Management of Type 2 Diabetes
Posted by Healthfitline
On
Friday, September 28, 2012
The overall goal of Diabetes management is to make sure that the patient's blood glucose level is maintained within a desirable level, inorder to decrease the chances of developing diabetes related complications. To effectively manage diabetes, there is need for a constant or ongoing patient assessment and frequent adjustment of the treatment regimen, whenever appropriate. The patient also need to be reminded of his/her vital role when it comes to self-management of diabetes.
Diabetes management is centered within the following five components;
- Exercises
- Nutritional therapy
- Monitoring
- Treatement (pharmacology)
- Patient Education
Exercises
Exercises is a very important component of diabetes management. When a diabetes patient is exercising, the body muscles increase the demand of glucose and more blood glucose is utilized. This help in lowering the overall blood sugar in the body. Exercising also increases insulin absorption by the cells.
For diabetic patients who are obese or with history of high cholesterol, having a regular exercise routine lowers the bad cholesterol, hence increasing the level of good cholesterol. This is especially important to obese diabetic patients since they are at a much higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
A Diabetic patient should have a regular exercise schedule. The exercises should be done at the same time, every day and most preferably, when the glucose is at the highest levels. This is to help in maintaining a constant glucose level in the blood.
Nutritional Therapy
The nutritional needs of each diabetic patient varies and should always be individualized. One major goal of nutritional management is to make sure the patient receives the adequate calories and his nutritional needs is not compromised in any way. A good nutritonal meal should consists of;
- All the nutritional requirements for a well balanced diet.
- It should not in any way compromise the patient's caloric needs (should be adequate).
- It should be able to maintain the patient's desirable weight.
- The meal should be planned in such a way that the patient is able to eat small frequent meals without skipping. This prevent the patient from eating alot of food at once to avoid sudden increase in blood sugar levels.
- The food should be taken at regular intervals every day to prevent wide fluctuations of blood sugar levels.
- Junk food, sugarly drinks and other fatty food should be avoided as much as possible to minimize the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
Monitoring
You can only know whether the regimen given to the patient is working by monitoring. Diabetes monitoring is the cornerstone of diabetes managment and it should be an ongoing process. By monitoring a diabetic patient, health personnel can be able to spot a potential problem before it can lead to serious complications. Monitoring also help in the maintaining patient's blood glucose at a desirable level.
All Diabetic patients should have a target blood sugar level that they need to maintain. With frequent monitoring of the blood sugar level, any deviation is easily noted and corrected. Patients can be able to tell when they need a extra snack, when to exercise and when not. Self-monitoring of blood glucose should be done whenever necessary, before and after an exercise routine.
Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes (Pharmacology Management)
For younger patients suffering from diabetes 1, insulin should be administered for the rest of their lives. This is because, patients suffering from diabetes 1 can no longer produce insulin, hence they are dependent on the insulin injections. On the other hand, patients suffering from diabetes 2 are able to produce some insulin but the cells cannot utilize the insulin produced since they become insulin resistant.
Some diabetes patients are able to control their glucose levels through diet change and exercises alone without medication. Others may require diet change and OHA (oral) medications. Such patients may sometimes experience a spike in blood sugar levels, especially during stressful situations, illness, surgery or during pregnancy (due to increased stress hormone which increases the blood sugar levels). In such situations, the physician may prescribe a temporary insulin to the patient.
Most diabetic patients needing insulin are advised to administer it two to three times a day but this is not a fixed routine. The frequency of administration and the amount of insulin that each patient receives depends on the level of the glucose. This is the reason why proper and frequent monitoring of glucose is required.
Patients should also be able to understand how diabetes medication interacts with other medications. Some medications are known to either lower or increase the blood sugar, affecting the overall blood sugar levels. If a diabetes patient is taking any other medication, it is important to notify the physician. The physician can then decide whether there is a need for medication adjustments or not.
Diabetes Education
Diabetes Mellitus is a long time illness that requires lifetime commitment in self-management and behavior changes. Patients must be ready to adjust to lifestyle related changes in order to prevent developing long term complications associated with diabetes.
Patients must have adequate knowledge on nutrition, exercise, blood glucose monitoring, medication adjustment and other preventive measures. Without proper education, it almost impossible for the patient to maintain the desired blood glucose level which may eventually lead to serious health problems or diabetes complications.
Lastly, to effectively manage diabetes, there is need for a proper education on the side of the patient. The health care personnel should make sure that the patient understands the important of self discipline and he or she is willing to take part in management.
Even though diabetes is a long term illness, there are may patients who have lived with diabetes for many years, yet they have managed to keep their blood sugar levels at desired level without any complications. Diabetes is not curable but with self-discipline, proper education and reliable health care system, it is can easily be managed.
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