DIABETES QUESTION OF MONTH - Health BeatIf you’re living with diabetes or have been recently diagnosed, you surely have questions and concerns about this chronic condition. We’ll get you answers from a Spectrum Health team of doctors, nurses and dietitians.

Question:

Diabetes is a difficult chronic condition. Will it limit my life choices? I’m the only one in my family with it.

Answer:

Many people with diabetes live as if they were in perfect health: famous actors, professional athletes, business executives. Very little, if anything, holds them back. Don’t let diabetes keep you from living your life to the fullest.

A supportive and understanding family can make it easier for you to live well with diabetes. And it helps if all family members are following a healthy, well-balanced meal plan. But even if they aren’t, you can eat anything you want when you have diabetes; you just have to control the portion size and recognize the trade-offs and consequences when you eat “off balance.”

Question:

Modern treatments for diabetes have improved from just a short time ago, right?

Answer:

Yes, definitely. There are plenty of stories about how grandma used to have to boil her syringes, rinse them out with bleach and then only reuse them three times. None of that is true anymore. Many products are now easily available for monitoring blood sugar levels and, if needed, dispensing insulin in precise doses, creating stability and predictability.

Being predictable is important because this gives control to a person with diabetes.

You’ll get to know your body’s responses to the foods you eat. You’ll know what your blood sugar level will be in a few hours; you’ll know when your insulin will start working. You can plan your day. You’ll know when it’s safe to exercise, to drive your car and when it’s safe to go to your meeting at work.