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| Diabetes Information |
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Preparing Your Child and Family for Life With Diabetes
After the initial shock of diagnosis wears off and we become more comfortable with administering insulin shots, scheduling blood tests and mealtimes, and carbohydrate counting we have a chance to look to the future. At that point it really begins to sink in what a long-term commitment parenting a diabetic child really is. We now understand we have been drawn into a different lifestyle that will last as long as we are parents. Even when our child is grown up and leaves home we will still be concerned and involved with the diabetes community. If you are finding that you are having trouble managing your child's diabetes let me first share some statistics I found so you realize you are not alone. 35-75% do not follow meal plans all of the time Now that we understand how difficult it is to live with a chronic and potentially deadly disease, the question is how do we teach our children the reality of diabetes while still allowing them to be kids and trying to keep their lives as normal as possible. An experience that if you haven't run into you soon will is birthday parties. They are everything you need to avoid to keep your child's diabetes under control but they're also an important aspect of your child's life. With some planning you can have both. You can learn the specifics of this and many other situations you will face in my ebook "So Your Child Has Diabetes". The point is life and diabetes can go on together. Just as important, your child's friends learn about diabetes and talk about it. They don't discriminate, they include your child. We as parents need to be adults in these types of situations. We are the voices of maturity, reality and humanity. We are the ones who allow our children to talk about their disease and how it makes them feel as well as keeping them focused on self-care. We are the ones who keep the disease from overcoming our family. When you let your child talk to you about how they feel about having diabetes you will find your child has less emotional stress and better control of their blood glucose levels. General family stress can greatly affect blood glucose levels. It's a delicate balance. When your child's blood glucose levels are out of control it can cause stress in the family and when there's stress in the family it can cause out of control blood glucose levels. You need to be prepared for these times. The Children's Hospital that treats my daughter has an excellent Mental Health Department. Other communities have a variety of services they offer. Make yourself aware of them and know where to turn before things start to get out of control. One of the things that really surprised me was the difference in the way I perceived diabetes and the way my daughter perceived it over time. I found it easier to cope with diabetes as time went on. You get into a rhythm and your comfort level with treatment increases. On the other hand my daughter found that the emotional distress associated with diabetes increased as time went by. We need to be aware that just because we are better at dealing with diabetes it doesn't mean our children need less of our day to day care. A mistake I made was assuming that my 10-year-old did not need me to constantly supervise her blood glucose monitoring. After she went on an insulin pump it was no longer necessary for me to administer insulin. She had been checking her own blood levels for quite a while. Even though she was checking her own blood, while I was giving the shots I was right there to make sure she checked properly and at the correct times. Once she went on the pump that wasn't the case anymore. I noticed that she wasn't nearly as conciencious when I wasn't there. This is just normal in the development of a child. Our children need us to keep them safe while they achieve these developmental skills. In order to properly prepare our children for life with diabetes we must remember how we feel when we are ill. We hate it. Feeling lousy, unable to enjoy some of our normal activities. Imagine how this is magnified in our diabetic child. They never get a break. No rest from it, no vacation. No wonder they experience emotional problems. Never forget this. Our children need to know that we will always be there for them. They are not facing this alone. Listening to our children about their feelings is important but not enough. We also need to talk to them about what happens if they don't take good care of their diabetes. We need to be careful. We don't want our children to think that there is something wrong with them or to feel ashamed if their blood glucose levels aren't always under control. In this case children are like puppies. They respond better to reward for proper behavior that to punishment for wrong behavior. Finally we need to realize that preparing for life with diabetes is an ongoing process. You can't control the process all of the time. Just take care of it one day at a time. With your help your child can understand this process of diabetes control and you don't have to become "that diabetic family". With preparation and awareness you, your child and the rest of your family can live healthy normal lives. Russell Turner is the father of a 10 year old Type 1 Juvenile Diabetic daughter. When she was first diagnosed he quickly found there was all kinds of information on the internet about the medical aspects of this dsease. What he could not find was information about how to prepare his family to live with this disease. He started a website http://www.mychildhasdiabetes.com and designed it so parents of newly diagnosed children would have a one-stop resource to learn to prepare for life with diabetes.
Diabetes - Google News |
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Alternative Medicine Can We Do More for Diabetics? New Research Suggests that We Can Diabetes can briefly be defined as a state when the body's blood glucose is too high. The body does require a certain amount of sugar in the blood; however, those suffering from diabetes have levels much higher than what is needed. Diabetes Awareness: Diabetes on the Job When you go to work, your diabetes goes with you. Diabetes Breakthrough Helps Diabetics Fight Back! Have you heard about the diabetes breakthrough that lowers blood sugar levels by 30% in 30 days? The all natural Diabetic Pack was developed with Nobel Prize Winning Science. This FoodMatrix biotechnology has a 4 year proven track record of helping take diabetics off insulin and oral medications. Diabetic Foot Care Tips: Cant Afford to Ignore It! Most of the time, we focus on health or skin care completely ignoring the importance of our feet. Foot care is equally important especially for diabetic people to avoid foot complications. Feet is one part of our body which is used the most. Even then, we tend to ignore it until we don't come across some serious feet problem. Feet are made up of 26 bones, held together by tendons, ligaments and muscles and wrapped in skin. Diabetes and Fitness There are two main types of diabetes, type I and type II. Type I diabetes is characterized by the pancreas making too little or no insulin. An individual with diabetes type I will have to inject insulin throughout the day in order to control glucose levels. Type II diabetes, also known as adult onset diabetes, is characterized by the pancreas not producing enough insulin to control glucose levels or the cells not responding to insulin. When a cell does not respond to insulin, it is known as insulin resistance. When a subject is diagnosed with type II diabetes, exercise and weight control are prescribed as measures to help with insulin resistance. If this does not control glucose levels, then medication is prescribed. The risk factors for type II diabetes include: inactivity, high cholesterol, obesity, and hypertension. Inactivity alone is a very strong risk factor that has been proven to lead to diabetes type II. Exercise will have a positive effect on diabetes type II while improving insulin sensitivity while type I cannot be controlled be an exercise program. Over 90% of individuals with diabetes have type II. Diabetes Awareness: The Downside... a New Wardrobe? Here is some commonsense thinking: Diabetes is Manageable It is estimated that over 18 million people over the age of 20 in this country have diabetes. Persons over the age of 45 and those considered obese according to the Bio Mass Index are in elevated risk categories for this potentially fatal disease. Once diagnosed the potential health conditions that may result are: partial to complete blindness, kidney disease, hypoglycemia and certain sexual and urological problems including erectile dysfunction in men. Despite all of these potential effects the truth is very simple-diabetes is manageable! Hyperglycemia, Diabetes, and Managing Blood Sugar So, after a miserable 10 hours of blood tests it's confirmed you have hyperglycemia. Well now isn't the time to sit back and get depressed. Look at the positive side, now you know why you've been tired and worn out for all of this time. Diagnosed in 1982 with hyperglycemia it was harder to maintain a steady blood sugar rate. These days with the advanced technology available for instantly checking blood sugar, the disease is easier to manage. Diabetes: Diabetics Fight Back Many cases of diabetes go unnoticed or unchecked before a person or their doctor realizes the inevitable. This disease silently uses destructive high blood sugars to gradually damage the body for months or even years, before symptoms are noted. Accu-Check Aviva Glucometer - New for Diabetes Testing Now you can help make every test strip count as you can test right the very first time. Diabetes Awareness: Will They Recognize You? Imagine how it feels to look younger, feel younger, and act younger! Now, think about how others see you. Are you ready to make a lasting impression on your friends and family? Great! Diabetes And The Long Term Dangers Diabetes has hidden dangers that begin before diagnosis and continue to worsen if certain steps are not taken to prevent the complications that are the true, "killers" in terms of diabetes. Tools to Manage Your Diabetes It's estimated that in the US, over 18 million people over the age of 20 have diabetes. If you happen to have been diagnosed with diabetes, make sure you are getting all the right diabetes treatment supplies. Also check to make sure that your glucose levels are within the accepted guidelines. Take any other additional steps your physician has advised but most of all, go out and live your life because your diabetes IS manageable! Pre-Diabetes Awareness: Gamblers Understand the Odds Do you gamble? Play Texas Hold'em poker, casino games, or lotteries? Then understanding your odds of winning is part of the challenge. Raising Happy Diabetic Kids Part II This is the second article in a series I am writing about how to raise happy diabetic children. You can find the first article titled Help Your Child Develope Self-Confidence in our article archives. Type II Diabetes: Insulin-Dependent Diabetes The term diabetes refers to higher than normal levels of sugar, or glucose, in the blood. Type II diabetes, also known as insulin-dependent diabetes, was commonly referred to as adult onset diabetes until recently when the name no longer accurately describes the population with this disease. Pre-Diabetes: Check Engine Warning Light Your car has an early detection system and so does your body. Take 3 minutes to read this article and learn how you can save yourself a life time of aches, pains, and costly medical bills. Ascensia Breeze Glucometer Rated Simple Testing Over and Over Diabetes Awreness: There?s No Substitute for Good Friends Was there a time when you relished the idea of giving dinner parties? Diabetic Fruits Fruit gives you energy, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
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