How Parents with Diabetes Can Make Their Wellness a Family Priority
For many of us, diabetes is a family affair. Especially when a parent has diabetes, managing the disease with physical activity and healthy food choices can impact every member of the family. This World Diabetes Day, we’re thinking about this as an opportunity to explore the ways diabetes can actually help the entire family get healthy. What do you do when your kids want pizza but you know your blood sugar has been high today? Or when you need to burn some energy but you can’t get your kids to get off the couch and go to the park with you? As a parent managing diabetes, you have an opportunity to model...
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Planning Your Meals
The goal of a meal plan is to control your blood glucose levels, maintain a healthy body weight and feel good. Your dietitian can assist you in meal planning by suggesting the right amounts, types and timing of the foods you eat. Different types of foods have specific roles within the body. Keeping track of what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat, along with regular testing, can help you and your healthcare professional understand how the foods you eat affect your blood glucose levels. As you develop your meal plan, think about the foods that you normally eat. One way to identify this is by creating a list of...
Read More
What is Diabetes?
Understanding the basics of diabetes is the first step in gaining control of your health. Let’s look at what causes diabetes, some of the common symptoms, the benefits of healthy living, and what to do if you’ve just been diagnosed. What is diabetes? Diabetes is a chronic disease. Your blood sugar levels are controlled by insulin, a hormone produced by your pancreas. When you eat, food gets broken down and glucose enters your bloodstream. Insulin takes the glucose out of your bloodstream and allows it to enter your cells where it is broken down and turned into energy. If you have...
Read More
Hyperglycemia
Hyperglycemia, or high blood glucose, occurs when blood glucose rises above your recommended range. Your healthcare professional will determine the proper healthy blood glucose range for you. High blood glucose can be caused by many things, including: Eating too much food Little or no physical activity Not taking medications Stress, infection or illness Bad or spoiled insulin High blood glucose can cause serious problems and a major cause of long-term diabetes complications. Warning signs of high blood glucose include: Tiredness or...
Read More
Future of Diabetes Treatment
Diabetes care has come a long way in just a few decades—after all, the first insulin pump was introduced in 1963, and fingerprick tests for personal blood glucose monitoring have only been around since the mid-1980s. So what's next? In development: Automating insulin delivery—the artificial pancreas Taking insulin pumping to the next level, an artificial pancreas is being tested that combines a continuous glucose monitor, insulin pump and glucagon pump (should blood glucose go too low), all managed by an app on a smartphone. The goal is to monitor your blood glucose and adjust your insulin throughout...
Read More
Creating a Circle of Support
No one can go it alone. Whether you have diabetes or you’re a caregiver, it’s important to have a few options for emotional support. Knowing who to turn to with specific questions will make life easier. Find other people with diabetes Few things are more comforting than talking with someone who understands you when you have diabetes, or if you are facing a type 1 or type 2 diagnosis. If you don’t already have a friend or family member with diabetes who can fill this role, seek out a diabetes support group near you. What have you got to lose? If you don’t like one group, look for...
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Preparing for pregnancy—good reasons to start today
Let's think into the future. Imagine sitting in a rocking chair playing with ten brand-new, tiny toes. That's the image you can remember every time you check your blood glucose, visit your doctor or say no to a glass of wine. And it's absolutely worth it. Not ready for parenthood yet? Here's what you can do now. There are several things you can do to prepare for pregnancy well before you're ready to conceive. Read about it—just not too much. When you understand the risks, you can take steps to reduce them, but it could be overwhelming if you dwell on them. Stay confident knowing...
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Easy Tips for Testing Your Blood Sugar
Whether you check your blood glucose level once a week, once a day, or 6 times a day, learning how to make testing easy and less painful may inspire you to test more often. For people with diabetes, the knowledge that you gain from testing more often is the key to staying in control of your health. It helps you make informed decisions about medicine, food, and exercise. It helps you cope with the day-to-day demands of living with diabetes, you’ll feel better each day, and you’ll lower your risk for future diabetes complications.1 Here are some tips for getting the best results possible. A guide...
Read More
Treatment
Diabetes does not have a cure, but it is treatable. With the proper treatment plan, you can reduce or even prevent the complications related to diabetes. Common treatments for diabetes include insulin injections, oral medications, diet and exercise. Work closely with your healthcare team to create the best treatment plan for you. Over time, hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) can cause health problems. Diabetes has been linked to: 1 Heart disease Heart attacks Strokes Kidney disease Nerve damage Digestive problems...
Read MorePages
Planning Your Meals
The goal of a meal plan is to control your blood glucose levels, maintain a healthy body weight and feel good. Your dietitian can assist you in meal planning by suggesting the right amounts, types and timing of the foods you eat. Different types of foods have specific roles within the body. Keeping track of what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat, along with regular testing, can help you and your healthcare professional understand how the foods you eat affect your blood glucose levels. As you develop your meal plan, think about the foods that you normally eat. One way to identify this is by creating a list of...
Read More What is Diabetes?
Understanding the basics of diabetes is the first step in gaining control of your health. Let’s look at what causes diabetes, some of the common symptoms, the benefits of healthy living, and what to do if you’ve just been diagnosed. What is diabetes? Diabetes is a chronic disease. Your blood sugar levels are controlled by insulin, a hormone produced by your pancreas. When you eat, food gets broken down and glucose enters your bloodstream. Insulin takes the glucose out of your bloodstream and allows it to enter your cells where it is broken down and turned into energy. If you have...
Read More Hyperglycemia
Hyperglycemia, or high blood glucose, occurs when blood glucose rises above your recommended range. Your healthcare professional will determine the proper healthy blood glucose range for you. High blood glucose can be caused by many things, including: Eating too much food Little or no physical activity Not taking medications Stress, infection or illness Bad or spoiled insulin High blood glucose can cause serious problems and a major cause of long-term diabetes complications. Warning signs of high blood glucose include: Tiredness or...
Read More Future of Diabetes Treatment
Diabetes care has come a long way in just a few decades—after all, the first insulin pump was introduced in 1963, and fingerprick tests for personal blood glucose monitoring have only been around since the mid-1980s. So what's next? In development: Automating insulin delivery—the artificial pancreas Taking insulin pumping to the next level, an artificial pancreas is being tested that combines a continuous glucose monitor, insulin pump and glucagon pump (should blood glucose go too low), all managed by an app on a smartphone. The goal is to monitor your blood glucose and adjust your insulin throughout...
Read More Creating a Circle of Support
No one can go it alone. Whether you have diabetes or you’re a caregiver, it’s important to have a few options for emotional support. Knowing who to turn to with specific questions will make life easier. Find other people with diabetes Few things are more comforting than talking with someone who understands you when you have diabetes, or if you are facing a type 1 or type 2 diagnosis. If you don’t already have a friend or family member with diabetes who can fill this role, seek out a diabetes support group near you. What have you got to lose? If you don’t like one group, look for...
Read More Preparing for pregnancy—good reasons to start today
Let's think into the future. Imagine sitting in a rocking chair playing with ten brand-new, tiny toes. That's the image you can remember every time you check your blood glucose, visit your doctor or say no to a glass of wine. And it's absolutely worth it. Not ready for parenthood yet? Here's what you can do now. There are several things you can do to prepare for pregnancy well before you're ready to conceive. Read about it—just not too much. When you understand the risks, you can take steps to reduce them, but it could be overwhelming if you dwell on them. Stay confident knowing...
Read More Easy Tips for Testing Your Blood Sugar
Whether you check your blood glucose level once a week, once a day, or 6 times a day, learning how to make testing easy and less painful may inspire you to test more often. For people with diabetes, the knowledge that you gain from testing more often is the key to staying in control of your health. It helps you make informed decisions about medicine, food, and exercise. It helps you cope with the day-to-day demands of living with diabetes, you’ll feel better each day, and you’ll lower your risk for future diabetes complications.1 Here are some tips for getting the best results possible. A guide...
Read More Treatment
Diabetes does not have a cure, but it is treatable. With the proper treatment plan, you can reduce or even prevent the complications related to diabetes. Common treatments for diabetes include insulin injections, oral medications, diet and exercise. Work closely with your healthcare team to create the best treatment plan for you. Over time, hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) can cause health problems. Diabetes has been linked to: 1 Heart disease Heart attacks Strokes Kidney disease Nerve damage Digestive problems...
Read More