Self Improvement

Knowing what are the risk factors involved in diabetes is already the first step to its prevention. However, knowing is different from doing. You may know a lot about the disease now but if you do not use this new knowledge you garnered in order to protect yourself from the ravages of diabetes, then that knowledge is useless. Now, therefore, is the time for you to take action – do something.

The good news is that the most common type of diabetes, Type 2, is easily manageable by maintaining a proper diet and exercising regularly. The Diabetes Prevention Program, a study conducted by the American Diabetes Association, has just been completed and the findings showed that people with pre-diabetes (those that exhibit the risk factors as well as increased blood sugar levels in the blood but without the actual onset of the disease) can prevent the development of Type 2 diabetes through diet change and exercise. Proponents say that the patients’ blood glucose levels may even return to normal as a result of proper diet and regular exercise.

The study also showed that medications can significantly delay the development of diabetes. However, diet and exercise worked better in preventing the full onset of the symptoms.

The American Diabetes Association recommends 30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity, coupled with a five to ten percent reduction in body weight.

How do You Treat the Symptoms?
In treating diabetes mellitus, the primary goal is to maintain the balance of glucose levels in the blood, keeping it within normal range. By doing this, you have a far better chance of lessening, delaying, or even preventing the complications of the disease.

The most common methods used for treating diabetes include the following:

1) Weight loss

2) Healthy diet

3) Regular exercise

Another option you have, and one which is fairly common, is the intake of glucose-lowering medications. Usually, the first line of treatment that diabetics have is medications that are implemented orally. Their effects vary from increasing the sensitivity of cells to insulin to blocking glucose in the digestive tract from entering the blood and increasing insulin production.

Sometimes, mere oral implementation of drugs may not be enough to treat diabetes. In this instance, insulin is needed. Insulin cannot be made into pill form, hence, it must be injected. If your doctor has recommended insulin injections for treatment of your diabetes, it would mean a difficult and time consuming treatment plan that involves injecting insulin several times a day plus frequent blood glucose monitoring. However, with proper planning, diet, and exercise, living with diabetes is manageable.