A diagnosis of diabetes can be distressing or even frightening, no matter whether you are the one getting the news or a loved one of someone just diagnosed. You could be six or sixty, it doesn’t matter – being diagnosed with any life-altering disease can be hard. However, with a positive attitude, support, and willingness to take charge of the situation, you can live a happy, purpose-filled life, even with diabetes.

Your diabetic condition has various implications on your physical well-being. Uncontrolled, diabetes can affect your vision, blood circulation, and dental health. Poor circulation can lead to the surgical removal of limbs. There are many consequences to not making changes to your life and maintaining the new restrictions of diet and treatment. Knowing all the ways diabetes can negatively impact your health is important in helping you make wise choices.

Other health issues

Other issues of concern to the diabetic are their dental health, skin care, weight issues, and hospitalization. Not many diabetics realize that the illness can affect their teeth. The diabetic who practices good dental hygiene and keeps his or her blood sugar levels normal is at little risk of having major dental problems. Because of the special needs a diabetic has, if you are hospitalized for any reason, you need to ensure that hospital personnel knows your status. Wearing a medic alert bracelet can make the difference between life and death in the event of a medical emergency.

How to live with diabetes

The first step in learning to live with diabetes is learning all you can about the disease.  Armed with this knowledge, you can plan your life and activities to ensure that you control diabetes and let it control you. Once you have accepted the fact that you have diabetes, you need to be determined to do whatever you can to live a normal life. Having diabetes does not mean that you cannot have a family, play sports, or have a career of your choice.

Make a plan outlining how you need to deal with your illness. This plan should include an exercise routine, your diet, and medication. In addition, you should have telephone numbers of your healthcare provider and family members close at hand. Since information is important to the diabetic who plans on taking responsibility for his health, it is a good idea to keep website addresses of sites you visit often within easy reach. Get your own glucometer so that you can test yourself daily. This is done by simply pricking your finger for a drop of blood and the machine does the rest. Keep abreast of new developments in the treatment of diabetes.

To learn more go to Diabetes Center and at Information On Diabetes

Tags: Living with Diabetes