Who is a Diabetic?
Anybody who has the following values present on 2 occasion is a diabetic.
Fasting Blood Sugar >126 mg% or
Random Blood Sugar >200 mg% or
Blood Sugar 2hrs after 75 grams of glucose (PP) > 200mg%
The normal Blood Sugar fasting should be <110 mg% and Post Prandial (PP) should be
<140 mg%.
If the Blood Sugar value falls in-between these values, then the person is called Pre-Diabetic.
Diabetes is a Chronic Disease where there is insufficient insulin production or utilisation. This leads to long term complications involving the Heart, Kidneys, Eyes, Nerves etc.
Home monitoring of sugar
Simple gadgets are available to check the capillary blood sugar at home. Frequent monitoring can help to achieve a smoother control of diabetes.
Diet
It is very important for a diabetic person to avoid highly refined food like sugars (foods with high glycemic index) because this can lead to rapid absorption and raise of blood sugars. So it is essential that the diet is as natural as possible. Excess eating should be avoided so that the body weight remain under control. It is extremely important to bring the body weight near ideal figures. A balanced diet containing cereals, pulses, fruits, vegetables, milk and milk products would suffice.
Exercise
Exercise in any form improves the sugar control. It increases the sensitivity of insulin. One should not stop exercise in spite of the frustration of not loosing weight.
Drugs
All drug therapy require proper supervision by the physician. Several groups of drug are available which either increase insulin production (Gliblenclamide, Glypizide etc) or increase insulin sensitivity (Glitazones) or increase utilization of sugar (Metformin) or reduce sugar absorption from the intestine (Acarbose). Insulin itself is available in several forms. The drugs which increase insulin production often lead to weight gain. Drugs can either lead to weight gain or weight loss. The type of drug should be decided by the physician accordingly.
Do not stop the drugs even if the blood sugar is under good control without the physicians advice.