National Diabetes Awareness Month: Maintaining Control of Your Blood Sugar
Diabetes is a serious disease that affects nearly 30 million Americans, so it’s no surprise that November has been designated as National Diabetes Awareness Month.
Most people need a period of adjustment when they’re first diagnosed, because living with this disease can require diet and lifestyle changes, and managing diabetes means playing an active daily role in your own medical wellbeing. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with diabetes, here’s some vital information that can help you manage the disease better.
Controlling Blood Sugar on a Daily Basis
When you have diabetes, it’s important to keep an eye on your blood sugar throughout each day, because this will tell you how well the disease is being managed. Blood sugar is affected by things like stress, exercise, medications, and diet, and you can check how these factors affect your blood sugar with a blood glucose meter.
Your ideal blood sugar level is between 80 and 130 before a meal, and under 180 two hours after a meal. You can help control and maintain proper blood glucose levels by:
- Eating a healthy, balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, and that’s low in salt and sugar
- Taking all prescribed medications as indicated
- Exercising regularly, at least 20 minutes a day
Reacting to Low or High Readings
Having a high or low blood sugar reading can be scary, especially if you’re feeling the effects of hyper or hypoglycemia. These symptoms include thirst, blurry vision, frequent need to urinate, feeling tired, shakiness, hunger, and excessive sweating.
When your blood sugar is too high: Drink a glass of water and go for a walk.
When your blood sugar is too low: Consume either four glucose tablets or four pieces of hard candy, or drink a four-ounce glass of juice or regular soda.
Managing Blood Sugar to Prevent Complications
Controlling and watching your blood sugar is extremely important when you have diabetes. Failure to manage the disease through diet, exercise, medicine, and blood sugar control can lead to severe complications, such as heart and kidney disease, vision loss and eye disease, stroke, and even amputations.
Creating a Support Network
One important way to cope with diabetes is to have a good support system, and if you don’t have this in place already, you can create one of your own. For instance, if you find you have trouble getting motivated to exercise daily, find a person or group to get active with.
Or if you find your weakness is eating too much of the wrong foods, ask your family to get involved with your healthy diet as well, and keep unhealthy foods out of the house. And when it comes to medical support, help your doctor by tracking your blood sugar readings and taking them with you to every appointment.
Celebrate World Diabetes Day
As part of National Diabetes Awareness Month, World Diabetes Day will be held on November 14. The purpose of this day is to draw attention to diabetes, its complications and treatments, and how it can affect daily life. The theme of National Diabetes Awareness Month this year is screening, early diagnosis, and treatment, with the goal of preventing the serious health complications associated with the disease.
To participate in World Diabetes Day, you can wear blue, organize a group physical activity, make a healthy breakfast for friends and family, or educate somebody about managing diabetes properly.
Superior Heating, Air Conditioning & Electrical Inc. supports National Diabetes Awareness Month, World Diabetes Day, and every American who is affected by this disease. And with National Diabetes Awareness Month just around the corner, that means November and the cold weather aren’t far off, so give us a call at 763-422-1721 to get your heating system up and running before the snow and ice hit.