Exercise moves glucose out of the blood and into muscle cells. It need not be strenuous, but should be done regularly.
Diabetics can eat all types of blood, as long as they are attentive to serving sizes – especially of carbohydrates. They should check their blood glucose level to monitor how food choices affect it. Since each person has different dietary needs, ideally a dietitian should help design the most effective meal plan.
Remember Frank Papsadore ?. He now exercises at least six days a week. And he eats low – fat food like grilled tuna – in controlled portions. He’s lost 45 pounds and has been able to stop taking medication while keeping his blood sugar near normal.
The effectiveness af a diet – and – exercise combination for those with Type 2 was brought home this year by the Diabetes Prevention Program, which looked at more than 3000 adults with elevated blood sugar levels. They were given modest weight loss and exercise targets – lose seven percent of body weight, for instance and compared with a similar group without those targets. After about three years, patients who made lifestyle changes had less than half the rate of diabetes of the other group.
Lifestyle changes often aren’t enough, however. A variety of medications help lower blood sugar : Glucophage, for example, keeps the liver from producing excess glucose. TZDs make cells more sensitive to accepting insulin. About 40 percent of Type 2 diabetics, mainly those whose pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin, also need insulin injections. Lantus is a new type of insulin that may reduce the number of shots from two a day to one. In the next few years, insulin may be available in the form of a patch, pill, mouth spray and inhalant.
There is also a blood test called hemoglobin A1C that tells diabetics how well they are doing at keeping glucose and insulin on an even keel. Administered four times a year, A1C calculates the average of blood sugar levels over the previous three months. It shows whether you have a higher or lower chance of future problems. But stabilizing blood sugar levels doesn’t seem to do enough to prevent sufferers from developing heart disease. In fact, people with diabetes run two to four times the normal risk of heart disease and stroke. Among the reasons : Diabetics have stickier platelety – tiny cell fragments that help blood clots form – than nondiabetics and poorer blood flow, which increases the chance of blocked arteries. These danger spots are fatty deposits called plaques. In diabetics the plaques are often small, soft and easily ruptured, causing a clot that can suddenly block the whole artery.
