More Diabetes Terms People Should Know

This is a continuation of the last post about terms that people with diabetes should know. Some admittedly are more important and some are just good to know.

This continues the list:

#8. Medications This is probably the most troublesome term for many people. Some do not wish to take medications and then run to the health store and substitute medications they think will help them. Medications need to be taken as directed for oral medications. Insulin is slightly more flexible after you learn how to use it properly and count carbohydrates. Symlin, Byetta, Bydureon, and Victoza are medications that you must understand and follow directions, as there can be severe side effects otherwise, even with the normal side effects. As with all medications, be alert for hypoglycemia and do not be afraid to communicate as needed with your doctor or requested by your doctor.

#9. Key numbers Even though I warn people not to become fixated with numbers, there are some key numbers to learn. The first is 70 mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter). Any blood glucose reading below this is considered hypoglycemia or low blood glucose. Severe hypoglycemia is defined as an event requiring assistance of another person to actively administer carbohydrates, glucagon, or take other corrective actions. This varies by individual and is the reason I will not give a number.

I cannot appreciate the numbers used by the ADA as these encourage progression to complications. The ADA definition is excessive blood glucose (whatever that is). Fasting hyperglycemia is blood glucose above a desirable level after a person has fasted for at least 8 hours. Postprandial hyperglycemia is blood glucose above a desirable level 1 to 2 hours after a person has eaten. According to the AACE, generally fasting plasma glucose should be less than 110 mg/dl and the 2-hour postprandial glucose should be less than 140 mg/dl.

Since most of us are not able to use plasma glucose because those are lab tests, we are limited to what our meter tells us. I generally have fasting blood glucose readings of less than 100 mg/dl and 2-hour postprandial of less than 140 mg/dl. Do I obtain these goals? Many days I do, but there are days when I am above them and need to work to get below them quickly.

#10. Diabetes acronyms These can be found in this blog. The acronyms are not all available and if you wish to add more, please let me know, and I will add them to a future blog.

#11. Sleep Eight hours is recommended. The message is now “eight hours plus of sleep, exercise, and nutrition”. People that can regularly get 8.5 hours of restful sleep burn more fat than people getting 5.5 hours of sleep. They have concluded that sleep loss while dieting increases the ghrelin (a hormone that stimulates appetite) associated changes in hunger, glucose and fat utilization, and energy metabolism, which slows or halts weight loss.

The researchers reported that sleep-deprived participants reported feeling hungrier during the study. They agreed that sleep may be an important factor in successful weight loss and that adequate sleep may be a significant part of the lifestyle change that has normally concentrated on diet and exercise. If you have been losing weight, but now or have hit a weight loss plateau, you may want to add sleep to the other remedies to break through the plateau and get on with losing weight. This is just another part of the lifestyle change so important for people of diabetes. Good luck!

#12. Stress When stressed, almost anyone can toss aside their usual good diabetes management practices, forget to eat the proper foods, and lose control of your blood glucose. Prolonged stress may prevent insulin from working properly which also creates additional problems. Some find logging your stress level (1 to 10 scale) each time you log your blood glucose level helps them see patterns and allows you to adjust accordingly. Learn about ways to relax and find ways to reduce stress.

Even this list of terms is not comprehensive and is not intended to be.

Terms for People with Diabetes to Know

It is not often that I do this, but I feel this is important enough to call attention to and encourage people to read this blog by David Mendosa. He was restricted in the number of words he could use for discussion, which detracts a little, but does not diminish the importance of the message. It is written primarily for those new to diabetes and to help the old hands at managing diabetes.

If you wish to take time to follow the link to David's blog, go ahead and I will wait for you to return. I wish to add a few more terms to what David covered and refer you to some of my blogs and blogs of others covering them. Some of my terms are mentioned within the terms used by David.

My list of terms:

#1. Exercise Depending on whether you are medically able, exercise can be almost what you desire as long as you are moving. The intensity can vary from running like Tom Ross when he runs 4 to 9 miles depending on the day to what David Mendosa discusses in this blog. There are other forms of exercise, such as swimming, dancing, and using resistance training. If you are approved to exercise by your doctor, this is an excellent tool in your diabetes management.

#2. Food plan David used the word diet, but I prefer food plan as this can cover most any food plan from low carbohydrate, paleo, and many more diets. There is no specific food plan for diabetes and you need to use your blood glucose meter to help you find your own food plan. A great book by Dr. William Davis titled “Wheat Belly” can be helpful in reducing carbohydrates and you may agree with Dr. Davis and his blog here. The importance of food plans for people with diabetes is that they are generally reduced calories, lower carbohydrates, and sustainable in the long term.

#3. Lifestyle changes The list I work with includes the following: weight loss, exercise, food plan, sleep, medication, heart health care, illness, hormone levels, stress, alcohol, and smoking. You may read this blog for more discussion about them individually. Yes, I did leave out weight loss, as I was a little over sensitive about that. Times have changed and I have resolved my issues even if I am still overweight.

#4. Education Unless you have a doctor that pushes education or are fortunate enough to have a certified diabetes educator (CDE) that the doctor works with and is willing to work with people with type 2 diabetes , you will more than likely need to educate yourself. This blog will give you some ideas as well as the blog of the following day. If you have questions or want more reading, contact me at my email on the profile page.

#5. Positive Attitude This is one thing I did learn from my younger brother. He was able to manage his type 2 with no medications, but he maintained a tight leash on what he ate and did his exercises. He told me that a positive attitude was what kept him going and had served him well over the 35 years. It was also good that he had a supportive wife and family that helped him. In the ten years I have had diabetes, yes, a positive attitude does help and by establishing the following, the two helped me through a burnout and two minor depressions.

#6. Good habits Establish good habits early and make them a routine. This and the above will go a long way if you have minor depression and later burnout in taking care of your diabetes. Because there are no vacations with diabetes, a positive attitude and good habits can prevent you from ruining your diabetes management completely. Yes, you will make mistakes, but with a positive attitude and good habits, it is easier to pick yourself up and learn from a mistake. I know I have.

#7. Stages While this is not quite the same as the stages of grief; however, these are important to know. They are shock or anger, denial, depression, and acceptance. My blog here discusses these in more detail. Some have suggested other stages like other diseases, but I said these don't exist in diabetes because diabetes does not need to be progressive. Plus if well managed, diabetes does not have stages, as in cancer. Yes, diabetes can be progressive to the complications if the person with diabetes does not manage their diabetes.