Coping Strategies To Deal With Type 1 Diabetes In Your Child
Nothing can throw you into a tailspin as fast as finding out that your child has a chronic disease like Type 1 diabetes. As a parent, you may go through the whole gamut of emotions from angry to fearful to confused to depressed.
You find yourself full of questions about the future life of your child. How do I tell my child that he/she has this disease? What do I tell the school, friends, or family? Can my child still have a normal life? Keep in mind that all of these questions are normal and it is up to you to learn how to cope.
After the diagnosis, you find that you are thrust into a world of injections, testing blood sugars, and changing eating patterns. How do you deal with all of this? Being overwhelmed with questions is normal and it is a good idea for you to connect with other parents who have been where you are.
There are many support groups for parents and children that you can join to help you find answers. By sharing your own experiences and learning from others, you will find that some of your anxiety will start to dissipate.
A great part of joining a support group or organization is that you can learn more about dealing with diabetes by encouraging others, learn ways to deal with the diabetes of your child, and you can trade sugar-free recipes. If you cannot find a support group in your town, then look on the Internet for an online support group.
A diabetes diagnosis requires increased attention to your family health care by you and your doctor. Learning all that is possible about diabetes will help you to take an active role in the care of your child. You will know what questions to ask and will understand better what the doctor tells you. Your physician and your family needs to work together to control this disease.
It is important to talk to the teachers and administrators so that you will be aware of any special issues that your child may encounter at school. It will fall on them to watch what your child eats and to monitor what snacks are brought in.
The shock of a diabetes diagnosis will take a while to completely understand. It will be a time full of different emotions and it is the time that your family needs to come together for the best interest of your child.
It is possible for your child to live a more normal life with diabetes. There are many sugar substitutes, sugar-free recipes, and sugar-free candy varieties that will give your child the sweets that they want, but keep them healthy. Eating meals that are healthy and well balanced will help keep the blood sugar levels of your child under control. Adding exercise to the mix will help both your child and your family, especially if you make it fun.
You child may need to use manufactured insulin to keep their blood glucose levels under control. This works differently for each person and your physician may have to do some experimenting to find the right combination and dosage of insulin for your child. You will probably have to give the injections, so it is important that you learn as much as possible about insulin and its purposes and injection methods.
You may want to purchase a good diabetes dictionary because it will help you with the medical talk that is common with a diabetes diagnosis. Learning more about the diabetes related terms will help you to become more knowledgeable so that you can take care of your child.
You can find many useful websites that are full of information about diabetes and coping with the disease, whether you are a child, parent, or teenager. Connecting with others who are going through diabetes will help take some of the stigma out of the diagnosis and you will be able to learn more about it. Learning is the key to coping with diabetes.
Khim Lim
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/coping-strategies-to-deal-with-type-1-diabetes-in-your-child-76941.html
Has anyone else with diabetes type 2 experienced problems with metformin?
When first diagnosed 7 years ago I was prescribed metformin, then a couple of years ago for no apparent reason it stopped working and I was prescribed Avandamet, a combined metformin and rosiglitazone. A month ago a blood test showed my overall sugar level to have risen from the usual 5 to 6 and my doctor put me back on metformin only. (I know there was some concern about rosiglitazone at the time so that could have been the reason for the change) Now it is, again, as if I was not taking any medication at all.
I am due for another check up this week, and wondering what the doctor will suggest next. Is it that the metformin is not suitable for me and what alternatives can I expect. My doctor is not a great one for discussing anything with patients, so it’s a case of being forwarned is forarmed.
The obvious answer would be to wait until your HbA1C result confirms any abnormality. I presume you have been continuously taking metformin for at least one clear month so it may be advisable to have another HbA1C three months after discontinuing the rosiglitazone. Your blood glucose levels do not indicate any cause for concern and could easily be attributed to changes to your normal routine of diet/exercise/health/social factors. Examine these possibilities and ask to speak to the Diabetes Nurse at your G.P. practice if you need another sounding board other than your Doctor.
About Blood Tests and Diabetes Treatment
Blood Tests and Diabetes Treatments
In order to determine if a person has diabetes, there are some blood tests that can be performed.
To perform the fasting glucose test, the doctor will take blood from a vein in the patient’s arm, but it is important that the patient has not eaten in the last 8 hours. The red blood cells are separated from the sample, and in the remaining plasma it is measured the amount of glucose. Diabetes can be indicated by a plasma level of 7.8 mmol/L or greater. To confirm the results, this diabetes test must be taken again in another day.
In postprandial glucose test, the blood must be taken right after the patient has eaten a meal.
In what concerns the oral glucose tolerance test to determine diabetes, there are taken blood samples from a vein before and after a patient drinks a thick, sweet syrup of glucose and other sugars. It is known that in a non-diabetic, immediately after the drink the glucose level in the blood goes up, but then decreases gradually, because the insulin is used by the body to metabolize or absorb the sugar. In a diabetic, the things are different: the glucose level in the blood goes up and stays high after drinking the liquid. When it had passed two hours after drinking the syrup, and also at a point during the two-hour test period, a plasma glucose level of 11.1 mmol/L or higher confirms the diagnosis of diabetes.
Diabetes Symptoms
The doctors can say a patient has diabetes if there are symptoms of diabetes and a plasma glucose level of at least 11.1 mmol/L, a fasting plasma glucose level of at least 7 mmol/L, or a two-hour plasma glucose level of at least 11.1 mmol/L during an oral glucose tolerance test.
Patients with diabetes can monitor their own blood glucose levels with the help of some home blood glucose monitoring kits.
It is known that there is no cure for diabetes, but diabetes patients can live a relatively normal life if they are carefully managing the diabetes condition. The treatment for diabetes has as main purposes preventing the long-term complications of diabetes, and keeping blood glucose within normal range.
The use of insulin or oral medications are important in preventing complications of diabetes, but a careful monitored diet and exercise are also important for diabetes patients.
Causes of Diabetes
In many cases of type II diabetes, loosing weight is important. There must be followed a diet that consists in 50-60% of calories from carbohydrates, approximately 10-20% of calories from protein, and calories from fat should be less than 30%. It is known that the number of calories depends on the age of the patient, but also depends on the activity level and weight.
A nutritionist or dietitian should be consulted, and there can be made a diet plan for each individual.
In order to lower the blood glucose levels in type II diabetes, there can be used oral medications. Usually, the first drugs prescribed for type II diabetes are in a class of compounds called sulfonylureas. We can mention tolbutamide, tolazamide, acetohexamide, and chlorpropamide. Glyburide, glimeperide, and glipizide are some newer drugs, that are included in the same class mentioned before. Seems that the role of these drugs is to stimulate pancreas cells to produce more insulin.
There also appeared some new medications to treat diabetes: metformin, acarbose, and troglitizone. It is known that all drugs have side effects: can stimulate weight gain, cause stomach irritation, or present increased risk in other situations.
It is known that there are made constant advances in the development of new oral medications for patients with diabetes. For example, in 2003 was developed Metaglip, a combination between glipizide and metformin. There was approved another drug, Avandamet, which combines metformin and rosiglitazone.
There exist a lot of drugs nowadays, and the doctor will decide which suits best for every individual.
It is known that patients with type I diabetes need daily insulin injections, to help their body use glucose; the amount and type of insulin depends on every individual. In what concerns the patients having type II diabetes, some of them may need to take insulin injections if they cannot control their diabetes with diet, exercise, and oral medication.
Usually, the most commonly used is the purified human insulin, but there exists also insulin from beef and pork. There can be mixed different types of insulin and given in one dose or split into two or more doses during a day. Also, insulin pump can be used in patients who need multiple injections over a day. Regular insulin is fast-acting, starts to work within 15-30 minutes, has a peak- effect at about 2 hours after it is injected, and the effect lasts 4-6 hours. Neutral protamine Hagedorn and Lente insulin are intermediate-acting, start to work within one to three hours, and last for 18-26 hours; ultra-lente, a long lasting form of insulin starts to work within four to eight hours and lasts 28-36 hours.
Alcohol consumption, too much insulin, too little food or increased exercise can lead to hypoglycemia, and the person having this may be hungry, cranky, confused, and tired. There ca 
appear other symptoms as well.
In what concerns surgery, the transplantation of a healthy pancreas into a diabetic patient is a successful treatment, but it is not clear if the potential benefits outweigh the risks of the surgery and drug therapy needed.
You May Be Missing Nutrients!
Optimum Diabetics Health supplement provides essential nutrients that may be lacking due to the strain diabetes can often put on the body’s health. Each serving provides a complete, full potency formulation of vitamins, minerals and Alpha Lipoic Acid. If you are not always eating a balanced diet, Optimum Diabetics Health Supplement provides the nutrients that you may be missing.
So, if you want to find out more about diabetes or even about diabetes treatment please follow this link http://diabetes-info-center.com/
Groshan Fabiola
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/about-blood-tests-and-treatment-in-diabetes-130854.html
-About Blood Tests and Treatment in Diabetes-
