The Sunday Mail
All types of diabetes mellitus have something in common. Normally, your body breaks down the sugars and carbohydrates you eat into a special sugar called glucose. Glucose fuels the cells in your body.
But the cells need insulin, a hormone in your bloodstream, in order to take in the glucose and use it for energy.
With diabetes mellitus, either your body doesn’t make enough insulin, it can’t use the insulin it produces, or it can be a combination of both.
Since the cells can’t take in the glucose, it builds up in your blood. High levels of blood glucose can damage the tiny blood vessels in your kidneys, heart, eyes, or nervous system.
Common symptoms of diabetes mellitus include the following:
Frequent urination
Excessive thirst
Unexplained weight loss
Extreme hunger
Sudden vision changes
Tingling or numbness in the hands or feet
Feeling very tired much of the time
Very dry skin
Sores that are slow to heal
More infections than usual
Diabetes mellitus is a serious disease. Following your diabetes treatment plan takes round-the-clock commitment, but your efforts are worthwhile. Careful diabetes care can reduce your risk of life-threatening complications.
The following tips will help you live longer and healthier with diabetes:
Commit to managing your diabetes
Members of your diabetes care team – your doctor or primary care provider, diabetes nurse educator, and dietitian, for example, can help you learn the basics of diabetes care and offer support along the way. But it’s up to you to manage your condition.
Learn all you can about diabetes. Make healthy eating and physical activity part of your daily routine. Maintain a healthy weight. Monitor your blood sugar level and follow your doctor’s instructions to manage your blood sugar level. Ask your diabetes treatment team for help whenever you need it.
Don’t smoke
Smoking increases your risk of various diabetes complications, including nerve damage, kidney and heart disease. Furthermore, smoking increases the risk eye disease, which can lead to blindness.
Talk to your doctor about ways to help you stop smoking.
Alcohol and diabetes mellitus
While moderate amounts of alcohol may cause blood sugar to rise, excess alcohol can actually decrease your blood sugar level, sometimes even causing it to drop to dangerous levels. Beer and sweet wine contain carbohydrates and may raise blood sugar levels. Stay away from illicit use of highly concentrated alcohol drinks such as Broncho and Zed.
Keep your blood pressure and cholesterol under control
Like diabetes, high blood pressure can damage your blood vessels. High cholesterol is a concern too since the damage is often worse and more rapid when you have diabetes. When these conditions team up, they can lead to a heart attack, stroke or other life-threatening conditions.
Eating a healthy, reduced-fat diet and exercising regularly can go a long way in controlling high blood pressure and cholesterol. Your doctor may also recommend taking prescription medication.
Schedule regular physicals and eye exams
Schedule two to three diabetes check-ups a year, in addition to your yearly physical and routine eye exams. People living with diabetes mellitus (just like everyone else) are encouraged to have a preferred healthcare provider, that is a family doctor. This enables continuity of care and helps build a strong provider-patient relationship.
During the physical, your doctor will ask about your nutrition and activity level and look for any diabetes-related complications, including signs of kidney damage, nerve damage and heart disease as well as screen for other medical problems.
Your eye care specialist will check for signs of retinal damage, cataracts and glaucoma.
If you have diabetes, follow a simple healthy eating plan which includes:
Regular meals throughout the day.
Make vegetables the main part of your meal. Aim to fill at least half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables or salad at both lunch and dinner time.
You may need to reduce the serving size of your meals and snacks, as eating too much can lead to weight gain and make diabetes harder to manage.
Include a small serving of high-fiber carbohydrate at each meal.
