Diabetes is a disease that affects hundreds of thousands of people each year: without the proper management, diabetes can keep people from leading healthy, productive lives. Diabetes disease management, however, is not only difficult but costly. People with some types of diabetes need frequent insulin shots, or have to take oral insulin, both of which can be expensive. As a result, discount diabetic supplies are in high demand.

What diabetic medical supplies are required, and why are they needed by diabetics? Because diabetics can also suffer from a wide variety of complications, they also need to undergo different treatment regimens that can help ease these complications. Such complications can include cardiovascular disease, renal or kidney failure, liver failure, hypertension, and general organ and tissue damage.

Why is Insulin So Important?

There are three principal types of diabetes, and all of them involve the inability of pancreatic cells to produce the metabolic hormone insulin. Insulin aids in the breakdown of complex sugars and carbohydrates into forms that the body can use for energy. If insulin is not present in large quantities, or if insulin is not present in functional form, sugar levels can increase substantially in the blood. This can cause widespread tissue and organ damage, and, in extreme cases, result in sugar shock and eventual coma.

Type I Diabetes

Type I diabetes was once called juvenile diabetes, as it was often found and diagnosed in children. Type I diabetes is essentially an autoimmune disease. People with Type I diabetes have overactive immune systems that destroy the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, so that they require constant doses of insulin.

Type II

Type II diabetes develops in adulthood, and is often associated with obesity, which scientists find is a large risk factor for this type of diabetes. In Type II diabetes, the body’s tissues and organs are resistant to insulin. This condition is similar to the third type of diabetes, which is called gestational or pregnancy-induced diabetes. Gestational diabetes arises because higher levels of pregnancy hormones can make organs more resistant to insulin; this diabetes type, however, generally disappears after delivery.

Insulin therefore has to be produced in large amounts in order to cater to the needs of rising numbers of people suffering from diabetes. This important hormone was once sourced from cadaver pancreases, which was a highly inefficient method that made insulin shots expensive. In the advent of recombinant DNA technology, however, microbial cells are used to produce large amounts of human insulin, which can then be harvested and purified from the microbial culture.

Today, insulin is available in oral or tablet form, which can be useful in dealing with all types of diabetes. However, insulin shots work best for Type II diabetics who are too far advanced in the disease and whose bodies do not have adequate resources to respond to tablets. Recently, insulin has also been approved in inhaled form, although this type of insulin is prescribed for people suffering from Type I diabetes.

What are Diabetic Supplies Used For?

In general, diabetic insulin supplies can be expensive: if not in oral form, people suffering from diabetes need syringes and specifically designed inhalers to deliver insulin. For people who are far advanced in the disease, dialysis machines can be in demand in order to clean out the kidneys or liver, and generally rid the body of toxins that its organs can no longer properly dispose of.

Many corporations and insurance companies can be contacted to provide information on diabetes supplies, as well as free diabetes supplies for patients who are in immediate need of therapy. For instance, Liberty diabetic supplies and Medicare are common examples of providers that work closely with doctors in ensuring proper medical care for diabetics, as well as efficient disease management.

Supplies For Diabetic Complications

There are also medical supplies that are used in therapy regimens that deal with complications of diabetes. For instance, diabetes can impede blood circulation and can damage the nerves of the feet. People with diabetes often need to undergo foot amputation in order to get rid of gangrenous tissue or foot ulcers. To prevent this from occurring, physicians will often prescribe physical therapy, which can require special machines to carry out. Physical therapy can keep nerves active, and muscles toned.

If you are suffering from any form of diabetes, you might be recommended some forms of therapy that will require you to purchase discount diabetic supplies. Always consult with your doctors and insurance company about them, as well as low-cost or free alternatives that are reliable and matched to your needs. With good maintenance, you can keep your diabetes in check, and you can still be healthy.



By: Flor Serquina

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Initially diabetes management and control may involve dietary changes alone. Diet is a vital component in your overall diabetes control program and to keep blood sugar levels under control, a diabetic diet strikes a balance among the carbohydrates, fats, and protein you eat, when you control your body functions through exercise and by using a diabetic diet, your pain and agony seems to diminish.

A diabetic diet must be a well-balanced meal plan tailored to your individual needs, tastes, activity level and life style, and its goal is to provide all the calories and nutrients the diabetic needs while keeping blood sugars as close to normal as possible. Diabetes is not a life sentence to a rigid and restrictive menu plan.

The diabetic diet basically involves limiting your carbohydrate intake in order to control your glucose levels. The recommended carbohydrate content of diabetic diet is 60%, fat content 30-35%. Another important characteristic of a diabetic diet is to eat regularly, at the same times each day, and to eat a consistent amount of calories each day; the diabetic diet is not only for diabetics: it is an excellent, balanced alternative for anyone.

Since the diabetic diet is one which is low in saturated fat and cholesterol, look for cookbooks that emphasize low-fat cooking, the diabetic diet is a bit stricter and calls for avoiding grains and fruit but you have about 30g of carbs daily. The ideal diabetic diet is also good for cholesterol with its emphasis on low fat, high complex carbohydrate and high fiber.

The most important aspect of the diabetic diet is meal planning, your meal plan should be adjusted to take into account carbs sugars and fat in the diabetic food, the general principle is to control body fat means less sensitivity to Insulin, which keeps the blood sugar level in check.

Carbohydrate Counting offers suggestions and tips about how to eat carbohydrates while maintaining your insulin needs and diabetes control, by following a consistent diet control, a diabetic patient ought to be able to maintain good health in general, but you should remember that an effective control of diabetes requires an integrated approach which also includes exercise, weight control and a good diabetic diet.

When you have diabetes, your medications are your best friends, as they will help you keep your condition under control, remember that one of the main goals for a diabetic diet is to lower your weight and maintain it, to put it in simplified words, diabetic diet is a balanced healthy diet plan which is vital for Diabetes treatment.

The diabetic diet is aimed at helping to control blood sugar levels, the less fluctuation, especially rapid release of glucose into the blood, the better, an adherence to a diabetic diet is an important aspect of controlling elevated blood sugar in patients with diabetes mellitus.



By: Arturo

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Diabetes can come as devastating news to anyone. However, there is now hope from Kathy Smith’s solution to manage and prevent Type-2 Diabetes through her revolutionary formula Project: YOU! Type 2. This can be used by anyone who has been diagnosed by type 2 diabetes or who is in a pre-diabetes state. This lifestyle program is a comprehensive guide that combines powerful workout techniques and fitness program, provides a great guide for the foods to eat and foods to avoid while giving you lots of support tools that will help you in your journey. This entire program has been designed with a lot of research and in conjunction and regular guidance from doctors and diabetes educators. The program is aimed to help manage and reduce the risk of diabetes and related complications that help you lead a healthy life and regain control over your body. 

The workout regime has been specially designed and gives you guides to get started, as Kathy Smith illustrates how each workout is done. Help is also provided in the form of DVDs and CDs to help you complement your exercise schedule. These guides are one of the best programs for beginners and have been very well illustrated and explained for the people to watch and emulate, so that they get every more right, even as beginners. Just to make sure you don’t go wrong anywhere, this program contains a comprehensive 12 week calendar that contains all the information about which workouts are to be done on which days, a checklist to keep track of your progress and also a guide on when to rest. The package thus comprehensively covers all the aspects of healthy workout that can be used for burning excess fat in your body while simultaneously building strength and flexibility of your muscles. 

To supplement your efforts working out, you also need a healthy diet to back it up, so that you have the best results possible. Great meal guides that have been reviewed by the American Diabetes Association are provided that help you in all your dietary needs. Keeping the basics in mind, a cookbook that has been specially designed to keep your health in mind while giving you the best taste possible has been designed and is presented to you to make full use of. It also contains lots of guides that help you manage your carbohydrate intake, how to manage when you eat out and also some fun recopies for entertaining. Added to color coded cards to create exciting meals that makes it almost equivalent to play with innovating to eat better, the deal only gets better and better. 

Finally, there is a great support system with lots of tools to help you mark your progress and keep you motivated throughout the period. A food and fitness journal contains journaling components for your eating as well as workout progress and a 90 day journal helps you to note your progress by tracking your exercise, diet, weight and glucose values. There is also a Beachbody Coach and online support that you can make use of from a whole community of online coaches that want you to succeed. Kathy Smith’s program for diabetes control is thus a comprehensive system that can work wonders when followed correctly.



By: Brian Murray

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Good glycemic foods tend to absorb slowly into the system, allowing the body to break down the refined sugars and starches so that the body can digest them properly. People with Type I and Type II diabetes have a difficult time digesting carbohydrates, particularly those that are high on the glycemic index, and this lack of proper digestion makes it difficult for the diabetic to expel glucose from their blood,. While most diabetics are wise to avoid most, if not all carbohydrates, as these are what are the most difficult to digest and break down, certain carbohydrates are better than others for diabetics to consume.

Good glycemic foods tend to have a low score on the Glycemic Index that was developed in 1981 at the University of Toronto. Good glycemic foods are still carbohydrates, but make it easier for the diabetic to digest and are much healthier and preferable than those glycemic foods with high ratings on the Glycemic Index. Substitutions are available for foods that rate high on the Glycemic Index and are widely available in supermarkets and other food stores.

Some of the foods that rate low on the Glycemic Index include most fruits and vegetables, Although fruits and vegetables contain sugar, the sugars contained in these good glycemic foods digest into the system at a lower rate and also provide valuable nutrients to the diabetic, or just about everyone. The only vegetable that a diabetic should avoid is a potato, as it has a high glycemic index. Other fruits and vegetables, however, are preferable than white rice, white bread, corn flakes and anything made with white refined sugar or flour.

Other good glycemic foods include wholegrain breads and pastas. If you or a loved one has Type I or Type II diabetes, you should switch to whole grain breads and pastas made from wheat flour. This can be tremendously helpful to anyone who wants to manage their glycemia as well as anyone who wants to follow such low carb diets. Basmati rice is also considered one of the good glycemic foods.

List of Low GI foods:

There are foods on the list that may be “low glycemic” but at the same time be a poor choice because of other criteria such as sodium content, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and other issues.

The GI value of potato chips or french fries is lower than baked potatoes. Large amounts of fat in foods tends to slow the rate of stomach emptying and therefore the rate at which foods are digested. Yet the saturated fat in these foods will contribute to a much increased risk of heart disease. It is important to look at the type of fat in foods rather than avoid it completely. Good fats are found in foods such as avocadoes, nuts and legumes while saturated fats are found in dairy products, cakes and biscuits. We’d all be better off if we left the cakes and biscuits for special occasions.

Artichoke

Asparagus

Avocado

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Celery

Cucumber

Eggplant

Green beans

Lettuce, all varieties

Low-fat yogurt, artificially sweetened

Peanuts

Peppers, all varieties

Snow peas

Spinach

Young summer squash

Zucchini

Tomatoes

Cherries

Peas, dried

Plum

Grapefruit

Pearled barley

Peach

Canned peaches, natural juice

Dried apricots

Soy milk

Baby lima beans, frozen

Fat-free milk

Fettuccine

Chocolate Candies, Peanut

Low-fat yogurt, sugar sweetened

Apple

Pear

Whole wheat spaghetti

Tomato soup

Carrots, cooked

Mars Snickers Bar

Apple juice

Spaghetti

All-Bran

Canned chickpeas

Custard

Grapes

Orange

Canned lentil soup

It should be noted that the list is not exhaustive in the sense the GI value depends on a lot of factors other than the type of food. For example the method of preparation, the storage of food materials, the manner of eating etc. Also the list takes only the GI parameter into consideration and it can happen that some of the low GI foods mentioned may not be beneficial for health owing to the excess amount of constituents like fats etc.

Benefits of the Glycemic Index?

* Low GI carbs reduce the risk of heart disease

* Low GI carbs reduce blood cholesterol levels

* Low GI carbs can help you manage the symptoms of PCOS

* Low GI carbs reduce hunger and keep you fuller for longer

* Low GI carbs prolong physical endurance

* High GI carbs help re-fuel carbohydrate stores after exercise.

* Moderate reductions in GL make losing weight easier, particularly for women.

* A high carb diet based around low GI foods was overall the most effective for heart health – good news for those who love their carbs.

* Low GI wholegrain foods (such as traditional porridge oats) provided heart health benefits over and above those of high GI wholegrains (such as wholewheat flakes).

How to Switch to a Low GI Diet

The basic technique for eating the low GI way is simply a “this for that” approach – ie, swapping high GI carbs for low GI carbs. You don’t need to count numbers or do any sort of mental arithmetic to make sure you are eating a healthy, low GI diet.

* Use breakfast cereals based on oats, barley and bran

* Use breads with wholegrains, stone-ground flour, sour dough

* Reduce the amount of potatoes you eat

* Enjoy all other types of fruit and vegetables

* Use Basmati or Doongara rice

* Enjoy pasta, noodles, quinoa

* Eat plenty of salad vegetables with a vinaigrette dressing



By: IC

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Although it is most often referred to by the name diabetes, diabetes mellitus is a treatable, chronic metabolic disorder, affecting the body’s ability to metabolize carbohydrates. Whether it is due to the body’s inability to produce insulin to disperse the sugar from the blood stream or the inability of the produced insulin to do so is what determines which stage of diabetes mellitus from which a person suffers.

Type I diabetes mellitus is when the body cannot produce insulin due to the destruction of the cells that produce insulin while Type 2 is when the body’s tissues offer a resistance to the insulin being produced. A third type, gestational diabetes, typically has its onset during pregnancy. Although considered Type I, 2 and 3 diabetes mellitus, it is not really three separate diseases, but different stages of pancreatic failure.

Failure to properly treat diabetes mellitus can lead to other major health issues, including damage to small blood vessels. Consistently high levels of glucose in the blood will damage the smaller vessels, especially in the retina. The common occurrence of vision loss among those with diabetes mellitus makes it one of the most common causes of blindness among non-elderly in the country.

Complications Compounded If Left Untreated

There are serious life-threatening complications involved with diabetes mellitus, especially if left untreated, or even under treated, as cardiovascular problems such as coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease can develop. The disease can also cause damage to the kidneys, leading to renal failure and stroke.

Strokes suffered by those with diabetes mellitus are typically the ischemic type, during which brain cells die due to being oxygen starved, even for a short period of time. Depending on their location in the brain and primary function, there may be no noticeable impairment caused by ischemic stroke. An ischemic chain involves one minor stroke following another, not always in linear order, and some may be in circular motions. This can be diagnoses through the use of MRI examination.

While the complications involved with diabetes mellitus have rendered the illness incurable at this point, it is treatable and many people live a normal lifestyle by taking the necessary precautions so as not to exacerbate their symptoms. Knowing that an increase in blood sugar can lead to a hypoglycemic episode and spark additional health problems, people with diabetes mellitus usually stick with their diet and new lifestyle.



By: Ann Marier

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There are three main types of diabetes. The third type, Gestational Diabetes, is the type that affects expecting women. It is estimated that 4% of all pregnant women have this type of diabetes and a third of them are not even aware that they have it.

As most of symptoms of diabetes do not manifest in pregnant women so regular, check-ups should be done during the 5th and 6th month of pregnancy. Nevertheless, there are seven known symptoms of diabetes that still relevant to pregnant women.

One of the symptoms of diabetes in pregnant women is tiredness and fatigue. This may just be one of the pregnancy effects, but if it happens along with other symptoms of diabetes such as increased thirst and having a blurred vision, it could mean more.

Other symptoms of diabetes are the need to urinate more often than usual, vomiting and nausea. Again, these are still among the possible effects of pregnancy but also pose a sign for diabetes.

Pregnant women could also get an appetite boost during their pregnancy and they could have infections in their skin, bladder and ******.

The increase in appetite is yet one more warning signal of pregnancy but the recurrent infections is more commonly identified with the symptoms of diabetes.

Usually, Gestational Diabetes disappears after delivery. When the symptoms of diabetes continues to appear even after giving birth, there may be some problem so there might still be a need for follow-up consultations with the doctor.

During your visits to your doctor, you should monitor your blood pressure, weight and health condition is frequently.

Read more about the Seven Symptoms of Diabetes during Pregnancy.

Discuss your regular exercise routine with your doctor if you are already active in work out. Three years ago, during my pregnancy, I came to know that I had gestational diabetes. Anyway, there are few subtle symptoms, which I did not particularly notice that help to diagnose gestational diabetes in its early stage.

Remembering my efforts of trying to understand and get as many details as possible to find answers for my doubts directed me into writing and sharing all I know about gestational diabetes.



By: Jane Reynolds

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Diabetes is one of the most common health problems nowadays. With the lack of time and consideration towards eating habits, the victims of diabetes are increasing day by day. Upon diagnosis of diabetes, doctors probably used to mention that proper and extra attention should be taken care towards nutrition and diet.

To control diabetes, best remedy is to control eating habits. Whether you have diabetes or not, diet should always be healthy and diabetes resistive. If you are diagnosed with diabetes, managing the diet becomes essential like anything. Nutrition experts say that if you are battling diabetes, then eating right can save your life. It is much wiser to adopt a habit to upgrade ourselves about diabetic diet, health and nutrition tips, how to control diabetes and how to check diabetes.

How should I plan my Diabetic Diet?

As everyone is not the health expert and cannot judge what to eat and how much to eat, so here they can found certain tips about how can they plan their diabetic diet.

Eat more starches – include bread (wheat), cereal and starchy vegetables in your daily diet. Aim for six servings a day or more. For example, have cold cereal with nonfat milk or a bagel with a teaspoon of jelly for breakfast. Another starch-adding strategy is to add cooked black beans, corn or garbanzo beans to salads or casseroles.

Eat five fruits and vegetables every dayHave a piece of fruit or two as a snack, or add vegetables to chili, stir-fried dishes or stews. You can also pack raw vegetables for lunch or snacks.

Move to sugar free diet – Avoid intake of excessive sugar in the diet.

Eat sugars and sweets in moderation include your favorite sweets in your diet once or twice a week at most. Split a dessert to satisfy your sweet tooth while reducing the sugar, fat and calories.

Beware of food with high calorie – Avoid intake of junk food containing high calories and resulting in over weight.

What I can do to target my blood glucose level on target?

One could supplement the effort of diet control for controlling diabetes through proper eating habits with the following extra beneficial health tips:

Manage your diet

Exercise regularly

Quit smoking and alcohol

Check blood glucose level regularly

Follow your Doctor’s advice

How can Calorie Counter help in controlling Diet?

When it comes to control diabetes, along with managing eating habits, similarly important is to test the calorie intake to control the weight and causes of diabetes complications.

To check the daily intake of calorie, now there is no need to rush to the Doctor or health expert again and again and even it causes inconvenience. As science has developed so far, one can find many instruments or devices to check calorie intake at home. These devices can be easily located by the name of Calorie Counter.

A calorie counter is a device by which one can count daily calorie intake to manage the weight. It helps in calculating daily caloric requirement that needed to be met with the help of calorie chart and diet plan advised by the dietician.



By: Subhash Kandpal

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common signs of diabetes you must know/ Diabetes, the nervous system and the skin – what you must know

In determining the common signs of diabetes, if the blood sugar level of the human body exceeds 200 milligram percent, glucose starts to appear in the sweat. Common signs of  diabetes mellitus that this results into are skin infections especially boils and infections of the *****.

Many elderly people that are above 65 years of age lose one or both ankle jerks and also vibration sense over the malleoli. There may also be signs of early diabetes that is associated with  peripheral neuritis. This involves the inflammation of a nerve, accompanied by pain, loss of reflexes, and muscle shrinkage. These are common signs of diabetes.

More often than not, neuropathy occurs. This is a disease of the nervous system that is associated with itching and pain, loss of sensation and in severe cases, muscle weakness and wasting. When this occurs, a peripheral nerve is suddenly affected which leads to muscle weakness.

Damage to the autonomic nervous system that cause impotence in males and loss of ****** in females can be as a result of diabetes. This is among the severe common signs of diabetes and associated with it are nocturnal diarrhoea and loss of sweating over the lower limbs.

Other common signs of diabetes which can be brought on by unusually high level of cholesterol in the blood and excessive fats in blood are formation of lipid-filled skin lesion in the skin, appearance of small hard yellowish nodules up to a few millimetres in diameter.

Changes in the skin of someone suffering from diabetes can be as a result of Insulin injections. This can lead to either enlargement by cell growth or wasting away.



By: Alvan

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The truth on menopause and weight gain

One of the major causes of weight gain in women is the changes in their hormone levels and sedentarism. Studies show that about 90 percent of menopausal women experience weight gain between the ages 35 to 55. This is not surprising because weight gain comes with the territory of aging and menopausal.

Medical experts say that menopause occurs when a woman’s ovaries has stopped producing estrogen which is responsible for ovulation and menstruation. Today, more and more women who are experiencing menopause go through weight gain due to hormonal changes brought about by aging. Experts explain that with aging, the muscles in the body start to decrease in bulk along with the slowing of metabolism. This slowing down of metabolism along with decrease in bulk of the body’s muscles contributes to weight gain. Aside from weight gain, menopause also leads to loss of sexual appetite or loss of libido, vaginal atrophy, and growth or loss of hair in the head and face. With all these demoralizing truths, it is common that women who are experiencing menopause lose self-confidence and esteem. But, it shouldn’t stay that way. With the help of science and modern researches, weight gain during menopausal years can be solved.

THE WEIGHT GAIN

Weight gain during menopause is as common as aging. Usually, women sometimes gain about 10 to15 pounds starting from their abdomen, to the hips, thighs, and rear. Studies show that weight gain on women usually starts during their pre-menopausal years and will continue to pile up as they grow older. For those who have experienced early menopausal due to major operation or surgery, they are expected to gain weight faster compared to those who haven’t.

Because of the changes in their weight or size, many women are starting to dread the thought of menopausal. It is recommended to exerciseregularly and eat to one’s appetite. Experts say that women should be more aware when they are entering the stage of menopausal so they can prepare for it. Physicians say that women should expect that as they enter the early stages of menopause, they would have difficulty maintaining their weight because of the fluctuation in their hormones. Because of these natural hormonal changesthat include estrogen, testosterone, and androgen levelsa man’s or woman’s appetite, metabolism, and fat storage are greatly affected.

UNVEILING THE REASONS BEHIND WEIGHT GAIN DURING MENOPAUSE

Before sulking into a pit of depression, a woman must know the reasons behind it so she can make the necessary adjustments.

1.Hormone deficiency and lack of female hormones that slows down metabolism. Lack of estrogen leads to excessive weight gain because it alters certain functions of the body and greatly influences fat distribution in the body. You must understand estrogen and fat distribution very well.

2.Slow metabolism due to aging. As people grow older, their metabolism starts to slow down. One effective way of reducing energy intake, women who are experiencing menopause are recommended to have a balanced diet composed of whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

3.Lack of exercise or physical activity. As women enter their menopausal stage, they become more sedentary in almost everything that they do. This inactive lifestyle leads them to weight gain because they are not getting enough physical exercise they should get. If muscle pains are giving a woman a hard time to do such simple and regular exercises, she can try taking in vitamin and mineral supplement to boost her energy levels that contain calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, chromium and selenium.

4.The use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can also be a big factor in gaining weight. Although HRT is known to help give back lost female hormones, this treatment can also add up on the weight she already has because it works. HRT has also been subject to serious warnings in their use recently.

5.Weight gain can also be traced in increased food intake due to emotional problems like depression. Emotional eating or overeating due to frustration over weight gain is also a big factor that contributes to excessive weight gain. Talking to friends and satying active are powerful ways to fight back.



By: Nathalie Fiset

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Diabetes mellitus is a disease that causes higher than normal blood sugars in its sufferers. It is of two types: (1) Type I diabetes, which normally affects young people. It occurs when the body doesn’t make enough insulin to rid the body of excess sugar. The only way to treat that disease is to provide insulin to make up for the lost insulin from the pancreas. (2) Type II diabetes generally affects older people and is a condition where the body makes insulin but the cells of the body don’t respond to the insulin in the body.

The disease of diabetes mellitus affects 20.8 million people in the US or 7% of the total population. Nearly 6 million of them do not know they have the disease. Both genetics and environment and heredity play a role in who gets diabetes and who doesn’t. Poor dietary habits and obesity play a large role in the development of type II diabetes.

There are many people who don’t have diabetes mellitus but who are suffering from prediabetes, also sometimes called insulin resistance. Their body doesn’t respond well to the insulin made by the pancreas but the situation isn’t bad enough to raise the blood sugar levels yet. The body has higher than normal amounts of insulin in the system but it is enough to compensate for the blood sugar. Eventually, however, many prediabetics go on to develop diabetes in a few years.

There are several tests for diabetes mellitus. The first is a fasting blood sugar. This is normally less than 100 mg per deciliter. In prediabetes, the number is often between 100 and 120 mg per deciliter. In diabetics, the number is often above 120 milligrams per deciliter and is often much higher than that.

The other test for diabetes mellitus is called the “three hour glucose tolerance test” or “3 hr GTT”. This involves getting a fasting blood sugar and then giving the individual a small bottle of highly sugared liquid to drink. Then the blood sugar is tested at one hour, two hours and three hours after drinking the sugared liquid. If any number is above 200, then diabetes is diagnosed.

Another test for diabetes mellitus is to check the glycosylated hemoglobin level. This is a measure of the amount of “sugar coated” blood cells in the body. The normal level is 6.0 and numbers above that is felt to be diabetes.

The treatment for diabetes mellitus is different depending on the type of diabetes the person has. Type I diabetes is almost always treated by insulin shots. This is because there is no insulin being put out by the pancreas and so insulin must be replaced. Type II diabetes is often treated with diet and medications. The medications are those that make the cells of the body respond better to the insulin being provided by the pancreas. There are also medications that act to lower the blood sugar directly.

Those with diabetes mellitus must check their blood sugars frequently with a glucometer or blood glucose meter. This may need to be done as often as six or more times per day for type I diabetes and the values reached determine the amount of insulin the person needs per dose. Insulin shots are given before each meal and sometimes at bedtime. Type II diabetics don’t often need to check their blood sugars that often. Sometimes it is just checked in the morning and then after the evening meal.



By: Michael Webb

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