Monitoring Your Blood Glucose
Proper management of diabetes is the key to staying healthy and to prevent damage to tissues and body organs. Uncontrolled diabetes in the long term can lead to complications such as cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, blindness, erectile dysfunction and foot infections.
What is Diabetes?
When a person has diabetes, it means there is too much sugar in the body. The body may not have enough of a hormone called insulin, which is needed to regulate blood sugar. Insufficient insulin causes the blood sugar to build up.
Type 2 Diabetes could be due to the failure of the pancreas to produce sufficient insulin or the body's cells are resisting the effects of insulin. This disease which usually occurs in middle-age, is reportedly increasing among younger people.
Managing Diabetes
People with Type 2 Diabetes are encouraged to take on a more active role to understand the disease and to learn to manage it well by keeping blood glucose levels as close as possible to normal.
Management of diabetes
Test your blood glucose. Self-monitoring of blood glucose with a blood glucose monitor helps in diabetes control. By testing your blood glucose level and keeping a record of the results, it lets you know on a day-to-day basis if you need to make changes in your diet, exercise or medication.
A blood glucose monitor is a useful tool to help determine patterns of blood glucose control and identify problem areas so that you can plan ahead to prevent these situations from occurring.
Studies has shown that self-monitoring of blood glucose helps a person with diabetes to achieve better medication compliance, and motivation to make behavioural changes.
Take Medication
Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes depends on how well controlled your blood glucose levels are. You may need to take diabetes pills or insulin injections.
Medicating Tips:
Eat Smart
Knowing what food to eat and to avoid can help your body to use insulin better. Certain foods help keep your blood sugar in control. Opt for a diet which has a good balance of fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates, meats and milk products. Healthy eating will also help you to lose weight and to maintain a healthy weight.
Healthy eating tips:
Exercise regularly
Exercise is an important part of diabetes care. Besides improving your overall fitness and boosting your sense of well-being, it helps to control your blood sugar.
Exercise tips:
High Blood Sugar
Symptoms to watch for:
Note: These symptoms may occur within hours or may develop over several days.
Causes:
What to do
Low Blood Sugar
Symptoms to watch for:
Note: These symptoms will occur fast within minutes.
Causes
What to do