Diabetes is one of the most common diseases today. It is also included in the scariest diseases as well. Whereas diabetes treatment is best done from the beginning, many people suffer from diabetes do not realize it until they got acute. Therefore, knowing the symptoms is important. Diabetes is indicated with high blood levels of glucose. Such condition can cause several problems, including: blurry vision, excessive thirst, easily fatigue, frequent urination, frequent vomiting, increased appetite, and excessive weight loss. However, while patients with type 1 diabetes usually develop symptoms over a short period of time, the most common diabetes, i.e. type 2 diabetes grows slowly that people with high blood sugar may experience no symptoms at all. Therefore, the best way to know whether your blood sugar level is normal is though test.
Diagnosing diabetes
Urine test actually can be used to look for glucose and ketones from the breakdown of fat. However, it does not show whether one is suffering from diabetes or not. Then, blood test is recommended to diagnose diabetes.
There are three type of blood test that can be used for diagnosing diabetes. They are: fasting blood glucose level, oral glucose tolerance test and random blood glucose level. In the first test type, diabetes is diagnosed if the glucose level is higher than 126 mg/dL on two circumstances. Levels between 100 and 126 mg/dL are indicated as impaired weak fasting glucose or prediabetes. These levels are believed to be risk causes for type 2 diabetes and its impediments. In the second test, diabetes is diagnosed if glucose level is higher than 200 mg/dL after 2 hours. This kind of test is used more for type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile, in the third test diabetes is deduced if sugar blood level is higher than 200 mg/dL and came with the classic diabetes symptoms of excessive thirst, frequent urination, and easily fatigue.
Patients of diabetes need to check their hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level every 3 – 6 months. This check measures the average blood glucose in the previous 2 – 3 months. This way, you will be able to monitor whether the treatment is working well on you.
Treatment
Although diabetes usually can never be completely cured, there are several treatments to take care of diabetes and high blood glucose levels. The purposes are to lengthen life, decrease symptoms, and prevent diabetes related compilation such as blindness, heart disease, kidney failure and amputation of certain limbs. The treatment for diabetes patients can be done through medicines, diet, and exercise to control blood sugar and prevent symptoms. The following tips can also be done to treat diabetes.
- Regularly controlling blood pressure and cholesterol
- Regular self testing of blood glucose levels
- Educating people about diabetes for prevention
- Doing certain exercise to maintain organs functions
- Body treatment, especially foot care
- Managing dietary and controlling weight
- Using insulin for medication
