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.
A by-product of fat breakdown is ketone production, which is toxic to the body. This complication is known as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and can lead to illness or even death. Ketones accumulate in the blood and can be recognized in the blood about 2-4 hours prior to appearing in urine. This makes a blood test more accurate than a urine test to detect ketone levels.
Since 1990, type 2 diabetes has doubled in the children/adolescents population. What is more alarming is much of the obesity, type 2 diabetes, early onset of cardiovascular disease and other child health issues IS PREVENTABLE. Here are my recommendations.
Hypoglycemia is also known as low blood sugar... Blood sugar that is too low can lead to coma or death and is considered a medical emergency. You should treat low blood sugar AS SOON AS you suspect you have it. The best way to raise your blood sugar is to use glucose tablets. Glucose tablets are made from dextrose, a simple sugar. Glucose tablets are easy to carry and are the quickest to be absorbed.
According to the American Diabetes Association, a great number of people with pre-diabetes become diabetic within 10 years after the initial pre-diabetes diagnosis. Here are some pre-diabetes facts and recommendations to lower your risk, or the risk of loved ones, of developing diabetes.