Managing Diabetes To Live A Longer, Healthier Life

Managing diabetes to live a longer, healthier life

November is National Diabetes Month. Learn to manage your diabetes for a longer, healthier life. Diabetes has no cure, but a healthy lifestyle can reduce its impact on your life. Make a difference with what you do every day: eat healthy diet, get physically active, take medications as prescribed, and keep health care appointments to stay on track.
The basics of diabetes
According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 30 million people in the United States have diabetes and one out of four of them don’t even know they have it. There are three types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy).
With type 1 diabetes, your body is unable to make insulin. If you are a type 1 diabetic, you will have to take insulin every day. Insulin is a hormone that acts like a key to let blood sugar into cells to be used for energy. Type 1 diabetes is less common than type 2 (less than 5 percent of those with diabetes have type 1). There is no known prevention for type 1 diabetes.
Nine out of 10 people with diabetes have type 2. At least one out of three people will develop diabetes in their lifetime. With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t use insulin well and is unable to keep blood sugar at normal levels. Knowing you have diabetes and making healthy changes will benefit you now and in the future. Risk of death for adults with diabetes is 50 percent higher than for adults without diabetes.
Risk Factors for Diabetes
Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include:
· Having prediabetes (blood sugar levels higher than normal, but not high enough to be Continue reading

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Fighting the Diabetes ChocolateDemons

Even with testing, diabetes is a guess every day.
This post is dedicated to my friend Carol. I met Carol through my blog and we periodically emaileach other talking about Type 1 diabetes, Medicare, and stuff like that. She doesnt live near me and I dont know if we will ever meet in person. But we share the journey, the joy, and the struggle of women aging with Type 1 diabetes. Thank-you for being part of my life, Carol.
The anguishyou describedin your latest email about chocolate, post-dinner eating, and making bad decisions probably rings true for almost everyone with diabetes. In fact itmight ring true for every human being who has access to potato chips, chocolate, cigarettes, and/or alcohol. Unfortunately for those of us with diabetes, we have BG meters that provide a visual reminderof how often we have failed to live up to our expectations.
I am good at finding temporary solutions to the problem of evening snacking. I long ago gave up hope of ever totally eliminating it. Sometimes I play games that work for a while. For example I package something like Hersheys Kisses in plastic bags of 15g carbs. I put them in the freezer and allow myself 1 bag each evening. That works for a few weeks before I realize that nothing is stopping me from grabbing a second or third bag of chocolate. Then I play around with my digital calendar and add a daily resolution event of No cr*p eating after dinner. When I am successful, I change the color of the event from a boring gray to a pretty color. Its stupid, but once again it works for a couple of weeks. Sometimes I put a big No! sign Continue reading

A new perspective on metformin therapy in type 1 diabetes

, Volume 60, Issue9 , pp 15941600 | Cite as
A new perspective on metformin therapy in type 1 diabetes
Metformin is quite frequently used off-label in type 1 diabetes to limit insulin dose requirement. Guidelines recommend that it can improve glucose control in those who are overweight and obese but evidence in support of this is limited. Recently-published findings from the REducing with MetfOrmin Vascular Adverse Lesions (REMOVAL) trial suggest that metformin therapy in type 1 diabetes can reduce atherosclerosis progression, weight and LDL-cholesterol levels. This provides a new perspective on metformin therapy in type 1 diabetes and suggests a potential role for reducing the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease.
AtherosclerosisCardiovascularCarotid intima-media thicknessCholesterolMetforminReviewType 1 diabetes
Carotid Atherosclerosis: MEtformin for insulin ResistAnce
Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
REducing with MetfOrmin Vascular Adverse Lesions
The complete member list for The REMOVAL Study Team is provided in the electronic supplementary material ( ESM ).
The online version of this article (doi: 10.1007/s00125-017-4364-6 ) contains peer-reviewed but unedited supplementary material, which is available to authorised users.
Over the last three decades, the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and its Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) post-randomisation follow-up have confirmed that the risk of microvascular and cardiovascular complications i Continue reading

How to Live With Type 1 Diabetes

Being diagnosed with a chronic disease like diabetes is daunting, even more so when the disease affects every single activity in your life, including the pleasurable ones, such as eating a great meal, having a cocktail with your friends or going for a hike.
Diabetes can essentially be divided into two types: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is most often diagnosed in children or young adults and requires daily insulin injections. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is the more common type that's often diagnosed in older people and in those who are somewhat overweight.
Type 1 diabetes is autoimmune in its origin, which means that your body destroys the very cells needed to produce the insulin we all need to survive. Before the discovery of insulin in 1921, people with T1D didn't live very long, and in many developing countries where there is a lack of insulin supply, people can die from it.
Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 percent of individuals with diabetes and may, in some cases, be reversible if lifestyle changes are implemented.
[Read More: What You Need to Know About Diabetes ]
So what can you do to live a healthy, happy life after being diagnosed? I was diagnosed with T1D as a teenager and did many things right, but also many things wrong. Here are some important lessons that I learned:
1. Learn as much as you can. Don't hesitate to bombard your health care professionals with questions. They've seen many cases like yours and can guide you through your struggles and toward small victories.
I also recommend that people with diabetes share their story with fellow patients -- something I Continue reading

Educators can raise awareness of sexual complications in diabetes

Educators can raise awareness of sexual complications in diabetes
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In this issue, Susan Weiner, MS, RDN, CDE, CDN, talks with diabetes educators Janis Roszler, MS, RD, LD/N, CDE, FAND, and Donna Rice, MBA, BSN, RN, CDE, FAADE, about recognizing and treating diabetes-related sexual issues.
How widespread are sexual complications among people living with diabetes?
Rice and Roszler: About 50% of men and 38% of women with diabetes develop some form of sexual complication. In men, the most common problems are erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, and reduced self-esteem and libido. Women with diabetes may have inadequate vaginal lubrication, reduced libido, difficulty climaxing, dyspareunia, low self-esteem and frequent vaginal infections, which can interfere with sexual activity.
As diabetes-focused health care providers, why should we care about the sexual well-being of our patients?
Rice and Roszler: First and foremost, sexual health issues are a red flag that can alert us to an array of serious issues that may have gone unnoticed, such as cardiovascular disease, poorly controlled diabetes and psychosocial changes. Erectile dysfunction may be a sign of coronary artery disease. Sexual issues can also affect our patients moods, motivation and self-esteem in such a profound way that, if unaddressed, they may limit our ability to successfully achieve our desired clinical goals as well as our patients personal Continue reading