4-Step Treatment for Diabetes

There is no single treatment for diabetes. Carefully managing your diabetes calls for a plan of attack and a healthy lifestyle. Diabetes is a condition that results from abnormally high blood glucose levels. In diabetes, the body does not produce enough insulin to control sugar levels, and when blood glucose levels increase, complications can occur.

Medication, such as insulin, helps keep blood glucose levels in check. But medication isn’t the only treatment for diabetes. You can also control your diabetes with a healthy lifestyle.

1. Begin an exercise routine and get at least 20 to 30 minutes of physical activity three times a week. Any type of activity is acceptable, as long as you’re moving. Go for a bike ride, go to the gym for a workout class, enroll in a sport or exercise in your living room.

2. Take off extra pounds and maintain a healthy weight.

3. Change up your eating habits and eat four to six small meals a day. This keeps your metabolism active and eliminates overeating.

4. Give up unhealthy foods. Watch your sugar intake and take in plenty of healthy alternatives, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Eliminate processed foods from your diet and avoid fatty foods.

Managing Diabetes Complications With Diet

If you have diabetes, you need to manage levels of high blood glucose – or sugar – in your blood. The right diet can have a huge impact on those levels and maintaining that diet is an important part of managing your disease.

You may not be able to control the disease, but you can manage it with a diet for diabetics, which can prevent many of the complications of the disease.

You can create a customized diet plan just for you with the help of a registered dietician. This diet will take into account many factors, including any medications you’re currently taking, your usual lifestyle, weight and any other health issues.

But a good place to start when managing diabetes or even before you’re diagnosed is:

• Limit foods high in sugar
• Eat smaller portions, spread throughout the day
• Be careful of the quantity of carbohydrates you eat and spread out your consumption
• Eat a variety of whole-grain foods, fruits and vegetables every day
• Limit use of alcohol
• Eat less fat
• Use less salt

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has an interactive diabetes meal planning tutorial that can be found in English or Spanish at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/diabetesmealplanning/htm/index.htm or http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/diabetesmealplanningspanish/htm/index.htm.

Is a High Blood Glucose Level Specific to Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism caused by relative or complete deficiency of insulin leading to hyperglycemia and in long term many end organ complications like retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy and cardiovascular complications.

Type 1 diabetics are more prone for ketoacidosis with high blood glucose levels. They basically depend on insulin treatment when compared to type 2 diabetics. So any stressful conditions and insulin is not adequately adjusted, they are susceptible to diabetic ketoacidosis.

Type 2 diabetics on other hand are more prone for Hyperosmolar nonketotic coma (HONK) than ketoacidosis. This is severe hyperglycemia in the absence of significant ketosis. Precipitating factors are noncompliance with treatment and inability to drink sufficient water to keep up with urinary loss.

Gestational diabetes is glucose intolerance developed in pregnancy. Close monitoring from early weeks of pregnancy is advised for the improved outcome of mother and baby. Fortunately this condition resolves once baby was delivered.

Of course, most known cause of high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia) is Diabetes. But there are some other clinical conditions that cause hyperglycemia though they are not common like diabetes .

All these needs special investigations, doctors attention and timely treatment. So it is advised to approach your doctor as soon as you are in doubt of something about your health .

1. Cushing’s syndrome : Caused by persistent and inappropriate increase in glucocorticoid hormones. Patients are obese, plethoric face, thin skin that bruises easily, pathological fractures due to osteoporosis.

2. Pheochromocytoma : Excess production of catecholamines by tumors of sympathetic nervous system. Patients have headache, anxiety, palpitations, sweating, hypertension, hyperglycemia.

3. Glucagonoma : They are tumors of pancreas and produces lots of glucagon a hormone that counteracts the actions of insulin. Patients have hypoglycemia with skin rash.

4. Pancreatic conditions like pancreatitis, hemosiderosis etc also cause hyperglycemia due to damage of insulin producing cells in pancreas.

5. Liver diseases like cirrhosis, hemochromatosis.

6. Medications like diuretics, niacin, phenytoin (taken in epilepsy) are also induce hyperglycemia. Discontinuing these drugs bring back normal glucose status.

7. Acute stress : In people with mild carbohydrate intolerance, stressful conditions like infections, myocardial infarction and surgery may cause marked hyperglycemia. Some of these patients will not need therapy once the stressful condition has resolved.

Doctor can differentiate these conditions by running some tests apart from identifying blood glucose levels. For example, there are tests that detect high levels of glucose, cortisol in blood. Investigations like abdominal CT scans, ultrasound can be used to find out any tumors, pancreatic pathology, liver pathology.[tags]diabetes, diabetic,

[tags]diabetes, diabetic, high blood glucose level, insulin deficiency[/tags]