Tips to Avoid Diabetes Complications

Choose Carbs Carefully

Diabetes doesn't mean you have to cut carbs completely. Choose carbohydrates that break down in the body slowly, providing steady energy. Reach for whole grains, beans, nuts, and fresh vegetables and fruits. Yes, you can eat fruit even though it's sweet. It's about eating the right amounts of carbohydrates at each meal. A registered dietitian can help you learn how much is right for you.

Lose Weight If You Need To

Start small. If you are overweight, shedding just a few pounds can improve the body's ability to use insulin. It'll help lower your blood sugar and improve your blood pressure and blood fats. You'll also have more energy. Ready? Aim to burn more calories than you eat. To start, try cutting fat and calories from your diet, such as chips or fries.

Get Enough Sleep

Getting too much or too little sleep can increase your appetite and cravings for high-carb foods. That can lead to weight gain, increasing your risk for complications such as heart disease. So shoot for seven or eight hours of sleep a night. If you have sleep apnea, treating it can improve your sleep and lower your blood sugar levels.

Be Active: Exercise and Diabetes

Pick something you like -- walking, dancing, biking, or just marching in place while you're on the phone. Do it a half-hour a day; work up to that if you need to. Exercise can help you lower your cardiovascular risks, cholesterol, and blood pressure levels, and keep your weight down. Exercise also relieves stress and may help you cut back on diabetes medication.

Monitor Your Blood Sugar Daily

You know you're supposed to check it. And actually checking your blood glucose levels can help you avoid diabetes complications, like nerve pain, or keep them from getting worse. Checking it can also help you see how foods and activities affect you, and if your treatment plan is working. Your doctor can help you set a target glucose level range. The closer you get to your target, the better you'll feel.

Manage Stress

When you have diabetes, stress can cause your blood glucose levels to rise. Get rid of whatever physical or mental stresses you can. Learn coping techniques to deal with others. Relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises, yoga, and meditation may be especially effective if you have type 2 diabetes.

Say No to Salt

Reduce the salt in your diet. It may help lower blood pressure and protect your kidneys. Not salting the food on your plate may not be enough. Most of the salt in Americans' diets comes from processed foods. Avoid convenience foods and use fresh ingredients when you can. Season with herbs and spices instead of salt when you cook.

Adults age 51 and older, and individuals with high blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease should talk with their doctor about how much to reduce their sodium intake. In general, people with diabetes should decrease to less than 2,300 mgs per day, however your doctor may recommend lower amounts.

Heart Disease Risk and Diabetes

Heart disease can be a serious diabetes complication. Keep an eye on your risk by getting these ABCs checked:

A1C level. This is a measure of your average blood sugar control for the last 2-3 months. You may need it checked two or more times a year. Talk to your doctor about setting a goal.

Blood pressure. Goal: below 140/80 mm Hg.

Cholesterol. Goal: LDL to 100 mg/d or lessl; HDL above 40 mg/dl in men and greater than 50 in women; and triglycerides below 150 mg/dl.

Take Care of Bumps and Bruises

Diabetes raises your risk of infection and slows healing, so treat even simple cuts and scrapes quickly. Properly clean your wound and use an antibiotic cream and sterile bandage. See a doctor if it's not better in a few days. Check your feet every day for blisters, cuts, sores, redness, or swelling. Moisturize them to prevent cracks.

Break Your Smoking Habit

People with diabetes who smoke are two times more likely to die prematurely than those who don't. Quitting helps your heart and lungs. It lowers your blood pressure and risk of stroke, heart attack, nerve damage, and kidney disease. Ask your doctor about help for quitting tobacco.

Pick Super Foods, Don't Supersize

There's no single diabetes diet. But here are basics to keep in mind: Enjoy super foods like berries, sweet potatoes, fish with omega-3 fatty acids, and dark green, leafy vegetables. Look at food labels and avoid saturated fat and trans fats. Instead, opt for mono and polyunsaturated fats like olive oil. A registered dietitian can give you personalized advice.

Set Up Doctor Visits

Expect to see your doctor two to four times a year. If you take insulin or need help balancing your blood sugar levels, you may need to visit more often. Also get a yearly physical and eye exam. You should be screened for eye, nerve, and kidney damage, and other complications. See a dentist twice a year. And be sure to tell all health care providers that you have diabetes.

Brief

Under normal circumstances, the glucose (sugar) levels in your blood rise after you eat a meal or snack. In response, the body produces a hormone called insulin, which is necessary in order for the body to convert glucose in your bloodstream into usable energy. But if insulin isn’t available, or if the body isn’t using it correctly, your blood glucose will remain elevated, and that can be harmful to your body. The latter describes diabetes mellitus, a serious health condition that affects millions of people. There are actually three variations of this disease, but all characterized by abnormally high levels of glucose in the bloodstream.

Type 1 Diabetes

This form of diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, meaning your own immune system is damaging your body and causing the disease. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks and destroys cells of the pancreas (called beta cells), which are the only cells in the body that manufacture insulin. Type 1 diabetes used to be called “insulin-dependent” because people with Type 1 diabetes must take insulin via pump or injection to survive. It is sometimes called “juvenile-onset” diabetes, because it usually makes its appearance during childhood or young adulthood. Between 5% and 10% of people with diabetes have type 1, which doesn't have a cure. Type 1 diabetics must work to manage the disease for the rest of their lives.

Who’s at risk? 
No one knows exactly what causes type 1 diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the risk factors for developing type 1 diabetes include autoimmune, genetic, and environmental factors (such as viruses). While it’s most often diagnosed in children, type 1 diabetes can occur at any age and is most prevalent in Caucasians.

Can it be prevented? 
Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent this form of diabetes.

What are the symptoms? 
The destruction of the body’s beta cells can begin years before a person notices symptoms, which usually appear suddenly. These include: increased thirst and urination, persistent hunger, weight loss, blurred vision, and severe fatigue.

How is it treated? 
Since they can’t make insulin on their own, people with type 1 diabetes must supply the body with insulin by using a pump or injections. Without a steady supply of insulin, type 1 diabetics can develop diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition.

Type 2 Diabetes
In the early stages of type 2 diabetes, the pancreas is still manufacturing insulin, but for some reason the cells of the body are not using it properly—a condition known as insulin resistance. In response, the pancreas produces more and more insulin, wearing itself out and eventually losing its ability to produce insulin to keep blood glucose levels in the normal range. Similar to type 1 diabetes, high levels of blood glucose result, making it difficult for the body to use this glucose as fuel. Type 2 diabetes used to be called “non-insulin-dependent” or “adult-onset” or diabetes, but more and more cases are being diagnosed in children. Between 90% and 95% of diabetes cases are type 2. Like individuals with type 1, type 2 diabetics must also work to manage the disease for the rest of their lives.

Who’s at risk? 
The risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes include advanced age, obesity (80% of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight), a family history of diabetes, a history of gestational diabetes (see below), physical inactivity, and race/ethnicity.  African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander Americans are at particularly high risk for type 2 diabetes.

Can it be prevented? 
There are many ways to prevent this form of diabetes. Eating a healthy diet and getting sensible amounts of physical activity to achieve and maintain a healthy weight can help prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes.

What are the symptoms? 
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes appear gradually, but some people who have type 2 diabetes won’t have any symptoms at all. Many symptoms are similar to those of type 1 diabetes, such as increased thirst, increased urination, weight loss, blurred vision and fatigue. Other signs include frequent infections and slow-healing wounds.

How is it treated? 
People with type 2 diabetes can control their blood glucose levels by following a healthy diet and exercise program, losing excess weight and using medication prescribed by their doctors.

Gestational Diabetes
Some women develop this form of diabetes during the third trimester of pregnancy, in which the body still manufactures insulin, but pregnancy hormones prevent insulin from working properly. Treatment is necessary to prevent the abnormally high blood sugar levels from injuring the fetus.

Who’s at risk? 
Gestational diabetes is more common among certain racial/ethnic groups (African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, and American Indians). It also occurs more frequently among women who are over 25 years old, are obese, have a family history of diabetes, or have previously delivered a baby that weighed over 9 pounds. Although the gestational diabetes usually resolves itself after delivery, 5% to10% of women with gestational diabetes are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after delivery, and 20% to 50% will develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years.

Can it be prevented? 
The risk for developing gestational diabetes can be lowered by losing excess weight and staying physically active prior to conception, and then continuing to make healthy food choices and staying physically active during pregnancy. Women who have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes can lower their risk for developing type 2 diabetes by continuing these healthy habits after delivery, breastfeeding their children, and visiting their doctors regularly for checkups.

What are the symptoms? 
Usually, gestational diabetes doesn’t have any symptoms. But when symptoms occur, they are very similar to those of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes: increased thirst and urination, persistent hunger, weight loss despite increases in appetite, blurred vision, and severe fatigue. Other signs include nausea, vomiting, and frequent infections to the bladder, vagina and/or skin.

How is it treated? 
Since gestational diabetes can be problematic to your baby’s health and increase the risk of complications during delivery, treatment must begin right after diagnosis. This usually involves close monitoring and control of blood glucose levels by following a special eating plan (developed by your doctor and/or registered dietitian) and getting regular exercise. Some treatment plans may also include diabetes pills or insulin injections, if prescribed by your doctor.

If left unchecked, all forms of diabetes can cause serious health  consequences. If you exhibit any of the symptoms of diabetes, or if you are at high-risk for developing it, talk to your doctor. It’s never too early to start a diabetes prevention program.

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