If you receive a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, you and your doctor will work together to identify your blood level goals and develop an effective management plan. What your management plan entails depends on how high your blood pressure is, your age and existing health conditions, among other factors. However, most doctors follow a particular course of treatment for managing type 2 diabetes.
Managing type 2 diabetes requires a combination of lifestyle changes, medications, insulin therapy and possibly surgery. If you follow these recommendations, you can get your diabetes in check and lead a high quality of life.
Healthy eating is the cornerstone of any effective treatment plan for type 2 diabetes. While there is no specific diet for diabetes, you should develop the following eating habits:
If you are not confident that you can make healthy food choices on your own, or if your doctor determines that any changes you have made to your diet are ineffective, he or she may refer you to a dietitian.
Another key to managing type 2 diabetes is regular exercise. In addition to helping you lose weight — which is another diabetes management tip — regular exercise helps to regulate blood sugar levels. Though your doctor will encourage you to exercise, it is important that you consult with him or her regarding your proposed exercise program.
Ideally, all adults, and not just those with diabetes, should engage in at least one half-hour of moderate aerobic exercise each day, which amounts to approximately 150 minutes per week. Aerobic exercises that prove effective include walking, running, biking and swimming. If you are worried about your child’s health, encourage him or her to engage in 60 minutes or more of outdoor play or moderate to intensive exercise daily.
Adults who live with type 2 diabetes should strive to undergo resistance training two to three times per week. Resistance training includes activities such as yoga, weightlifting and calisthenics. These activities help to boost strength, agility and balance, each of which that make engaging in the activities of daily living easier.
Again, if you are worried about your child’s health, find ways to get him or her to engage in resistance exercise activities at least three times a way. For children, playing on the playground or participating in sports two to three times per week should be sufficient.
Long intervals of inactivity can substantially mess with your blood sugar levels. Ideally, you should break up bouts of sitting at a computer, watching TV or otherwise being sedentary with a few minutes of light activity. Light activity can be something as simple as standing or stretching or something more intensive, such as doing a five minute at-home workout.
Being overweight makes it more difficult to control cholesterol, blood pressure, triglycerides and blood sugar levels. For this reason, if you are overweight, your doctor will encourage you to lose weight to get your blood sugar levels under control. Depending on how overweight you are, you may see improvements after losing as little as 5% of your body weight. However, know that the more weight you lose, the more your health will improve. Your physician and possibly dietician can work with you to set feasible weight loss goals and advise you on what you can do to achieve them.
Some cases of diabetes are too severe to be manageable with lifestyle changes alone. In these cases, doctors typically recommend medications. Diabetes medications are designed to either lower insulin levels or maintain them at healthy levels. The most common medications for treating type 2 diabetes are as follows:
Metformin, like all drugs, comes with a few side effects. For some people, the most significant side effect is a vitamin B-12 deficiency, which they can manage with supplements. Additional side effects include abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea and bloating.
In addition to prescribing drugs strictly for your diabetes, your doctor may recommend medications for lowering your cholesterol and managing your blood pressure. He or she may also prescribe a low dose of aspirin, which can help to reduce your risk of blood vessel and heart disease.
In the past, doctors would prescribe insulin therapy only as a last resort. Today, however, more physicians are recognizing the benefits of prescribing insulin therapy as soon as they realize that lifestyle changes and medications are not helping patients reach their blood sugar level goals.
If you eventually require insulin therapy, you will undergo one of two types of therapy: short- and long-acting. Short-acting insulin is designed to regulate blood sugar levels for as long as a standard mealtime. Long-acting insulin, on the other hand, helps regulate blood sugar levels overnight and throughout the day. Which your doctor recommends depends on how frequently your blood sugar levels fluctuate, how drastically and what triggers fluctuations, among other factors. If you do require insulin therapy, you will likely have to undergo daily injections.
Insulin, like other medications, does cause some side effects. The most commonly side effects include diabetic ketoacidosis, low blood sugar and high triglycerides.
If you are substantially overweight, and if lifestyle changes prove ineffective at helping you meet your weight loss goals, your doctor may recommend weight loss surgery. Surgery can help alter both the shape and function of your digestive system and, in the process, manage your diabetes. How it accomplishes this depends on the type of procedure you undergo. However, weight loss surgery typically limits how much you can eat and, in some cases, the amount of nutrients your body can absorb.
In most cases, weight loss surgery is only an option for individuals whose BMI is 35 or higher. However, if your type 2 diabetes is severe, or if you live with or have a high risk of developing comorbid conditions, your doctor may recommend you for weight loss surgery even if your BMI is lower than 35.
Weight loss surgery in and of itself is not an effective means of managing type 2 diabetes. Following your surgery, you must make a lifelong commitment to maintaining healthy lifestyle habits. Among others, these include eating a healthy, well-rounded diet, exercising regularly, and taking good care of your mental health. Failure to do so could result in serious long-term side effects, including osteoporosis and nutritional defects.
Managing your type 2 diabetes is critical to your short and long-term health and possibly your longevity. If you fail to manage it properly, you could put yourself at risk of developing serious and life-threatening complications. Below is a list of a few complications you may develop and signs it is time to seek emergency medical attention.
HHNS is a life-threatening condition that causes blood sugar levels to skyrocket to beyond 600 mg/dL. Risk factors for developing HHNS include infections, failure to take medicines as prescribed, and taking certain drugs or steroids that cause increased urination. Symptoms of HHNS include the following:
Hyperglycemia is the medical term for “high blood sugar.” It typically occurs when diabetics are sick, eat certain foods or too much food, or fail to take their medications as directed. Signs of high blood sugar are as follows:
In addition to causing hyperglycemia, mismanagement of diabetes can cause hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. Blood sugar levels can fall below their target ranges for a number of reasons, including inadvertently taking more of a medicine than usual, skipping a meal or being more active than usual. Symptoms of low blood sugar to look out for include the following:
Low blood sugar can be extremely dangerous as, if not treated in time, it can cause you to lose consciousness. For this reason, if you develop symptoms of low blood sugar, it is critical that you take steps to remedy it as soon as possible. The most effective way to reverse hypoglycemia is to eat or drink foods or drinks that quickly raise blood sugar levels, such as fruit juice, hard candies or glucose tablets. After consuming something sugary, test your blood. If, after 15 minutes, your levels are still low, repeat your sugar intake. Continue to repeat this process until your blood sugar levels read normal.
Diabetic ketoacidosis occurs when, due to a lack of insulin, the body uses fat for fuel rather than sugar. As a result, ketones — which are an acid — buildup in the bloodstream. Though the side effects of this phenomenon are typically less severe in type 2 diabetics than they are in type 1 diabetics, the toxicity of the ketones can be life-threatening. Symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis are as follows:
Typical triggers of diabetic ketoacidosis are pregnancy, trauma, illness and certain medications.
Managing type 2 diabetes is critical to maintaining a high-quality of life and increasing your longevity. Fortunately, managing the condition does not have to be difficult. It simply requires a commitment to making healthy lifestyle changes, taking prescribed medications and acting as a partner in your health journey.