Little Things You can do to Manage Your Diabetes
Managing your diabetes involves very careful monitoring of diet and medication, as well as exercise and lifestyle. There are important steps that can be taken to encourage success in living with diabetes. These are easy steps that can help you live a happier life and feel better on a daily basis.
Don't Smoke
Smoking can lead to various common diabetes complications, such as heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease. If you are a smoker, ask your doctor for help quitting; if you are not a smoker, do not start. According to the American Diabetes Association, smokers who have diabetes are three times as likely to die of cardiovascular disease than are nonsmokers who have diabetes.
Manage Stress
Stressful situations can take your attention away from your daily steps in managing your diabetes. Because your health must be your priority, be sure to set limits on your responsibilities in order to avoid overwhelming stress. Additionally, when under certain amounts of stress, your body will create hormones that can set your blood glucose off balance and thus exacerbate your diabetes.
Causes of Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic illness, the onset of which may occur in children or adults. There are a number of possible causes of the disease; knowing the causes can help you prevent it. However, avoiding all potential causes will only serve to decrease the risk of contracting diabetes; you cannot prevent the disease entirely.
Heredity
Heredity is the cause that you cannot control. Those with a substantial amount of diabetes in their family tree are about 25% more likely to contract the illness themselves. It is still wise for these people to take preventive measures, as they may still ward off the disease or lessen the severity of it.
An Overview of Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic disease marked by the body’s inability to regulate the glucose levels in the blood. The pancreas might not produce insulin, or it might not secrete enough of the regulating chemical. Some people produce and secrete insulin, but their bodies do not respond to it.
Signs and Symptoms
At the onset of diabetes, you may experience frequent urination, extreme hunger and thirst, fatigue, nausea, and dry mouth. Type 2 diabetes does not always exhibit warning signs in older adults, which is why diabetes screenings should be part of their annual check-ups.