The days of the lengthy doctor visit are long gone but getting the best available care along with the most information is still possible. As with anything else, planning ahead will make the experience more pleasant for you and your health care provider.
Here are some tips to help you with your visit:
An article presented in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (December 2010 – Vol 42 / Issue 12-2282-2303) states that “before we only assumed exercise would help people with diabetes, now we have multiple high quality studies that confirm it improves blood glucose control, it positively affect lipids, blood pressure, decreases cardiovascular events, decreases mortality […]
Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) can be a life-threatening complication of diabetes. People with Type 1, or those on insulin pumps can experience DKA more frequently due to a lack of endogenous (internally produced) insulin. People with gestational diabetes can experience ketone production and DKA as well. Those with Type 2 diabetes rarely get DKA […]
Summer has come quickly and we are already seeing temperatures well into the 90s. Different seasons pose individual challenges for people with diabetes. Skin care is extremely important to help reduce the risk of dry, sun burned, itchy or infected skin during the summer months.
Tips for summer skin care:
Summer is finally here and nothing beats wiggling your toes in the sand or the surf after a long freezing winter. The problem is, if you have diabetes, the risk of kicking off your shoes is not worth it.
According to The California Podiatrist Medical association nearly 55,000 Americans with diabetes suffer from a lower limb amputation […]
Springtime is always a great time to clean the rugs, upholstery and draperies, but we tend to forget about cleaning and updating something more important, like the old fashioned medicine cabinet. After inhaling an extremely spicy meal, I recently attacked my medicine cabinet at midnight for some Pepto-Bismol tablets to put out the gastric burn. Unfortunately, the tablets expired on 2009. I guess that I am lucky that I have not had a problem since then, yet I went to sleep in misery. I was negligent in updating my over –the –counter medicines and now promise to be better prepared.
Flu season usually runs from late October with a high occurrence rate through February. Hopefully, you all had your flu shots last fall and will continue to do so every October. Now that winter is over, spring season brings us less colds and flu. We have warmer, sunny, breezier days and lots of seasonal allergies. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology state that approximately 50 million Americans have some form of allergies.
Exercise is one of the best ways for someone with diabetes to utilize the extra sugar in their blood stream as well as help the liver produce less overall sugar. It can help suppress the appetite, increase hormones that give us a positive outlook, and boost your memory. Exercise will lower your blood sugar and you should be prepared. We were designed to move and thrive when we do. Let’s discuss some common truth and myths concerning exercise.
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Prevention is becoming the new buzz word in health care these days. American medicine has always been based on taking measures to treat the illness after it occurs instead of trying to prevent it. Today, some of us are afraid we will not get the proper care when we need it and others realize that doing some basic self-care is the way to prevent future problems. Starting from head to toe, I would like to recommend some simple products to get you on track to better self-care with your diabetes.
You’ve probably heard lots of diabetes management recommendations from your health team. I know it can be overwhelming at times. However, your doctor and other health care providers do want to see you as healthy as you possibly can be—and they especially want you to avoid suffering from some very serious diabetic complications such as diabetic retinopathy, poor kidney function, diabetic neuropathy, and heart disease to name a few. With your doctor’s recommendations, you are your best daily caretaker. As a nurse and diabetes educator I’ve worked with thousands of diabetes patients and have come up with the most common and essential tips for successful diabetes management.