Description

According to the Centers for Disease and Control, there are nearly 21 million people in the United States who have diabetes. And due to the obesity epidemic, more children are developing the disease. Early diagnosis and treatment is crucial. If blood gluc

Transcript

Female Speaker: Did you know there are more than 20 million living with diabetes in the United States, it is important once a patient has been diagnosed with diabetes that the condition is managed to prevent diabetic complications from developing. Type I and Type II are two major types of diabetes. People with Type I diabetes are generally diagnosed when they are children or adulations. Type I diabetes is when the insulin producing cells in the pancreas are destroyed. Since Type I diabetes patients do not produce insulin. They need to get themselves doses of insulin daily. The majority of people with diabetes have Type II. Andrew Ahmannn: The second and much more common type is Type II diabetes which is a combination of poor insulin response in the body in addition to the inability of the cell in the pancreas to produce enough insulin to overcome that problem. So we call that insulin resistance. Female Speaker: There are several ways people with diabetes can manage their condition they can do this by monitoring their blood sugar, eating healthy meals, and loosing weight if necessary, exercising regularly, taking appropriate medications to control diabetes high blood pressure and high cholesterol and by getting proper medical attention. Regular exercise is especially important in controlling diabetes. Bernard Zinman: Now the reason physical activity is part of the prescription. Is because not only as it help with weight loss. But physical activity itself sensitizes the body to insulin. So it means that the stress on the pancreas to make more insulin is released and reduced. Female Speaker: It is essential that people with diabetes monitor their blood sugar on a regular basis. Testing the blood glucose allows diabetes patients to see how food exercise and medicine are affecting their blood glucose level. Normal blood glucose levels before meals should be between 90 to 130. Two hours after the meal blood glucose levels should be less than 180. Vernin Wagnor a diabetes patient knows it is crucial to monitor his blood glucose levels on a regular basis. Vernin Wagnor: It's really important it's the most important right thing to do, is keep checking it, keep it down. Female Speaker: It may be helpful for diabetes patients to remember their ABCs, as they work to manage their condition. A is for the A1C a test that shows the patient's blood glucose levels over the last three months. Patient should take this test a minimum of twice a year. And their goal is to have an A1C number that is less than 7. The B stands for blood pressure, patient should keep their blood pressure around 130 over 80 or less. C stands for cholesterol, patient should keep their LDL cholesterol at less than 100. When people with diabetes manage their disease, their chances of developing complications decrease. John Buse: I think today people with diabetes should never develop disabling complications. And they may develop little issue here, little issue there but as far as going blind, having an amputation, ending up on dialysis which is really shouldn't happen anymore. Female Speaker: If people with diabetes would keep their blood sugar levels within the normal range. And look out for any potential complications and stand close contacts with our healthcare providers. They should be able to manage their disease and live a healthy life.