4 most common diabetes questions answered
Griffin Rodgers, Dr. Wright, Kevin Soden and John Merendino answer your most common questions on diabetes.
Transcript
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Diabetes is a condition in which the body either produces too little insulin or doesn't use the insulin that it produces
correctly. There are two broad categories of diabetes in this country. Although, there are some rare exceptions.
There is so-called type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes, that occurs in individuals
whose body wages an autoimmune attack against the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.
And over time as that beta cell mass is lost, there is no longer insulin produced and these individuals have problems with managing glucose
levels appropriately.
On the other hand, the vast majority of diabetes is so-called type 2 diabetes. What we used to call adult onset diabetes.
And then the body does make sufficient amount of insulin, but the problem is that due to obesity
and other metabolic constraints, that insulin isn't used properly. In fact, the state of insulin resistance exists.
These patients often will require medications to either make the insulin that is produced even a higher level
to achieve metabolic control or perhaps use drugs that may improve the ability of insulin
to work effectively at its target tissues. But over time, they will require additional drugs.
And then ultimately, most of them will require insulin therapy as well.
Unlike many diseases, type 2 diabetes is preventable in a lot of cases. The first step towards prevention is exercise.
Doing at least 30 minutes of physical activity for at least five days a week can help you lose weight, lower your blood
sugar, and increase your body's sensitivity to insulin.
Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables and whole grains and low in sugar and processed carbs
can not only lower your blood sugar, it can also reduce your risk for heart disease and help you lose weight.
If you are overweight, even a 5% to 10% weight loss can reduce your risk significantly.
But don't count on fad diets to get you there. Eating well-balanced meals full of whole and natural foods
is the key for weight loss and diabetes prevention.
Finally, as you get older, your risk for diabetes increases. So make sure you get your blood sugar levels checked regularly
when you see your doctor. If you're older than 45, you should receive a regular blood glucose screening.
And if you're under 45 but have other risk factors such as obesity or a family history of diabetes,
your doctor may recommend testing as well.
You're in the doctor's office and you've just gotten the word I have diabetes. Probably for the next 30 minutes,
you're just not going to be paying attention at all because you're going to be ruminating over the idea that you have diabetes. But there are a few things that you need to take away
from that first visit. First of all, you should understand what type of diabetes the doctor thinks you have. And actually, sometimes this is not clear at the first visit.
But there are two major types, type 1 and type 2. And they're treated very differently. If, for example, you have a strong family
history of diabetes and you're very overweight, the overwhelming likelihood is that you have type 2. If you're slender and there's not so much
family history of diabetes, there's a good chance that you have type 1 diabetes and it may not be fully manifested yet and you may even
respond to oral medications at the very beginning. But if you think you've got type 1 diabetes, then you're likely to progress to the need for insulin
more quickly and it's probably better to know that right from the beginning. You should also probably know what your overall level of diabetes control is at that point,
whether you need to make major interventions or whether your blood sugar is just a little bit elevated.
And you should probably focus on the question of what are the lifestyle changes that you should make right at the beginning? Is your diet pretty good but your exercise
is lousy or your exercise is good but after you go for your run, you know, you hit up the fast food joint? So you should have a preliminary treatment plan.
You should sort of know where you are as a starting point. And you should understand the type of diabetes you have so that you can have some expectation of how
it's going to unfold over time. Type 2 diabetes is becoming an epidemic in the US.
The first steps toward treating type 2 diabetes are often simple lifestyle changes. Eating a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole
grains and low in processed carbohydrates can make a big difference in a short period of time.
Adding physical activity to your routine can help tremendously too. At least 30 minutes of exercise five days
a week can help keep your blood sugar levels in check. And using a combination of aerobic exercises and strength
training is key. Be careful though, exercise lowers blood sugar. So before you hit the gym, make sure you talk to your doctor
about what foods to eat before, during, and after your workouts to prevent low blood sugar. If diet and exercise don't help, several medications
are available to help. Some drugs work to improve your body's response to insulin, while others help the body generate more insulin.
Other medications work to slow digestion and help avoid large blood sugar spikes that come with eating.
And some help the kidneys filter sugar out of the bloodstream and into the urine. In some type 2 diabetes patients who
may not be making enough insulin, insulin injections may be needed. Each case of type 2 diabetes is different.
And which treatment is best depends on a lot of different factors. So working with your doctor to ensure you're on the right combination of treatments is essential.
diabetes
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