Diabetes makes your blood sugar higher than normal. After many years, too much sugar in the blood can cause problems in your body. It can harm your eyes, kidneys, nerves, skin, heart, and blood vessels.
It is very important to keep your blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol level in a healthy range. You should learn the basic steps for managing diabetes and staying as healthy as possible.
Such steps will include diet, exercise, and sometimes medicines. You may need to check your blood sugar daily or more often. Your doctor will also help you by taking blood tests and other tests. These steps will help you keep complications of diabetes away.
You will need to check your blood sugar levels to see how you are doing.
To prevent heart disease and stroke, you may be asked to take medicine and change how you live:
To keep your feet healthy, you should:
A nurse or dietician will teach you about good food choices to lower your blood sugar and stay healthy. Make sure you know how to put together a balanced meal with protein and fiber. Try to eat at the same times each day.
If you have diabetes, you should see your health care providers every 3 months. At these visits your health care provider may:
Visit the dentist every 6 months.
You should see your eye doctor once per year. But your health care provider may ask you to see your eye doctor more often.
American Diabetes Association. Standards of medical care in diabetes -- 2010. Diabetes Care. 2010 Jan;33 Suppl 1:S11-61.
Updated by: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
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