Tanpola Articles Directory

Diabetes has become and epidemic that affects millions of people worldwide. What was once a disease more common in western societies is now becoming prevalent in the rest of the world. Controlling blood sugars can be difficult and at times, overwhelming. Offered here you will find 5 tips to help you manage your diabetes and keep you blood glucose levels under control.

1. Eat a low carbohydrate, low glycemic diet. The idea is to eat a diet that will keep your blood sugars from spiking. When you eat a diet rich in sugars or simple carbohydrates, your sugars quickly climb. If you are not able to produce adequate insulin, or if your cells are becoming insulin resistant, then your blood sugars are going to rise to an unsafe level, you will likely gain weight, and you will put a stress on your cardiovascular system.

Eating a diet low in sugar and rich in fiber will help to keep your sugars stable. You will likely find that you will require less insulin if you have to take it at all. High fiber diets also support healthy weight levels and keep you from snacking as they make you feel full throughout the day.

2. A proper amount of exercise is critical to controlling blood glucose levels. This includes aerobic, strength training, and flexibility exercises. Adequate exercise helps the body to burn up glucose. Aerobic exercise is also very important to keep a healthy heart and cardiovascular system which is damaged by prolonged periods of high blood sugar levels. Weight training is great for burning up sugars too. Weight training also keeps sugars burning for hours after finishing the work out. Flexibility exercises like yoga or even stretches help to burn sugar and to manage stress as stress is a factor in high blood sugars.

3. Diabetics need to sleep for 7 and a half to 9 hours of sleep a night. Too little or too much sleep causes stress, and stress is a cause of high blood sugar levels. One study that was done on diabetics showed that those who got less sleep or interrupted sleep tended to have worse blood sugar levels compared to their well rested diabetic peers. Hemoglobin A1c levels were also much worse among those who got too little or poor quality sleep. Another reason to get adequate levels of sleep is to regulate hormone levels. Many hormones are produced overnight while sleeping and remember, insulin is a hormone.

The Author, Mike Fletcher recommends visiting http://www.squidoo.com/typeIIdiabetes for more information on Diabetes management and your health.

Despite our best efforts as parents or caregivers, children will become sick. One such illness which is becoming increasingly prevalent is pediatric diabetes. However, keeping a diabetic child healthy is dependent on being informed about the disease, its symptoms, and treatments. Caring for the child with diabetes is the responsibility of all persons who, at some time or other, has to take care of that child. As such, parents need to ensure that all care givers are informed about their diabetic child’s dietary needs.

Most children tend to have type I diabetes, previously known as juvenile diabetes, although children are increasingly being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes as well. Type I diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not work and does not produce any insulin. Insulin is needed to help break down sugars (glucose) in our body to help it work efficiently. When this breakdown of sugars does not happen, as in the case of type I diabetes, the sugar stays in the blood stream.

Because insulin is important in breaking down sugars in the body to use for energy, insulin has to be taken to control the illness. Therefore type I diabetes is also called insulin-dependent diabetes. Exercise and diet are also important helping to control this type of diabetes. Caring for the child with diabetes means that you will need to recognize the signs of the illness, as well as any resulting reactions that can occur. The main signs of pediatric diabetes are:

Breath smelling like fruit
Constant hunger
Pulse beating faster than normal
Headaches
Being weak and dizzy
Difficulty concentrating
Vision becoming foggy
Skin tending to be cold and moist
Experiencing seizures

Next, you should be able to identify when the child is in crisis, suffering either a hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic episode, and you should know what to do help in either case. Hyperglycemia occurs when the sugar levels are too high. Rising sugar levels are generally a result of eating too much, not taking the correct amount of insulin, or not exercising enough. When a child is hyperglycemic, treatment by medical professionals is needed. A child suffering from high blood sugar will complain of the following:

Weakness
Extreme thirst
Needing to urinate frequently
Not seeing clearly
Not being hungry

With hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), the symptoms vary from child to child, but some of the typical signs include:

Clumsiness
Sudden mood changes
Sweating
Hunger
Seeming confused
Trembling
Headache
Tingling feeling around the mouth

The first course of action is to increase the child’s sugar intake by giving them something sweet to drink, such as regular soda, fruit juice or glucose tablets. Once the child is feeling better, you should give them something more solid to eat. If the child is too weak to swallow or is unconscious, administer the recommended dosage of glucagon and call for immediate medical assistance. Glucagon is a medication given by injection to rapidly increase the level of glucose in the blood. It is normally the first course of treatment in severe hypoglycemia.

Diet is a major part of keeping the diabetic child healthy. The caregiver has the responsibility to ensure that the child eats what is recommended. It is also important to talk with the child and let them know that they will get really sick if they eat too many sweets or other foods that can pose a risk. It is also important to let others, such as teachers, know that a diabetic child may need to snack to boost their sugar and energy levels. The child with diabetes must also have regular meals.

Exercise is important as well, and there is no reason why the diabetic child cannot participate in all regular physical activity. Exercise helps to control blood sugar levels. However, suffering from pediatric diabetes should not exert themselves before meal time. Also, they will need to have a snack, such as juice, crackers or a fruit, handy, as they will need to replace sugar lost during physical activity.

Most importantly, children should be taught how to test their blood sugar levels during the course of the day, once they are able to do soon their own. This is important so that they can take insulin or eat something as needed.

Caring for the diabetic child, while calling for more vigilance in terms of their eating habits can be stress free once you and others taking care of the child know what to do and follow the rules. Also, make sure that emergency numbers are close at hand and that the child learns how to recognize symptoms of potential trouble and take corrective actions.

Min Zhu, and author and mother, provides information on diabetic children. For more information, visit

http://mominneed.com/health/diabetes/

Welcome To Tanpola Articles Directory