Introduction To Diabetes
Taking care of diabetes does make a difference. Research has shown that managing blood glucose (sugar), blood pressure, and cholesterol protects your future health. Making good choices, learning all you can, and working closely with your health care team will help you prevent or delay complications from diabetes.
This page will help you learn what you need to know to take care of your diabetes. We hope it gets you started on your journey to living well with diabetes.
Diabetes is a condition in which your body can’t use food as it should. It is a serious, lifelong condition. Diabetes is not like a cold or the flu. You didn’t catch it from anybody. There is no cure yet, but it can be managed. You can lead a long, healthy life with diabetes.
Everyone’s blood has some glucose (sugar) in it because your body needs glucose for energy. Normally, your body breaks food down into glucose and sends it into your bloodstream.
Insulin, a hormone made by your pancreas, helps get the glucose from the blood into the cells to be used for energy. In people with diabetes, the pancreas doesn’t make any or enough insulin, the insulin doesn’t work very well, or both. Without insulin, your blood glucose rises.
What Are The Warning Signs of Diabetes
Some of the warning signs of diabetes include:
- Excessive urination
- Thirst or dry mouth
- Insufficient sleep because of the need to urinate at night
- Lack of energy
- Blurry vision
In additon, another warning sign of Type 1 Diabetes is weight loss
Complications of Diabetes
Diabetes is a dangerous disease. It’s a silent killer, as the symptoms are not visible for many years. However, an awareness of the symptoms can help a long way in giving a new life to the patient.
Symptoms of Diabetes
Diabetes comes packed with serious complications such as cataract, blindness, nephropathy, and thrombosis. The common symptoms are fatigue, nausea, and palpitations. The most serious complication is hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, which can lead a person to coma.
In the long run, this gruesome disease can cause complications like blindness, infarction, amputation, and renal diseases. Diabetics should be more particular about their feet, as they become fragile and vulnerable to complications. The wounds have a risk of developing abscesses and even gangrene. This leads to imputing the infected limb.
In addition to this, diabetics are much sensitive to certain oral as well as gynecological infections, as the bacteria responsible for these infections are attracted towards sugar. Chronic hyperglycemia attacks the tiny blood capillaries of the eyes as well as the kidney. And if the patient is lax in treatment, it may affect the nerves of the body. Over time, it may lead to blindness and renal failure.
Diabetes also leads to the blockage of blood vessels. Hence, the heart and lungs of the patient do not get sufficient supply of blood. It may lead to death. The condition of hypoglycemia can also lead a person to coma. It happens when the patient is not regular in giving insulin shots to the body.
How To Recognize Whether Someone Is Hyperglycemic Or Hypoglycemic?
It is difficult to say without conducting tests. However, one good way of recognizing is by smelling their breath. A hyperglycemic’s breath smells very sweet. This is because of the burning of ketones as fuel in the body.
What Is Acidic Ketosis?
Acidic ketosis is a condition when the body is unable to utilize glucose as fuel. The sugar cannot enter the cells of the body due to the absence of insulin. The cells get attacked and leads to their considerable degradation into ketones. For the body, these ketones are nothing but toxic waste. If this condition is not checked in time, it may lead to coma and death.
Treatment Is The Only Key
Before insulin was discovered, type 1 diabetes treatment was non-existent and the disease was fatal. Today, the scenario is different. There are type 1 diabetics treatments available and you have a chance to lead normal lives provided they follow the treatment seriously and are careful with their lifestyle.
America has many cases of people going blind or suffering from renal complications due to lack of proper treatment of diabetes. This should not happen. Medical science has advanced so much that it can give the diabetics a normal healthy life to live. The only condition is that the patients should be determined to fight diabetes and not just resign to their fate. Thus, the key to controlling diabetes is proper treatment on time.
How can diabetes affect me?
High levels of blood glucose can damage small blood vessels throughout the body, such as in the eyes, the kidneys and in nerves in your feet. High blood glucose may also harm large blood vessels, leading to heart disease or stroke.
Most people with diabetes have a “cluster” of other health problems in addition to diabetes. These other problems include high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, and overweight or obesity. Because each of the problems can lead to long-term health problems such as heart disease or stroke, together they can add up to big trouble. But the good news is that keeping blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol on target can help delay or prevent problems.
The Three Major Types of Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a disease in which the body does not make insulin. It is usually diagnosed in children and young adults and lasts for their whole lives. People with type 1 diabetes take insulin daily. They also keep their blood glucose in a target range by balancing insulin with a meal plan and exercise.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease. People with type 2 diabetes manage their diabetes by using a meal plan, being active and taking diabetes medicines, if needed. Type 2 diabetes is most often diagnosed in adults, but is increasingly being seen in children and adolescents.
Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that is first diagnosed in pregnancy. This type typically is diagnosed with a blood test during the 24th to 28th week of pregnancy and disappears after delivery.
It is controlled with meal planning, exercise and, in some cases, insulin. Women who develop gestational diabetes are at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life.
How is diabetes managed?
You will work with your health care team to make a plan that helps you reach your goals. Together, you’ll keep track of the ABCs of diabetes:
A is for A1C (pronounced A-one-C): Your A1C check tells you your average blood glucose for the past 2 to 3 months. It’s the blood check “with a memory.”
B is for blood pressure: Your blood pressure numbers tell you the force of blood inside your blood vessels. When your blood pressure is high, your heart has to work harder.
C is for cholesterol: Your cholesterol numbers tell you about the amount of fat in your blood. Some kinds, like HDL cholesterol, help protect your heart. Others, like LDL cholesterol, can clog your blood vessels and lead to heart disease. Triglycerides are another kind of blood fat that raises your risk for a heart attack or stroke.
If you are not reaching your goals, your health care team will help you change your plan as needed to stay on target.
Most of the day-to-day care of diabetes is up to you. Your part in taking care of your diabetes will include:
· Choosing what, how much, and when to eat
· Including physical activity in your daily routine
· Taking medications (if needed) to help you reach your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol targets
· Keeping track of your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol numbers
· Learning all you can about diabetes: read, ask lots of questions, and attend diabetes education programs.
Check At Every Doctor’s Visit
Blood Pressure
Your blood pressure is two numbers, such as 130/80 (one-thirty over eighty). The first number is the pressure as the heart beats and pushes blood into the blood vessels. The second number is the pressure when the heart rests between beats and the vessels relax.
High blood pressure can lead to heart attack, stroke, eye problems, and kidney disease. The ADA recommends a target blood pressure of below 130/80 for most people with diabetes. If your blood pressure is not on target, meal planning, physical activity, and medications can help. Work with your health care team to plan your strategy.
Weight
Preventing weight gain or losing weight may be part of your diabetes care plan. If you need to lose weight, a 10- to 15-pound loss can help you reach your blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol goals. Work with your health care team to plan your strategy.
Smoking
If you smoke, ask your health care provider for a plan to quit
Check Every 3-6 months
A1C
At least twice a year, your health care provider should order an A1C check. The results will give you your average blood glucose for the past 2 to 3 months and let you know how well your treatment plan is working. The American Diabetes Association recommends an A1C below 7 for most people with diabetes. If your A1C is not on target, meal planning, physical activity, and medications can help. Work with your health care team to plan your strategy.
Check At Least Once A Year
Cholesterol
The ADA recommends the following cholesterol goals for most people with diabetes:
LDL Cholesterol Below 100
HDL Cholesterol Above 40 (men)
Above 50 (women)
Triglycerides Below 150
If your cholesterol levels are not on target, meal planning, physical activity, and medications can help. Work with your health care team to plan your strategy.
Microalbumin
The microalbumin test is a check for small amounts of protein in the urine. The results will tell you how well your kidneys function
Foot Exam
Your health care provider can check your feet for signs of nerve damage or other problems. Foot problems can be avoided if detected and treated early. One of the most important foot tests is to see whether you can feel the vibration of a tuning fork or the light touch of a thin wire called a monofilament. Your health care provider should also check the blood circulation in your feet.
Eye Exam
Your health care provider can refer you to an eye doctor to check the blood vessels in your eyes for early warning signs of damage. The eye doctor must put drops in your eyes that dilate your pupils in order to do a thorough exam. Treatment can help slow eye disease if it’s found early.
Flu Shot and Pneumonia Vaccine
Every year, ask for a flu shot to keep from getting sick. You should get the pneumonia vaccine at least once. When you turn 65, you should get another pneumonia vaccine, unless you have had one within the past 5 years.
Diabetes Education and Nutrition Counseling
If you need a change in your diabetes management plan, your health care provider should refer you for diabetes education and nutrition counseling.
What Can Make Blood Glucose Rise?
· A meal or snack with more food or more carbohydrates (carbs) than usual
· Inactivity
· Not enough diabetes medication
· Side effects of other medications
· Infection or other illness such as a cold or the flu
· Changes in hormone levels, such as during menstrual periods
· Stress
What Can Make Blood Glucose Fall?
· A meal or snack with less food or fewer carbohydrates than usual
· Drinking alcoholic beverages, especially on an empty stomach
· Missing a meal or snack
· Extra activity
· Too much diabetes medication
· Side effects of other medications
Monitoring Your Blood Glucose
You can monitor your blood glucose using a digital meter. The method of use varies, depending on the type of meter, but usually involves applying a drop of blood to a test strip impregnated with a chemical that reacts with glucose. Checking your blood glucose level at least once a day or as often as your doctor recommends allows you to monitor your treatment to confirm that it is effective and to alter it as necessary.
Click here to receive a free Blood Glucose Meter.
How To Use The Typical Blood Glucose Meter
1) Before starting, wash your hands thoroughly and dry them. Once your hands are clean, obtain a drop of blood by using a spring loaded pricking device on the fingertip.
2) Cover the chemically impregnated target area of the test strip with a small drop of blood. Wait for one minute (or as long as recommended by the instructions that come with the meter).
3) Wipe or wash the excess blood from the strip into the digital glucose meter. The meter analyzes the blood and gives an instant reading of the glucose level.
What Should I Do If I Have Frequent Blood Glucose?
If your blood glucose is often low, you may need a change in your meal plan, physical activity, or diabetes medications. Keep track of low blood glucose episodes in your record book and note possible causes, such as unexpected physical activity. Then talk it over with your health care team.
Managing Sick Days
Minor illness such as colds and flu can put your body under stress. To deal with this stress, your body releases hormones that help it fight disease. But these hormones have side effects. They raise blood glucose levels and interfere with the blood glucose-lowering effects of insulin. As a result, when you are sick, it is harder to keep your blood glucose in your target range. The best way to prevent a minor illness from becoming a major problem is to work out a plan of action for sick days ahead of time.
Before your next illness, decide on an action plan with your health care team. This plan should include the following:
· When to call your health care provider
· How often to test your blood glucose
· What foods and fluids to take during your illness
· Whether you should test your urine for ketones. Your body produces ketones when fats instead of glucose are used for energy. Ketones in the urine signal that your body does not have enough insulin.
· Medication changes that might be needed. You may need to know how much extra insulin to take to reduce high levels of blood glucose or whether to continue taking oral pills.
Planning Healthy Meals
Meal planning is an important part of your diabetes treatment plan. It will help you reach your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol goals. If you are overweight, your meal plan will help you lose weight or at least keep you from gaining more
What Do I Eat Now?
Many people think that having diabetes means you can’t eat your favorite foods. But you can still eat the foods you like. It’s the amount that counts.
A healthy meal plan for diabetes has foods from all major food groups: grains and breads, fruits, vegetables, meats and meat substitutes, and dairy products. These foods give you the energy and the vitamins and minerals you need for good health. In fact, a meal plan for diabetes is a guide to the way most people should eat.
How Does A Meal Plan Work?
Your meal plan is designed just for you, your goals, and your likes and dislikes. It will help you choose:
· What to eat
· How much to eat
· When to eat
For help with your meal plan, ask your diabetes health care team to refer you to a dietitian who specializes in diabetes. A dietitian listens to your goals, considers your other health issues, and gives you the tools and support you need to succeed.
A meal plan is based on:
· What you like to eat and drink
· Your school or work schedule
· The state of your health
· How many calories you need
· When you exercise and what exercises you do
When any of these things changes, your meal plan may need to change, too. It’s a good idea to review your meal plan with your dietitian every six months or so.
Should I Avoid Fat?
Cutting down on foods that have saturated or trans-fats can help you lower your cholesterol, lose weight, and prevent heart disease. Foods high in saturated fat include:
· Meats
· Butter
· Whole milk
· Cream, cheese
· Lard
· Shortening
· Many baked goods
· Tropical oils such as palm and coconut oil
Foods high in trans-fats include:
· Crackers
· Snack foods
· Cookies
· Donuts
· French fries
· Stick margarine
Are There Healthier Kinds of Fat?
Some fats, called monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats can help you lower your cholesterol. These types of fats are found in olive, canola, corn, sunflower and safflower oils; nuts including almonds, cashews and peanut butter; and avocados.
Other healthy fats are omega-3 fatty acids. These fats are found in fish, such as albacore tuna, herring, mackerel, rainbow trout and salmon.
Cutting The Fat
One way to cut fat is to substitute lower-fat ingredients in your favorite recipes. Try extra-lean ground beef or turkey instead of ground beef. Use low-fat mayonnaise and salad dressings instead of regular types.
Why Is Physical Activity Important For People With Diabetes?
Here’s what physical activity can do for you:
· Lower your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
· Lower your risk for heart disease and stroke.
· Relieve stress.
· Help insulin work better.
· Strengthen your heart, muscles, and bones.
· Improve your blood circulation and tone your muscles.
· Keep your body and your joints flexible.
Even if you’ve never exercised before, you can find ways to add physical activity to your day. You’ll experience benefits even if your activities aren’t strenuous.
What Kinds of Physical Activity Are The Best?
A comprehensive physical activity routine includes four kinds of activities:
· Being active throughout the day
· Aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, swimming, or dancing
· Strength training, such as lifting light weights
· Flexibility exercises, such as stretching
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise makes your heart and bones strong, relieves stress, helps your insulin work better, and improves blood circulation. In addition, it cuts your risk for heart disease by lowering your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. For most people, it’s best to aim for a total of about 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week.
If you haven’t been very active recently, you can start out with 5 or 10 minutes a day and work up to more time each week. Or split up your activity for the day—try a brisk 10-minute walk after each meal. Here are some examples of aerobic exercise:
· Take a brisk walk every day.
· Go dancing or take a dance aerobics class.
· Swim or do water aerobic exercises.
· Take a bicycle ride outdoors or use a stationary bicycle indoors.
Strength Training
Strength training helps build strong bones and muscles and makes everyday chores like carrying groceries easier for you. With more muscle, you burn more calories, even at rest. Do your strengthening routine several times a week. Here are some ways to do strength training:
· Lift light weights at home.
· Join a class to do strength training with weights, elastic bands, or plastic tubes.
Flexibility Exercises
Flexibility exercises, also called stretching, help keep your joints flexible and reduce your chances of injury during activities. Gentle stretching for 5 to 10 minutes helps your body warm up and get ready for aerobic activities and to cool down after your activity. Your health care team can provide information on how to stretch.
Protect Your Health By Losing Weight
Losing weight can help you improve your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. You don’t have to lose a lot of weight to see the benefits—even a loss of 10 to 15 pounds can help a lot.
Weight loss can be a struggle because it means making changes in the way you eat and in your level of physical activity. The older we get, the harder it is for us to lose weight because we burn fewer calories. We also tend to be less active. Losing weight takes time—and that can be frustrating.
The good news is that you can lose weight and keep it off, even if you’ve never done it before.
What Strategies Can Help Me Lose Weight?
Here’s what works for people who have lost weight and kept it off:
- They cut back on calories and fat.
- They’re physically active most days of the week.
- They eat breakfast every day.
- They keep a record of their weight, what they eat and drink, and what they do for physical activity
Some people attend weight loss programs; others use these strategies on their own. Think about which approach will work best for you. Just remember that studies show it’s much easier to lose weight when you use a combination of meal planning and physical activity.
How To Cut Back On Calories
- Eat smaller servings of high-calorie favorites.
- When you eat out, split a main dish with a friend or family member. Or take some home for tomorrow.
- Ask for salad dressings and sauces “on the side” and then use as little as possible.
- Include a fruit or a vegetable with every meal or snack.
- Cook in low-fat ways: roast, broil, grill, microwave, steam, or bake.
- Use nonstick pans or cooking sprays.
- Avoid or reduce sugary drinks and fruit juices. Drink more water, flavored waters (club soda with a lemon slice), or diet beverages.
- Substitute low-fat ingredients in your favorite recipes. For example, try low-fat cheese instead of the regular kind.
- Cut back on high-fat toppings, such as butter, margarine, sour cream, regular salad dressing, mayonnaise, or gravy. Instead, season your food with herbs, spices, salsa, lemon juice, or other low-fat choices.
- Check food labels. Choose the products with fewer calories and less fat.
- Stock your kitchen with low-calorie, low-fat snacks, such as air-popped popcorn, pretzels, and fruit. Keep serving sizes small.
How To Be More Active
- Walk at least 30 minutes every day. Or split up your daily activity—try a 10-minute walk after each meal. If you haven’t been very active recently, start off with a 10- to 15-minute walk every other day, then little by little walk farther and walk more often.
- Find a physical activity you enjoy, like swimming, dancing, bicycling, or doing the exercises on TV programs.
- Be active around the house: work in the yard, play with the kids, get up to change the TV channel, and walk around while you talk on the phone.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Take the dog for regular walks.
- Walk instead of drive whenever you can.
- Park at the far end of the shopping center lot and walk to the store.
How To Keep Track Of Your Progress
- Keep track of your weight loss efforts. Many people find that writing everything down helps keep them on target. Use a small notebook and keep it with you all day.
- Write down everything you eat and drink. Include the serving size. Some people set target levels of calories or grams of fat and keep track of their daily totals.
- Make a note of what kind of physical activity you’ve done and for how long.
- You may want to check your weight once a week and write it down or use your clothes as a measure of weight loss. Are your pants a bit loose around the waist? Can you fit into the blouse you haven’t worn for years?
Diabetes Medications
Meal planning and physical activity can help you manage your blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol, but most people also need medication to reach their target ABC goals. Diabetes pills or insulin shots, pills for high blood pressure and cholesterol, and even aspirin may be part of your diabetes treatment plan.
What Medications Help Manage Blood Glucose?
Different diabetes medicines work in different ways to keep your blood glucose on track. Some people take one kind of pill. Others take two kinds of pills or a combination pill because the drugs work even better together. Some people take pills and insulin or just insulin. Over time, changes in the types or amount of medicines are needed to keep A1C levels on target.
These are the types of medicines used to manage blood glucose:
- Biguanides lower the amount of stored sugar that’s released from your liver into your body.
- Sulfonylureas help your body make more insulin.
- Meglitinides help your body release a quick burst of insulin when you eat a meal or snack.
- Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors slow the digestion of some carbohydrates. After-meal blood glucose peaks aren’t as high.
- Thiazolidinediones (TZDs or glitazones) lower your insulin resistance and help insulin work better.
- Insulin, used daily by all people with type 1 and some people with type 2 diabetes, helps control blood glucose. Different kinds of insulin work at different speeds. If you take insulin, your health care team will help you develop an insulin routine that keeps your blood glucose near normal, helps you feel good, and fits your lifestyle.
What Are The Different Kinds of Insulin
- Rapid-acting insulin starts working in less than 15 minutes. It works hardest in about 1 hour and stays in the blood from 3 to 6 hours.
- Regular insulin starts working a half hour after you take a shot. It works hardest from 2 to 3 hours after your shot and stays in your blood from 3 to 6 hours.
- Intermediate-acting insulin (NPH or Lente) takes 2 to 4 hours to reach the blood. It works hardest from 4 to 10 hours after your shot and lasts 10 to 16 hours.
- Long-acting insulin (Ultralente or Glargine) starts working several hours after your shot. It stays in your blood for 20 to 24 hours.
What Medicines Help Lower Blood Glucose
For many people, one or more medications are needed to lower blood pressure to target levels. Blood pressure medicines include diuretics, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers.
Some blood pressure medicines have been shown to protect your kidneys from disease and to reduce your chance for having a heart attack or stroke. Your health care provider will help you determine which medicines are most appropriate.
Which Medicines Improve Cholesterol?
If your cholesterol levels cannot be managed through meal planning and exercise, it’s time to try medication. One of several classes of drugs may be prescribed: statins, bile acid sequestrants, fibric acids, nicotinic acid, or a cholesterol absorption inhibitor.
The most effective cholesterol-lowering drugs are statins. This class of drug helps reduce the amount of cholesterol your body produces naturally and has been shown to reduce heart attacks and stroke.
Should I Take Aspirin?
Your health care team may also recommend that you take aspirin daily to reduce your chance for having a heart attack or stroke. Aspirin works by thinning your blood and making it less likely to clot.
How Can I Keep Track of My Medications?
Know the basics about your medicines. Ask your health care provider or pharmacist these questions.
- What are the names of my medicines (brand and generic names)? What’s this medicine for?
- How long will it take this medicine to work?
- How much should I take for one dose? When should I take it? How many times a day?
- Should I take it on an empty stomach? Should I avoid any foods, medicines or alcoholic
- beverages when I take it?
- How does this medicine affect my blood glucose level?
- What side effects might happen with this medicine? What should I do if I experience side effects?
- What should I do if I miss a dose?
- How should this medicine be stored?
- How long will this supply last? What about refills?
Take your medicines as recommended
When you don’t take a medicine as prescribed, the effect on your health can be unpredictable—or even dangerous. If you’re not taking your medicine, think about the reasons. Are there unpleasant side effects? Is the medicine too expensive? Is it hard to remember to take it? Tell your health care providers. They may be able to help.
Tell your health care providers about your medicines
Some combinations of prescription medicines, nonprescription medicines, and dietary supplements can be harmful. Each of your health care providers should be aware of all of the medicines you take, including nonprescription medicines (such as aspirin and laxatives) and dietary supplements (such as vitamins).
Heart Health
Heart and blood vessel problems are more common in people with diabetes. In fact, 2 out of 3 people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke.
What Can I Do To Keep My Heart Vessels Healthy?
- Manage your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
- Make wise food choices. Eat more vegetables and fruit, along with low-fat dairy foods, whole grains, fish, poultry, and nuts. Eat less saturated and trans fats. Get help from a dietician to develop a healthy meal plan.
- Reduce the amount of sodium (salt) you eat.
- Lose weight by eating less and being more active than you are right now.
- Be more active. Physical activity such as walking can help you manage your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol and help relieve stress.
- If you smoke, get help to quit.
- Take medications as prescribed.
- Ask your health care provider about taking aspirin.
Eye Disease
Vision problems and blindness can occur when high blood glucose damages the tiny blood vessels in your eyes. If found early, eye disease can be slowed or stopped. Only a doctor can detect changes in your eyes’ blood vessels in the early stages. High blood pressure can also make eye disease worse.
What Can I Do To Avoid Eye Problems?
- Keep your blood glucose and blood pressure in your target ranges.
- Have an eye exam every year. Be sure your doctor uses eye drops to dilate your pupils so they can see the back of your eyes.
Kidney Disease
Your kidneys clean your blood by constantly filtering it through millions of tiny blood vessels. The kidneys take waste materials that your body doesn’t need out of the blood and gets rid of the waste in the urine.
Kidney disease can occur when high blood glucose damages the tiny blood vessels in your kidneys. High blood pressure can also make kidney disease worse.
What Can I Do To Prevent Kidney Disease?
- Keep your blood glucose and blood pressure in your target ranges.
- Have regular checkups and get a urine microalbumin check once a year. This test checks for protein in your urine and tells you how well your kidneys are functioning.
- Have other tests recommended by your health care team. These might include tests for creatinine, urea nitrogen, or BUN.
- If you have protein in your urine, treatment with an ACE inhibitor or ARB (both common blood pressure medicines) can slow the progression of kidney disease.
Foot Care
Diabetes increases your risk for foot problems. Two conditions can occur:
- Nerve damage from high blood glucose levels, also called diabetic neuropathy, resulting in pain, tingling, or numbness
- peripheral arterial disease, also called PAD, in which blood vessels in the feet and legs are narrowed or blocked by fatty deposits
How Can Nerve Damage or PAD Affect Me?
When you have nerve damage in your feet, you may not feel pain or be able to sense temperature. If you have PAD, your blood circulation can decrease, leading to slow healing of wounds. Even minor injuries, such as a blister, can develop into serious infections if you don’t notice them and they go untreated. Practicing careful foot care and keeping your blood glucose levels on target can keep your feet safe.
What Can I Do To Protect My Feet?
Set aside a regular time each day to take care of your feet. Use this checklist as a reminder:
- Wash your feet daily with warm (not hot) water and soap.
- Dry your feet gently but thoroughly with a soft towel.
- If your skin is dry, apply lotion (but not between your toes).
- Look at the tops, bottoms, and sides of your feet as well as between your toes. Use a mirror to help you see the bottoms and sides of your feet. Or get help from a family member. Check for sores, cuts, bruises, rashes, blisters, red spots, swelling, and ingrown toenails.
- Use your hands to feel for hot or cold spots, bumps, or dry skin.
- If you have a foot injury, call your health care provider. Don’t try to take care of foot problems yourself. Some over-the-counter foot remedies can harm your skin, making problems worse.
- Trim your toenails straight across and file the edges. Rounded edges help prevent ingrown toenails.
- Choose socks that won’t irritate your feet, such as seamless socks or those with flat or soft seams.
- Before you put on shoes, feel inside them to make sure there are no pebbles or rough edges that might injure your feet. You may not be able to count on the nerves in your feet to feel something wrong with your shoes or socks.
- Protect your feet all the time by wearing shoes or slippers, even around the house or at the beach.
What Type of Shoes Are Best?
Due to the fact that diabetes can cause circulation problems and nerve damage some people with diabetes will want special diabetic shoes or orthotics created especially for their condition.
Shoes for diabetic patients are made of special protective inserts and soft shoe materials to accommodate for conditions such as numb feet, poor circulation, bunions or hammertoes. Specifically designed diabetic shoes also decrease the chance of foot sores which can be caused by friction and pressure. This will decrease the likelihood of infection, gangrene, or even amputation.
What Foot Exams Should I Have?
At each office visit, your health care provider should look at your feet. You can remind your provider to do so by taking off your shoes and socks once you’re in the exam room. In addition, your health care provider should do a complete foot exam at least once a year, or more often if you have foot problems.
A complete foot exam should include a check of the skin, muscles, bones, and blood circulation in your feet. Your health provider should also do a monofilament test to check the nerves in your feet.
What Is A Stroke?
A stroke, sometimes called a “brain attack”, occurs when blood supply to part of your brain is interrupted and brain tissue is damaged. The most common cause is a blocked blood vessel. Stroke can cause physical problems such as paralysis, problems with thinking or speaking, and emotional problems.
Warning Signs of a Stroke
Typical warning signs of a stroke develop suddenly and can include:
- Weakness or numbness on one side of your body
- Sudden confusion or trouble understanding
- Trouble talking
- Dizziness, loss of balance, or trouble walking
- Trouble seeing out of one or both eyes
- Double vision
- Severe headache
If you have warning signs of a stroke, call 911 right away. Getting treatment can help prevent permanent damage to your brain. It’s wise to review the symptoms of a stroke with family and friends and to tell them about the importance of calling 911.
