illness guide -diabetes
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- diabetes.org
- Patient Voices: Type 2 Diabetes, NY Times Health Guide
- EverydayHealth.com
- dLife.com
- The Most Complete Food Counter
The American Diabetes Association's website provides useful information, focusing on type 2 diabetes.
Six men and women talk about living with diabetes in this interactive feature from The NY Times Health Guide.
Provides the basics: treatment, management and caregiving sections for type 1 and type 2. Find recipes, blogs and e-newsletters for some daily inspiration.
Run by dLife TV network, this site offers some good practical information including specifics for seniors and caregivers.
Written by Annette B. Natow and Jo-Ann Heslin, this book gives carb counts for tons of food items including fresh, frozen, packaged and take-out.
What Does It Mean To Have Diabetes?
Whether your parent has type 1 or type 2 diabetes, his or her pancreas is either not working at all or not working well enough. The pancreas creates insulin, which is a hormone required to transform food into energy for the body to use.
With this function compromised, the primary aim for people with diabetes is to maintain their blood-glucose (sugar) ratio within a normal range (widely considered between 80 and 110 mg/dl to avoid diabetic complications).
This requires testing blood-glucose levels several times a day (some people test up to 8 times a day) and reacting to both the high and low blood-glucose levels to stay within normal range. Even with the best efforts to manage diabetes, your parent will likely experience episodes of high and low blood-glucose ratios. It is important to recognize the symptoms and know what to do in each case.
High Blood Glucose
When your body converts food into glucose, insulin is a hormone that acts as a key to allow your body to transform glucose into energy. When there is not enough insulin, the blood-glucose level can become too high, which is called hyperglycemia. Too much glucose in the blood eventually causes damage to the body's systems. Thus, one needs to lower his or her blood-glucose ratio. Ask the endocrinologist what to do when blood sugars are high - you might need to take insulin (type 1) or to exercise and refrain from eating carbohydrates (type 2). Excessive thirst and frequent urination could be signs of hyperglycemia.
Prolonged high blood-glucose levels can cause ketoacidosis. See "What You Should Know About Ketoacidosis" in the Other Stories section; it is important information.
Low Blood Glucose
When blood-sugar level is too low, this is called hypoglycemia (low has an "o" - that's how I distinguish it from hyperglycemia). In this case, there is too much insulin or not enough glucose in the body. This is when it's good to have fast-acting sugar on hand, such as orange juice, cola or glucose tablets. It is important to act quickly to treat low blood glucose to prevent passing out. Below is a list of symptoms - found on the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) website - that might signal hypoglycemia.
Severe Symptoms (symptoms as listed above, plus):
If your parent passes out, you need to act immediately. Go to Other Stories to read a helpful piece we found on reacting to a hypoglycemic episode. It includes a video on how to use an emergency glucose injection (a.k.a. Glucagon) from the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
With this function compromised, the primary aim for people with diabetes is to maintain their blood-glucose (sugar) ratio within a normal range (widely considered between 80 and 110 mg/dl to avoid diabetic complications).
This requires testing blood-glucose levels several times a day (some people test up to 8 times a day) and reacting to both the high and low blood-glucose levels to stay within normal range. Even with the best efforts to manage diabetes, your parent will likely experience episodes of high and low blood-glucose ratios. It is important to recognize the symptoms and know what to do in each case.
High Blood Glucose
When your body converts food into glucose, insulin is a hormone that acts as a key to allow your body to transform glucose into energy. When there is not enough insulin, the blood-glucose level can become too high, which is called hyperglycemia. Too much glucose in the blood eventually causes damage to the body's systems. Thus, one needs to lower his or her blood-glucose ratio. Ask the endocrinologist what to do when blood sugars are high - you might need to take insulin (type 1) or to exercise and refrain from eating carbohydrates (type 2). Excessive thirst and frequent urination could be signs of hyperglycemia.
Prolonged high blood-glucose levels can cause ketoacidosis. See "What You Should Know About Ketoacidosis" in the Other Stories section; it is important information.
Low Blood Glucose
When blood-sugar level is too low, this is called hypoglycemia (low has an "o" - that's how I distinguish it from hyperglycemia). In this case, there is too much insulin or not enough glucose in the body. This is when it's good to have fast-acting sugar on hand, such as orange juice, cola or glucose tablets. It is important to act quickly to treat low blood glucose to prevent passing out. Below is a list of symptoms - found on the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) website - that might signal hypoglycemia.
- Dizziness
- Nervousness
- Personality change/irrational behavior
- Blurry vision
- Shakiness
- Nausea
- Crying
- Sluggishness
- Sweating
- Poor coordination
- Hunger
- Lightheadedness
- Irritability
- Drowsiness
- Erratic response to questions
- Inability to concentrate
Severe Symptoms (symptoms as listed above, plus):
- Convulsions
- Unconsciousness
If your parent passes out, you need to act immediately. Go to Other Stories to read a helpful piece we found on reacting to a hypoglycemic episode. It includes a video on how to use an emergency glucose injection (a.k.a. Glucagon) from the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
Alert your friends and family to your symptoms of hypoglycemia and tell them what you might need them to do.
