Should you tell people you have diabetes?
You may want to consider telling the person who knows you more than just a co-worker or an acquaintance. People who listen, and have a level of empathy are usually the best to confide in. Another person with diabetes, if you know any, can be great support, not only for confiding in, but for getting active.
How to tell someone you have diabetes?
- Urinate (pee) a lot, often at night
- Are very thirsty
- Lose weight without trying
- Are very hungry
- Have blurry vision
- Have numb or tingling hands or feet
- Feel very tired
- Have very dry skin
- Have sores that heal slowly
- Have more infections than usual
Who is the best doctor for diabetes?
When Should You See a Diabetes Specialist?
- Your doctor recommends you have an evaluation with a specialist. ...
- Your primary care physician has not treated many diabetes patients. ...
- You are having problems communicating with your doctor. ...
- You cannot find the right educational material to help you. ...
- You are having complications or difficulty managing your diabetes. ...
What kind of Doctor do you go to for diabetes?
- The patient. This is the most important member of the diabetes care team! ...
- Primary doctor. Your primary care doctor is who you see for general checkups and when you get sick. ...
- Podiatrist. For anyone with diabetes, which can cause nerve damage in the extremities, foot care is important. ...
- Dentist. ...
- Exercise trainer. ...
- Mental health professional. ...
Where to go if you have diabetes?
You're likely to start by seeing your primary care doctor if you're having diabetes symptoms. If your child is having diabetes symptoms, you might see your child's pediatrician. If blood sugar levels are extremely high, you'll likely be sent to the emergency room.
What are the best ways to treat diabetes?
Treatment. Depending on what type of diabetes you have, blood sugar monitoring, insulin and oral medications may play a role in your treatment. Eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight and participating in regular activity also are important factors in managing diabetes.
How to treat type 1 diabetes?
Treatment for type 1 diabetes involves insulin injections or the use of an insulin pump, frequent blood sugar checks, and carbohydrate counting. Treatment of type 2 diabetes primarily involves lifestyle changes, monitoring of your blood sugar, along with diabetes medications, insulin or both.
How to prevent prediabetes?
Make physical activity part of your daily routine. Regular exercise can help prevent prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, and it can help those who already have diabetes to maintain better blood sugar control. A minimum of 30 minutes of moderate exercise — such as brisk walking — most days of the week is recommended.
What is the best diet for diabetics?
Contrary to popular perception, there's no specific diabetes diet. You'll need to center your diet on more fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains — foods that are high in nutrition and fiber and low in fat and calories — and cut down on saturated fats, refined carbohydrates and sweets.
What blood test is used to determine blood sugar levels?
Tests for type 1 and type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. Glycated hemoglobin (A1C) test. This blood test, which doesn't require fasting, indicates your average blood sugar level for the past two to three months. It measures the percentage of blood sugar attached to hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells.
What is the blood sugar level of a diabetic?
Regardless of when you last ate, a blood sugar level of 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) — 11.1 millimoles per liter (mmol/L) — or higher suggests diabetes. Fasting blood sugar test. A blood sample will be taken after an overnight fast.
What doctor can monitor diabetes?
Primary care physician. Your primary care doctor can monitor you for diabetes at your regular checkups. Your doctor may perform blood tests to check for the disease, depending on your symptoms or risk factors. If you do have diabetes, your doctor may prescribe medication and manage your condition. They may also refer you to a specialist ...
Why do people with type 1 diabetes need an endocrinologist?
Sometimes, people with type 2 diabetes may also need an endocrinologist if they have trouble getting their blood glucose levels under control.
What can a nephrologist do for you?
The nephrologist can help you manage kidney disease. They can also administer dialysis, treatment that is required when your kidneys aren’t functioning properly. People with type 1 diabetes should have an annual urine protein test and an estimated glomerular filtration rate test five years after diagnosis.
How important is diet to diabetes?
Your diet plays a very important role in managing diabetes. It’s the thing that many people with diabetes say is the hardest for them to understand and manage. If you have trouble finding the right diet to help control your blood sugar, get the help of a registered dietitian.
What are the complications of diabetes?
Many people with diabetes experience complications with their eyes over time. These might include: cataracts. glaucoma. diabetic retinopathy, or damage to the retina. diabetic macular edema. You must regularly visit an eye doctor, such an optometrist or ophthalmologist, to check for these potentially serious conditions.
What is the first step to take to treat diabetes?
A number of different healthcare professionals treat diabetes. A good first step is to talk to your primary care doctor about testing if you’re at risk for diabetes or if you begin experiencing symptoms associated with the disease. While you may work with your primary care doctor to manage your diabetes, it’s also possible to rely on another doctor ...
How to prepare for a blood test?
That way, you can make the most of your time there. Call ahead and see if there is anything you need to do to prepare, such as fasting for a blood test. Make a list of all your symptoms and any medications you are taking. Write down any questions you have before your appointment.
What is a diabetic specialist called?
A diabetes specialist is called an endocrinologist. Endocrinologists specialize in the glands of the endocrine (hormone) system. The pancreas is the gland involved in diabetes. The pancreas produces insulin, and problems with insulin are what managing your diabetes is about.
What is the role of endocrinologist in diabetes?
Endocrinologists often work as a team with other diabetes specialists —nurse practitioners, dieticians, pharmacists, educators, and exercise physiologists—who help address every aspect of diabetes, which can be a very complicated problem to manage.
What to do if you can't find the right information?
If you can’t find the right information to help you manage your diabetes, you might want to see a diabetes care team to receive diabetes education. 5) You are having complications or difficulty managing your diabetes. You should definitely see a specialist if you have developed complications. Diabetes typically causes problems with ...
Why do you see an endocrinologist?
Here are 10 reasons why you might want to see an endocrinologist or diabetes care team: 1) Your doctor recommends you have an evaluation with a specialist. After you have been diagnosed with diabetes, your doctor may recommend you see a specialist to confirm the diagnosis and make sure you know your options for managing the disease.
What to do if your doctor hasn't treated you?
3) You are having problems communicating with your doctor. If you feel your doctor is not listening to you or understanding your symptoms, you could see a specialist who will focus primarily on your diabetes.
Can diabetes cause sores on feet?
Diabetes typically causes problems with the eyes, kidney, and nerves. In addition, it can cause deformity and open sores on the feet. Diabetes complications only get worse with time, and can cause you to miss out on quality of life. In addition, you should see a specialist if you are having frequent low blood sugars (hypoglycemia) ...
Do people with type 2 diabetes need a specialist?
For example, people with uncomplicated type 2 diabetes may never need to see a specialist because they can easily manage it with their primary care doctor’s help. Other people, however, might choose to see a specialist.
How does diabetes medicine work?
Each class of medicine works in different ways to lower blood sugar. A drug may work by: Stimulating the pancreas to produce and release more insulin. Inhibiting the production and release of glucose from the liver.
Can you take a single medication for type 2 diabetes?
However, you may need medications to achieve target blood sugar (glucose) levels. Sometimes a single medication is effective. In other cases, a combination of medications works better. The list of medications for type 2 diabetes is long and potentially confusing.
Is diabetes a single treatment?
No single diabetes treatment is best for everyone, and what works for one person may not work for another. Your doctor can determine how a specific medication or multiple medications may fit into your overall diabetes treatment plan and help you understand the advantages and disadvantages of specific diabetes drugs. Oct. 24, 2020.
How to lower blood sugar levels?
Exercise can lower your blood sugar levels. That’s a good thing, but you need to factor it into your treatment plan. Talk to your doctor about how much you move each day. You may need to change the dosage of some diabetes drugs if you're more active in your daily life or at work.
Does insulin help with diabetes?
When you and your doctor are thinking about the best way to control your blood sugar, you've got a lot of options to choose from. Insulin and other medicines, including shots and pills, can help keep your levels in a healthy range .
Can you take insulin if you have diabetes for 10 years?
If you’ve had the condition for more than 10 years, some diabetes pills may not help you. But if you’ve just been diagnosed, your doctor might not make insulin the first treatment you try. Also, your treatment plan may change over time, because some medications get less effective the longer you take them.
What is the responsibility of a diabetic?
This includes monitoring blood glucose levels, dietary management, maintaining physical activity, keeping weight and stress under control, monitoring oral medications and, if required, insulin use via injections or pump.
What is the goal of diabetes management?
Treatments. The goal of diabetes management is to keep blood glucose levels as close to normal as safely possible. Since diabetes may greatly increase risk for heart disease and peripheral artery disease, measures to control blood pressure and cholesterol levels are an essential part of diabetes treatment as well.
How do oral diabetes medications work?
These include improve the effectiveness of the body's natural insulin, reduce blood sugar production, increase insulin production and inhibit blood sugar absorption. Oral diabetes medications are sometimes taken in combination with insulin.
How to reduce blood sugar levels at UCSF?
Dietary Management and Physical Activity. Modifying eating habits and increasing physical activity are typically the first steps toward reducing blood sugar levels. At UCSF Medical Center, all patients work with their doctor and certified dietician to develop a dietary plan.
What is the purpose of the World Diabetes Day?
provides scientific guidelines for the prevention of major noncommunicable diseases including diabetes; develops norms and standards for diabetes diagnosis and care; builds awareness on the global epidemic of diabetes, marking World Diabetes Day (14 November); and. conducts surveillance of diabetes and its risk factors.
What is the name of the disease that requires insulin?
Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes (previously known as insulin-dependent, juvenile or childhood-onset) is characterized by deficient insulin production and requires daily administration of insulin. Neither the cause of Type 1 diabetes nor the means to prevent it are known.
What is the term for a disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin?
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. Hyperglycaemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body's systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.
What is the effect of diabetes on the body?
Hyperglycaemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body's systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels. In 2014, 8.5% of adults aged 18 years and older had diabetes. In 2019, diabetes was the direct cause of 1.5 million deaths.
How many deaths from diabetes in 2019?
Between 2000 and 2016, there was a 5% increase in premature mortality from diabetes. In 2019, an estimated 1.5 million deaths were directly caused by diabetes. Another 2.2 million deaths were attributable to high blood glucose in 2012.
What is type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent, or adult-onset) results from the body’s ineffective use of insulin. The majority of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. This type of diabetes is largely the result of excess body weight and physical inactivity.
How to prevent type 2 diabetes?
A healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight and avoiding tobacco use are ways to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes can be treated and its consequences avoided or delayed with diet, physical activity, medication and regular screening and treatment for complications.
Diagnosis
Treatment
Clinical Trials
Lifestyle and Home Remedies
Alternative Medicine
Coping and Support
Preparing For Your Appointment
- You're likely to start by seeing your primary care doctor if you're having diabetes symptoms. If your child is having diabetes symptoms, you might see your child's pediatrician. If blood sugar levels are extremely high, you'll likely be sent to the emergency room. If blood sugar levels aren't high enough to put you or your child immediately at risk...