Minimizing the Negative Health Effects of Diabetes

By Julia Hanf
Without proper treatment, diabetes can have negative short-term and long-term health effects. With care it is possible to nearly avoid most effects.

Rapid spikes or dips in blood glucose level can result in several unpleasant effects: dizziness, disorientation, muscle weakness, nausea and others. For some diabetics, it's very difficult to prevent this from happening at some time. But there are practices that can improve the odds.

Monitoring is vital. Pricking your finger three times a day is wearisome, but worth the effort. Some new glucose monitoring devices don't require painful pricks.

Newer devices may use a tiny laser to make an opening for the blood. This causes a mild tingling feeling. Monitors are available which require no blood; they test the glucose level through your skin via an infrared beam.

The aim is to maintain a normal or near normal glucose-insulin balance. A fasting glucose level of under 99mg/dL is normal in non-diabetics. After a heavy meal, glucose may increase to over 200 mg/dL, but in non-diabetics released insulin will bring the level down within two hours. So keeping a proper glucose level means maintaining a balance, rather than keeping the glucose level at a steady number.

Part of a long-term glucose monitoring strategy should encompass regular physician visits with a quarterly A1C test. Several tests exist to measure blood glucose level at a given time. The A1C test provides a picture averaged over a period of months. The name comes from HbA1c, an abbreviation for glycated hemoglobin.

Hemoglobin molecules transport oxygen to the tissues from the red blood cells. When the blood has extra glucose, hemoglobin becomes glycated. Since this a long-term effect the A1C test can obtain an average of the glucose levels over time.

The effects of diabetes continue over the long-term. In the past, many diabetics would suffer from kidney damage, blindness, nerve damage and ills within a decade or so of the condition's onset. Luckily this need not occur. Modern medical knowledge enables most diabetics to lead nearly normal lives, with few ill effects.

Much of this management is disciplined exercise and diet. Many diabetics can keep their glucose-insulin balance nearly normal through diet and exercise, without medicine.

Because diet and exercise help keep body fat low, the effects of diabetes are minimized. Body fat plays a role in hormone production and release and it also interferes with the body's reaction to glucose levels. Several studies show a definite correlation between the degree of diabetes and the degree of body fat, but the mechanisms for this are unclear.

Proper weight and body fat maintenance will also help keep blood pressure at the right level. Chronic high blood pressure is one of the major elements in increasing the risk of common diabetes problems: heart attack and stroke, eye and nerve damage, and others.

With diligence a diabetic can lead a normal life, one very much like those fortunate enough not to have the condition. A little attention a few times a day can lead to not having to pay too much attention at all.