Diabetic’s Cheat Sheet» — Essential Information

How is diabetes diagnosed?

Diagnosis is very simple — it is enough to take a blood test and measure the level of sugar in it. The norm for adults is 4.7-5.1 mmol/l. If the value is above 7 mmol/l — this is a reason to conduct a glucose tolerance test. At the same time, a person on an empty stomach should drink a solution containing 75 grams of glucose. After 2 hours, his blood sugar level is measured and a diagnosis is made:

below 7.8 mmol/l — normal7.8 — 11.1 mmol/l — impaired glucose tolerance, «prediabetes»above 11.1 mmol/l — diabetes

Prevention of diabetes

Preventive lifestyle changes are necessary if a person has at least one risk factor:

Excess body weightSedentary lifestylePancreatic diseasesBorderline fasting plasma glucose levels and after a glucose tolerance testHereditary predisposition, if there are people with diabetes in the family

Prevention involves normalizing body weight, limiting caloric food, regular physical activity. We wrote more about weight loss and achieving optimal body weight in this article.

Treatment of diabetes

It will be much easier if you understand that diabetes is more of a lifestyle than a disease. It disciplines and teaches responsibility for your health. Treatment always comes down to normalizing blood sugar levels, depending on the type of diabetes this is done differently.

In the case of type 1 diabetes, an endocrinologist selects insulin, which is injected into adipose tissue. In this way, we externally «replace» the non-functioning pancreas. The patient is taught to plan his diet, understand how much sugar it contains and what dose of insulin should be injected before each meal.

Insulin is a potent substance and in case of an overdose can cause a sharp drop in sugar — hypoglycemia. This condition is characterized by severe weakness, nausea, sweating, blurred or loss of consciousness. In this case, every diabetic should have a piece of sugar or candy to prevent hypoglycemic coma.

Now more advanced forms of insulin are appearing, which are injected once a day and gradually released over 24 hours. This reduces the risk of hypoglycemia and greatly improves the patient’s life.

In the case of type 2 diabetes, everything is a little simpler — there is enough insulin in the blood. The goal of treatment is to reduce the amount of sugar consumed and increase tissue sensitivity to insulin. As a result, the body absorbs glucose more easily and its level in the blood normalizes.

It is critically important to monitor your blood sugar level every day. It is not a fact that the treatment once prescribed will be effective for life. If you control the level of glucose, you can live a full life and minimize the risks of complications. All that is needed for this is to strictly follow the recommendations of the endocrinologist, adhere to the diet and be physically active.