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Spring 2005

Newsletter Contents:
A Message from the Administrator
What is Type 2 Diabetes?
How does diabetes occur?
What are the symptoms?
How is diabetes diagnosed?
How is diabetes treated?

A MESSAGE FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR

In order to better serve our patients, Weaverville Family Medicine offers extended hours for sick visits and urgent medical care. Our office is open until seven o'clock every evening, Monday through Friday. We are also open from nine o'clock in the morning until three o'clock in the afternoon on Saturdays. Please call 645-3066 to schedule an appointment.

WHAT IS TYPE 2 DIABETES?
When you have type 2 diabetes, your body does not make enough insulin or is unable to use insulin properly. This problem with insulin affects the level of sugar in your blood.

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. When you digest food, your body breaks down much of the food into sugar. Your blood carries the sugar to the cells of your body for energy. Insulin helps the sugar leave the bloodstream and enter the cells. This is how insulin lowers the level of sugar in your blood.

When your body does not have enough insulin or has trouble using insulin, the cells of your body do not absorb enough sugar from your blood. As a result, you have high levels of sugar in your blood. When you have too much sugar in your blood, many problems may occur. These problems can be life-threatening if they are not treated. However, proper treatment can control your blood sugar level.

Type 2 diabetes occurs mostly in adults over age 40, especially overweight adults. Overweight children can also have this type of diabetes. More people are becoming diabetic as more people become overweight. About 16 million people in the U.S. are diabetic. The highest rates are among Native Americans, Hispanics, and African Americans.

HOW DOES TYPE 2 DIABETES OCCUR?
The precise cause of type 2 diabetes is not known, although age and weight appear to be factors. As people become older or overweight, they are more likely to have diabetes. Heredity is also an important factor.

Women who have given birth to large babies, nine pounds or more, or have had gestational diabetes, have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF TYPE 2 DIABETES?
Type 2 Diabetes may cause the following symptoms:

· increased urination
· excessive thirst and drinking lots of fluids
· increased appetite
· weight gain or loss
· blurred vision
· skin infections
· vaginal infections
· tiredness
· slowly healing sores
· abnormal feelings of prickling, burning, or itching of the skin, usually on the hands or feet
· infections of the foreskin in uncircumcised men.

Most people have no symptoms, especially at first.

HOW IS TYPE 2 DIABETES DIAGNOSED?
Your health care provider will ask about your symptoms and test the level of sugar in your blood. Sometimes a glucose tolerance test is done. For this test a sample of your blood is taken when you have not eaten anything since the night before. Then you drink a sugar drink and your blood is tested two hours later. Your health care provider may also test a sample of your urine for sugar.

WHAT IS THE TREATMENT FOR TYPE 2 DIABETES?

The goal of treatment is to control the level of sugar in your blood. You want to keep the sugar level in the same range as a nondiabetic person. This is done by:

· measuring your blood sugar regularly
· meal planning
· exercise
· medicine.

Blood sugar measurements

Keep a log of your blood sugar measurements. Your health care provider will check the log to see how well your treatment is working. Also, a test called hemoglobin A1c can show what your average blood sugar has been over the past 3 months. Your provider may do this test every 3 to 6 months to check your overall control of your blood sugar level.

Meal planning

Your health care provider or a dietician will give you clear guidelines about which foods you should eat and how many calories you should eat each day. If you are overweight, the main treatment is to eat less. Limiting the calories in your diet will help you lose weight. Losing even 7 to 10 pounds can reduce or eliminate your need to take medicine for diabetes.

Exercise

Physical activity is important in managing type 2 diabetes. Exercise improves your circulation and uses up more sugar in your blood. Walking is one of the best exercises you can do. Ask your health care provider for exercise recommendations.

Medicine

If you cannot control your blood sugar with diet and exercise, then your health care provider will prescribe medicine to lower your blood sugar. You may need more than one type of medicine to keep your blood sugar in the normal range.

Insulin is used when diet, exercise, and oral medicines are not keeping your blood sugar levels normal. If you need insulin, you will learn how to give shots to yourself. You may need a shot 1 to 4 times a day. When using any type of diabetic medicine, you must carefully follow you health care provider's directions for checking your blood sugar. This will not only help you achieve good blood sugar control, but it will help you prevent possibly life-threating low levels of blood sugar.

How can I take care of myself?

Taking good care of yourself to avoid complications is especially important with diabetes. Possible diabetic complications include heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, and nerve damage, especially to your feet and legs. Carefully controlling your blood sugar and blood pressure will delay or prevent these complications.

Follow your diet plan.
· Learn how to make healthy choices when you eat out.
· Ask for diabetic meals when you travel.
· Drink water or other noncaloric drinks when you have the urge to eat between meals.
· Avoid compulsive eating.
· Limit the amount of alcohol you drink.
· Buy only the types of food included in your diet plan.
· Eat on a regular schedule.
· Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly.

Follow your health care provider's advice for physical activity.
· Choose activities you like.
· Exercise with friends.

Stop smoking.

Carefully follow the instructions your health care provider has given you for taking any medicine he or she has prescribed.

Other things you can do are:
· Learn how to do proper skin and foot care every day.
· Always carry identification that says you have diabetes, in case of emergency.

Learn about diabetes and its complications so you can make the correct decisions to control your blood sugar levels. Ask your health care provider to refer you to a diabetes educator.

Please join us this summer, for the next edition of the Weaverville Family Medicine Newsletter.

Do you have questions about The Weaverville Family Medicine Newsletter?
Please contact us at 645-3066.

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