Archive for October, 2009

Normal Blood Sugar Levels in Diabetes

Fasting : 80-120 mg/dl
Pre-meal : Less than 130 mg/dl
Post-meal(PP) : Less than 160 mg/dl
A diabetic should strive to maintain his/her blood sugar level as close to normal level as possible.

Low Blood Sugar
Insulin or pills help to control diabetes but can sometimes cause low blood sugar, especially during/after exercise if you :
- Skip a meal.
- Eat late meals.
- Do not eat enough.
- Take too much medication.

If you have low blood sugar, you may feel shaky or dizzy, sweaty irritable, hungry or tired. In such conditions, it is important to eat or drink something sweet right away. Consult your doctor immediately.

High Blood Sugar
In general, high blood sugar is defined as plasma glucose above 126 mg/dl fasting and above 200 mg/dl after meals. If your blood sugar remains high for long periods of time, it can cause significant short term and long term complications as mentioned. It is therefore important to keep your blood sugar under control by creating a balance between lifestyle modifications and medications such as pills or insulin.

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Title : Living with Diabetes

Diabetes cannot be cured…
Accepting this reality is the first step in coping with diabetes. If you do not control your diabetes, then diabetes will control your life. In the short term, it adversely affects your quality of life and prevents you from leading a normal life, by making you feel exhausted, dizzy, irritable, hungry, thirsty and with a frequent need to urinate. In the long term, it silently cause irreversible damage to multiple organs like the eyes, nerves, kidneys, heart and blood vessels. It is the leading cause for blindness, heart attack, kidney failure and foot infections that may require amputation.

But Diabetes can be controlled.
A tight control on your diet and lifestyle along with moderate but regular exercise, can help you take care of your complications and allow you to lead a normal, healthy life.

What is Diabetes ?
Diabetes is a disease that causes the level of sugar in the blood to rise. Our body converts the food we eat into sugar. Insulin, produced by the pancreas, helps our tissues to absorb the sugar from our blood so that the cells can use it for producing energy.

Type 1 Diabetes
The type 1 diabetes or Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus occurs more often among young people. They must take insulin by injection, because their body either does not make insulin at all or does not
make enough of it.

Type 2 Diabetes
In case of type 2 diabetes or Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes mellitus, the body makes insulin but this insulin does not function properly. This disease often strikes in adulthood, occurring in people with a strong family history of diabetes. It is most common among people who are overweight.

Glaucoma and its details

Glaucoma is a condition of increased fluid pressure inside the eye. This damages the optic nerve, causing partial vision loss
and eventually blindness. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness.

What causes Glaucoma ?
It is caused when the fluid produced inside the eye is not drained properly. This causes pressure on the back of the eye and leads
to deteriorating vision and pain.

How does a person know if he/she is at risk ?
Although the risk factors depend on the type of Glaucoma, its risk increases if you :
- have a family history of glaucoma.
- suffer from diabetes.
- have previously injured your eye.
- are near-sighted or long-sighted.
- are over 40 years old.

What are the different types of Glaucoma ?
There are two common types of Glaucoma :
- Open angle Glaucoma : It is a slow process that develops gradually with age and usually results in a lateral vision loss.
- Closed angle Glaucoma : It develops quickly and builds intracular pressure rapidly to cause symptoms like halos (seeing round
circles around light), pain, etc.

What are the symptoms of Glaucoma ?
The symptoms of Glaucoma are different for each kind. Sometimes, a person with Glaucoma experiences no symptoms. But when symptoms
do occur, these include :
- Open angle Glaucoma
* Gradual loss of peripheral vision.
* Blurred or foggy vision.
- Closed angle Glaucoma
* Severe eye pain.
* Facial pain.
* Loss of vision.
* Cloudy vision with rainbow halos appearing around lights.
* Red eye.
* Dilated pupil.
* Nausea and vomiting.

What should be done if these symptoms occur ?
Schedule an appointment with Opthalmololgist for a thorough eye examination which includes :
- Visual acuity.
- Refraction.
- Pupillary reflex response.
- Intraocular pressure measurement by tonometry.
- Slit lamp examination.
- Retinal examination.
- Visual field measurement.
Glaucoma cannot be prevented but an early diagnosis and treatment can prevent vision loss. Opthalmoscopic examinations and tonometry should
be conducted every two years after 35 years of age.
If left untreated, Glaucoma can lead to :
- Reduced vision.
- Tunnel vision.
- Blindness