How does diabetes affect a person’s lifestyle? Basically, diabetes management requires that the diabetic learn to live a healthy lifestyle which everyone should learn to live.
After the diagnosis is made, a person with diabetes will need to educate themselves about every aspect of the disease. Then with just a few lifestyle changes, their disease can be managed and they can live a long life with this chronic disease.
A diabetic patient will need to watch their diet and there is great information on websites such as the American Diabetes Association on nutrition and diet control. They will need to also exercise regularly to control weight as well as to keep their body in shape. Diabetics who exercise are better able to control their blood glucose level as well as help their medications work better.
The diabetic will also need to learn all they can about foot health care. Diabetics have the most problems with their feet. This is caused by nerve damage in the feet and the narrowing of blood vessels in the legs. These two problems can cause a tiny cut to become extremely infected and lead to gangrene of the foot. Gangrene can lead to amputation of the foot or leg.
Diabetes oral care is another very important area of management for people who have this chronic disease. Because of the problems with blood sugar, diabetics have a higher than normal amount of dental care problems. This is because the diabetes when not under control reduces the number of white blood cells to fight infections in the mouth.
There are several areas that cause problems. One of these is the problem of dry mouth caused by decreased saliva. This can cause tooth decay, mouth ulcers and infections. Help for this problem can include chewing sugarless gum, having sugarless mints available, frequent sips of water or melting ice chips in the mouth.
Another major problem is gum disease commonly known as gingivitis and periodontitis. This is caused by fewer white blood cells to fight infections as well as the thickening of blood vessels which slows the flow of blood which carries nutrients to the mouth area and waste away from the mouth area. Gum disease is caused by infections of the gums so these can cause gum disease to be much more severe and harder to control in people who suffer with diabetes.
Eye care is another area that diabetic’s need to take care of. Diabetic retinopathy can develop which can lead to bad vision and even blindness. This is because the blood vessels in the back of the eyes get weak and can lead to blood and fluid leaking into the retina from these weakened blood vessels. So, it is important for the diabetic to have regular eye exams to have the blood vessels in the eye examined.
Because of the problem with the narrowing of blood vessels, anyone who has diabetes should quit smoking as quickly as possible as smoking further constricts the blood vessels.
How does diabetes affect a person’s lifestyle? Diabetes management requires that the diabetic learn to live a healthy lifestyle which everyone should learn to live. Diet and exercise will be at the top of the list of habits that will need to be changed as well as good foot, eye and dental care.