The Three Components of Diabetes Treatment
Introducing diabetes
Diabetes is a serious disease involving higher than normal levels of sugar in the bloodstream. In the diabetic, that condition results from the impaired ability of the body to properly process the sugars that are obtained from the foods we eat. The sugars are an essential source of energy needed to sustain the body’s metabolic processes.
Important
Any person who has diabetes must be under the care and supervision of a doctor. In addition to establishing treatment routines, the doctor will provide advice and will periodically monitor the progress of the disease with the aid of blood tests and whatever other modalities are deemed appropriate. The doctor may also have the support of other health care professionals, including nurses specialized in diabetes and dietitians who can devise suitable diabetic meal plans.
More than one type of diabetes: Type-1, Type-2, and Gestational Diabetes
There are two types of diabetes, known as Type-1 and Type-2 Diabetes, that are incurable and once diagnosed they become a life-long condition that has to be controlled and managed in order to enjoy life with the minimum of risk in developing the serious health complications that can occur when the diabetic condition worsens through loss of control of blood sugar levels.
There is a third main type of diabetes that is a temporary form of the disease, called gestational diabetes, that affects only a small percentage of women in their pregnancies. The special aspects and treatment of gestational diabetes are well known and with the proper supervision of the medical team, the pregnancies will normally end successfully with the birth of the baby and the disappearance of the diabetic condition. More about gestational diabetes and blood sugars can be found at Blood Glucose Levels in Pregnancy.
About the treatment, general information for the diabetic
Whether a type-1 or a type-2 diabetic, there are 3 essential components in dealing with diabetes with the objective of bringing blood sugar levels to within a safe and close to normal range. The normal range being that of the non-diabetic and although that may not be totally achievable, all efforts are targeted to reach levels as close to that as possible.
Blood tests
Briefly, the normal maximum level over an extended period — and that can only be determined by a blood glucose test, is 108 mg/dL (or 6.0 mmol/L using an alternate measuring system). The target level for the diabetic is 126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) or less. Simple blood glucose tests can be made by using a hand-held measuring device and are fairly reliable on a day-to-day basis, allowing the individual diabetic to track their progress and guide them in their efforts to maintain an acceptable blood sugar level.
There is a much more important test, referred to as the A1c, that provides an average of the blood sugars that have existed in the body for the previous approximately 12 week period. Check this link for an explanation of Normal Blood Sugar Levels and related information.
The 3 components to achieve normal blood sugar levels are:
- Diet
- Exercise
- Weight loss and weight control
The type-1 diabetic must also inject insulin, an essential hormone that their body cannot produce. Insulin has a mediation role in the absorption of blood sugars by the body’s cells.
What about medication?
There are prescription drugs that are used in treating diabetes. Persons with diabetes who are unable to bring their blood sugar levels down through diet, exercise, and weight loss, depend on medications to achieve the target blood sugar range. Many of the drugs have been in use for a long time and they have been proved to be effective.
About Diet
The foods we eat each day provide the nutrients essential to maintain our bodies in a healthy state and sustain life. Those nutrients are categorized as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water.
The diabetic person’s eating patterns and preferences must give special consideration to the foods that contribute sugar to the body, and those are mainly the carbohydrate containing foods. But it is also essential that a food regimen provides the appropriate ratios of the other nutrients, the vitamins, the minerals, the proteins, and fats, and saturated and trans fats should be avoided where possible.
There are differing approaches to what constitutes a good diabetic diet, many of them revolving around the carbohydrate content, some advocating few carbohydrates — in the range of 10 to 25 percent, others, more conventional such as the American Diabetes Association’s approach, being in the 50 to 60 percent range approximately. For the newly diagnosed diabetic it is hoped that the advice of a certified dietitian is available to tailor a diabetic diet menu that suits the tastes and preferences of the individual. For general information on what to consider in constructing meal plans, check out Diabetic Menu Guide and more can be found at Diabetic Food List Plus.
About exercise
Exercising can vary widely in intensity depending on the abilities and fitness of the individual. For the many who are not really fit and perhaps have never exercised, the exercise component in the treatment of diabetes need not call for extra strenuous and physically demanding activities but can center around simple daily (or every other day) simple exercise activities such as walking, swimming, and bicycling. The main thing is that the exercise activities should be for about 30 minutes each day, or for at least four days each week, at a level suitably demanding level that can be considered as exercise, and not just a stroll in the park. In the process of exercising, the muscles require an increased uptake of sugar and that results in a lowering of blood sugar levels.
For a variety of reasons, not all people are able to exercise, some because of age or infirmities or physical condition, but for those who are fit enough to participate, regular exercise does have many health benefits in addition to helping control diabetes, it is also good for the heart and the lungs, for weight control and management of stress for instance.
But there are some safety concerns in connection with diabetes, physical condition, and exercise, so before commencing a serious exercise routine do consult a doctor to discuss the special considerations and precautions that may be of importance.
About weight loss and weight control
Most diabetics, like most North Americans, are overweight, and a person who is overweight or obese is likely to become a diabetic, yet one of the easiest ways to lower higher than normal blood sugar levels is to lose weight. Easy to say, I realize, but not always easy to do. But the resulting improved quality of life makes it worth the effort.
Caution
Weight loss should be gradual, do not follow crash diets, they do not work for any length of time and lost weight inevitably returns making it even more difficult to lose in the future. Any program of weight loss for the diabetic should be discussed with and approved by a doctor.
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