhaps help to supplement the essential medical advice and information that is provided in the doctor’s office but where a physician may be limited by the time available to discuss anything much other than the current specific treatment and medications being prescribed. And a newly diagnosed diabetic patient may not fully understand or know very much beyond the absolute minimum. So perhaps the information here might assist such a person

So who am I to host this website ?

My name is Jim Robinson, I was diagnosed more than 20 years ago as being a full fledged Type 2 Diabetic. The experience and insight I have gained over that period of time as a patient, together with significant reading that I have undertaken to be informed, and to stay informed on the wide range of topics dealing with diabetes, is, I submit, of value and worthwhile to share with my fellow diabetes sufferers. It is well established that much of the care of the diabetes condition is left to each individual patient and this is the subject matter that will be addressed on this website.

It’s about being better informed

The sources of much that will be compiled, edited, and rewritten for this site can be found elsewhere, spread throughout the internet, in books, magazines, health care pamphlets, and such, but my role is to select, for this one location, some of the more relevant material that will assist those who wish to learn a little more about diabetes, a disease that affects approximately 245 million people around the world today and a number is growing rapidly.

Follow the doctor’s orders, and . . .

We recognize and accept the need to diligently follow the doctor’s instructions for the treatment of our diabetes. But, after diagnosis and treatment is prescribed, it becomes our own responsibility to play a leading part in combating the disease. The management and control of our diabetic condition is in our own hands, the actions that we take each day can have a major effect on the outcome. In addition to following the doctor’s instructions, it helps to become better informed about diabetes, about the many topics related to diabetes, and to be aware of the complications and serious consequences that may impair the life of a diabetic as time goes by. As of now, in 2009, there is no cure for diabetes — but research continues towards that objective, and that includes leading edge research involving stem cells and DNA. For example, in 2005, the Joslin Diabetes Center discovered a new gene implicated in the cause of type 2 diabetes and much effort continues to be applied to finding more clues that might lead to successful treatment and, eventually, a cure.