10 Ways to Manage Your Diabetes

Diabetes is a very common lifestyle disease. The effective way to manage the condition is correct nutrition along with walking and any form of exercise.

Create a healthy eating plan

Base your diet on low-GI; high-fibre breads and cereals; lean protein foods such as lean meat, tofu and legumes; low-fat dairy; two serves of fruit and five serves of vegies; and healthy fats such as vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and avocado.

Go for slow-release carbs

Eat regular meals and maintain an even spread of carbohydrate intake throughout the day to prevent spikes in your blood glucose levels. Look for the new GI symbol, which can be found on everyday foods such as bread, cereal, fruit, pasta and rice.

Basic Management for Kids with Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes mellitus, one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood, is caused by insulin deficiency resulting from the destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. 

There are special challenges of caring for children and adolescents with diabetes, to identify the care of adult children. This includes the obvious difference in the size of the patient, development issues, such as the unpredictability of an infant dietary intake and activity level, and health problems, such as enhanced 

hypoglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis. Because of these considerations, the management of children with Type 1 must take into account the age and maturity of child development.

When your child is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, it can be overwhelming and frightening. Suddenly seems to have so much to learn and so much to send, life will never be normal.

Life cannot go back the way it is, but go ahead with support and instruction, it becomes manageable. There basic management that parents should focus on when their child is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

Understanding Insulin dose

Since your child's body cannot produce insulin, so it must be replaced during the day, usually by injection. There are several methods of insulin:

A fixed dose of intermediate and rapid-acting insulins. A fixed dose of insulin your child should have food during the peak action of insulin. Food should be as close as possible at the same time each day in the same proportion of carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

Children taking long acting insulin such as Lantus still need a dose of fast-acting insulin at mealtimes. Count the number of fast-acting insulin, depending on the carbohydrate content of foods.

Children using insulin pumps also need a dose of rapid-acting insulin before meals based on carbohydrate content of complementary foods

Important of Blood Glucose Testing

Sugar in the blood of your child should be checked before meals and before bed time. Blood glucose level in children, they vary by age group and can be adjusted depending on individual experience hypoglycemia of your child. The recommended level may seem high compared to levels in adult diabetes. The reason beyond the higher number is because children, especially infants, are at higher risk of hypoglycemia. Keep a journal of food and blood sugar numbers, time, and physical activity to get the big picture, how to manage your child's diabetes. So you think your child's blood sugar changes, and it is no longer able to keep an even keel.

Recommended Blood Glucose Levels

Age	Before Meals	Bedtime/Overnight
Kids under 6	100-180	110-200
Age 6-12	90-180	100-180
Age 13-19	90-130	90-150

Learn how to manage low blood sugar

Also known as hypoglycemia, low blood sugar is a common problem for children with type 1 diabetes.

The symptoms include:

Irritability

Headache

Dizziness

Double vision

Tremor or weakness

Lack of coordination

Agitation

Drowsiness or confusion

Seizures or fainting

Blood glucose levels less than 70

Where the sugar in the blood of your child is too low, allow children to drink or eat a concentrated amount of sugar (about 10 to 15 grams) in order to increase the value of glucose in the blood is greater than 80 mg / dL. Some examples might be:

Two glucose tablets or glucose gel for 2 doses

One or two tablespoons of honey

Two to four pieces of candy

Half a can of regular soda

Half glass of orange juice or other sweet like grape juice. Boxes of fruit juices and this will be useful

Seven to 10 Jelly Beans

This is a good idea to keep a small bag packed with a storage compartment of the car 15 doses of one gram of sugar sources

If a child cannot eat or drink, use the glucagon kit. Glucagon is a hormone that helps the release liver blood sugar. It’s available in a kit and is an injectable drug. Usually raises blood sugar within half an hour. Glucagon requires a prescription from your doctor.

Keep 1 or 2 set ready and waiting for the first hypoglycemic emergency occurs. Practice Kit. The doctor, diabetes educator, or pharmacist can provide the kit of practice, for which you are comfortable using, prior to need.

If the child loses consciousness, and not have glucagon, the child must go to hospital immediately. This is a medical emergency.

Nutrition - the normative nutritional therapy that relies largely on the chosen lifestyle. Moderate, the meal planning to ensure a constant intake of carbohydrate. This is especially true for children in the conventional fixed-food recipes that require insulin treatment. Meal planning should be individualized to accommodate the children's food preferences and eating habits and the cultural agenda.

At the time of diagnosis, many patients lose weight, it is restored at the beginning of insulin therapy, hydration, and adequate intake of energy. At this time, increased consumption, children often require large amounts of insulin to control blood sugar levels.

The Nutrition management, including change of use of carbohydrate, carbohydrate counting, glycemic index and content and are discussed in more detail separately.

Exercise affects blood sugar level

Physical activity reduces blood sugar levels. diabetic children should get regular daily exercise. Parents should be aware that hypoglycemia can occur during exercise, so children should watch their blood sugar levels before they start using it. If your blood sugar is low, they should have a carbohydrate snack and rest until their blood sugar to normal levels (80 mg / dL).

Parents should be gym teachers, coaches and team managers are aware of their child's diabetes and the possibility of hypoglycemic reactions.

DIABETES: “Killing Me Sweetly”

A variable disorder of carbohydrates metabolism characterized by the impaired ability of the body to produce or respond to insulin and thereby maintains proper levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood.

A variable disorder cause by a combination of hereditary and environmental factors and unusually characterized by inadequate secretion of utilization of insulin.

A group of metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia (increase glucose in the blood) resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both.

Normally, during digestion, the body changes sugar starches and other foods into a form of sugar called glucose. Then the blood carries this glucose to cells throughout the body. There, with the help of Insulin (a hormone). Glucose is changed into quick energy from immediate use by the cells or is stored for the future needs (Insulin is made in the beta cells of the pancreas, a small organ that lies behind the stomach). This process of turning food into energy is crucial, because the body depends on food for everyday actions, from pumping blood and thinking, to running and jumping.

In diabetes, something goes wrong with the normal process of turning food in energy. Food is changed into glucose readily, but there is a problem with insulin, either it is absent or it is insufficient. When insulin is absent or insufficient, the glucose in bloodstream cannot be used by the cells to make energy. Instead, glucose accumulates in the blood eventually leading to the high sugar levels that are hallmark of untreated diabetes.

Risk Factors and Possible Causes of Diabetes Mellitus

Age

All people are vulnerable to the disease throughout their lives. However, the risk is higher as you grow older. There is a gradual increase in susceptibility, with slight peaks at puberty and during pregnancy, until we reach the age of 40. Then there is a rapid jump.

Hereditary

If you have a family history of diabetes, especially parents or siblings with diabetes, then you’re near the top of the list in terms of risk. Hereditary is the most important predisposing factor for diabetes, specially the type 1 diabetes. Type II diabetes also tends to run in families, but since 80-85 % of all cases occur among people who are over 40 and over weight, obesity is considered more important in the development of this form of the disease.

Obesity

80-85 percent of people with type II diabetes are overweight. It is true that not all overweight people have diabetes. But if you are obese, you may be setting yourself up for this disease 10-20 years from now. You are considered obese, if you are more than 20 percent over ideal body weight.

Race

In the United States the disease is more common among Africans-Americans, Hispanics and American Indians. More than 40% of Pima Indians in the United States have type 2 diabetes. However, that race along does not predict diabetes; it must be combines with another factor, such as obesity.

Pregnancy

In women having a history of gestational diabetes or delivery of babies weighing more than 9 pounds.

Diet

The diet that causes an increased risk of diabetes are: high calories, high fat, high cholesterol, low fiber, salty diet, and sweets. The presence of the risk factors not predicts diabetes, but it does suggest a possibility. The more risk factors you have, the grater your chance of developing diabetes.

While specific causes of diabetes remains a mystery, there are some triggering factors responsible:

Infections

Injuries

Sedentary living

Smoking

Alcohol

Stress or emotional upsets lasting for a long time

The main goal of diabetes treatment is to normalize insulin activity and blood glucose levels to reduce the development of vascular and neuropathic complications. Therefore, the therapeutic goal for diabetes management is to achieve normal glucose levels (euglycemia) without hypoglycemia while maintaining a high quality of life. Diabetes management has five components

       Nutritional therapy

Exercise

Monitoring

Pharmacologic therapy

Education

Treatment varies because of change in lifestyle and physical and emotional status as well as advances in treatment method.