What about diabetes?
Before the discovery of insulin in 1921, everyone with type 1 diabetes died a few years after diagnosis. Although insulin is not considered a cure, its discovery was the first major step forward in the treatment of diabetes.
Today, healthy eating, exercise and taking insulin are the basic therapies for type 1 diabetes. The amount of insulin must be balanced with food intake and daily activities. Blood glucose should be closely monitored for frequent monitoring of blood glucose. People with diabetes also monitor blood glucose levels several times a year with a laboratory test called A1C. The results of the A1C test reflects average blood glucose during a 2 – to 3 months.
Healthy eating, physical activity and blood glucose tests are tools for database management of type 2 diabetes. Moreover, many people with type 2 diabetes require oral medication, insulin, or both to control their blood sugar.
Adults with diabetes are at high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). In reality, at least 65 percent of diabetics die of heart attack or stroke. Managing diabetes is more than keeping blood glucose under control – is also important for managing blood pressure and cholesterol through diet, exercise, and medication use (if necessary). Thus, diabetics may reduce the risk. Aspirin therapy, if recommended by the team of health care and stopping smoking may also help reduce the risk.
People with diabetes must take responsibility for their day at the nest. Much of the daily care involves keeping blood glucose levels go too low or too high. When blood sugar drops too low – a condition known as hypoglycemia – a person can become nervous, shaky and confused. Evidence can not be changed, and if blood sugar is too low, you may experience fainting.
A person may also become ill if blood glucose levels gets too high, a condition known as hyperglycemia.
People with diabetes should consult a health care provider that will help them learn to manage their diabetes and control their diabetes control. Most people with diabetes being treated by primary care doctors – internists, family physicians and pediatricians practice. Often, after a team of providers can improve diabetes care. A team may include:
a provider of primary care, as an internist, a family doctor or pediatrician
an endocrinologist (a specialist in diabetes care)
a dietician, nurses and other health care providers who are certified diabetes educators – experts in providing information on the management of diabetes
a podiatrist (for foot care)
an ophthalmologist or optometrist (for eye care)
and other healthcare providers, such as cardiologists and other specialists. Addition, the team for a pregnant woman with type 1, type 2 or gestational diabetes should include an obstetrician who specializes in caring for women with diabetes. The team may also include a pediatrician and a neonatologist with experience taking care of children born to women with diabetes.
The goal of diabetes management is to maintain levels of blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol as close to normal range as safely as possible. A major study on diabetes control and complications trial (DCCT), sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), showed that keeping blood glucose levels close to normal reduces the risk of developing major complications of type 1 diabetes.
This 10-years study, completed in 1993, among 1441 people with type 1 diabetes. The study compared the effects of two methods of treatment – intensive management and standard management – for the development and progression of the eyes, kidneys, nerves, and cardiovascular complications of diabetes. Intensive treatment aimed to keep A1C levels as close to normal (6 percent) as possible. The researchers found that participants who maintained low levels of blood glucose through intensive management of significantly lower rates of complications. More recently, a follow-up study of DCCT participants showed that the ability of intensive control to reduce the complications of diabetes has lasted more than 10 years after the end of the process.
United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study, a European study conducted in 1998 showed that intensive control of blood glucose and blood pressure reduces the risk of blindness, kidney disease, stroke and heart attacks in people with diabetes 2.
