From having sweets for celebratory occasions to a no-sugar life, diabetes can change your life. In fact, diabetes is one of the largest global health challenges. In India alone, 69.2 million people have diabetes and another 36.5 million are pre-diabetics. Alarming isn’t it? Many people are bound to be blown away by these figures. More so, when they find self or any of their family members’ blood-sugar test pointing towards a higher value.
Among the two significant types of diabetes, Type 2 diabetes is more prevalent than Type 1. The blatant truth about this disease be it Type-1 & or Type-2 form is that it can happen to anybody. Of course, there are some factors like heredity, improper lifestyle habits and more that can trigger the onset of this condition. Pregnancy is also one such factor which can cause the onset of diabetes in expectant mothers.
Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that occurs during pregnancy in women who don’t have a previous history of the same. In this type of diabetes, maintenance of the right glucose levels within the body does not happen. This situation needs special care and attention as with higher levels of glucose levels, the probability of health risk for mother and child increases manifold.
However, there is a silver lining to this situation as diabetes is one ailment that can be controlled by a few lifestyle modifications that every caregiver must know and implement. I recently attended an informative session on diabetes management which was hosted by Blogchatter. In the session diabetes expert, the speakers shared the important 3 Ms’ for diabetes management.
In this article, I am sharing important takeaways from the same.
List of Contents
Monitoring
Diabetes is a growing challenge in India with an estimated 8.7% diabetic population in the age group of 20 and 70 years. 1 As much as it is worrying to hear about this, one cannot deny the negligence in getting yearly or bi-yearly health check-ups by most of us. Keeping a tab on glucose levels with health check-ups is the key to avoiding diabetes.
Regular monitoring of glucose levels becomes even more important for pre-diabetic people and of course people with diabetes. However, for living fully with diabetes or for that matter women who have gestational diabetes or for diabetes management in senior citizens one needs to have continuous glucose monitoring. Earlier with conventional glucose monitoring devices, it was difficult to keep a track of glucose levels before and after every meal owing to the need for finger pricks. But with technological advancements, today there are Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) devices like FreeStyle Libre which can help in seamless monitoring of glucose levels without the need of pricking again and again.
Today as a part of diabetes management, a concept that now doctors more commonly use is ‘Time in Range’. In common language, it is the percentage amount of time that a diabetic person spends in the normal range. Ideally, doctors aim to keep the patients 70% of their time in the normal range. But doctors also keep a tab on the time percentage when the diabetic person goes on higher glucose range and lower glucose range. For this kind of monitoring using CGM devices is very helpful. You can read more about the utility and usage details of .
Meals – Food to eat in Diabetes and what not to avoid
India with its rapid urbanization has become a food rich country from being a food-deprived one. So meals play a huge role in both preventing the onset of diabetes and also its management after detection. For living fully with diabetes one should have foods low in glycaemic index, and more fresh fruits, legumes, vegetables and pulses. While one should avoid high in sugar food & drinks. Processed junk foods that are high on calories and food with higher glycaemic index (G.I. value) also should be avoided as these varieties of food causes weight gain amounting to obesity.
Fruits too have low and high G.I. value so for better diabetes management one can choose to eat fruits like berries, apples etc. In fact, some dry fruits like almond and walnut can also be made a part of the diet. Eating food rich in fibre not only helps in better digestion but also brings down the GI value of a meal thus aiding in managing glucose level post meals.
Making a Move
Increased physical activity is one significant change all people with diabetes should make for an active life. As a matter of fact, the prevalence of Diabetes nowadays can be amounted to lowered physical activity. Exercise aids in weight management & also helps in stress management. Apart from this making simple activities like walking, yoga, swimming & dancing/aerobics a part of your daily life can really help in preventing the onset of diabetes and diabetes management too.
However, for all kinds of diabetes, the exercises should be started after proper consultation with a doctor. Precautions in terms of timings etc. need to be strictly adhered to. Here also the benefit of continuous glucose monitoring is very high as the person living with diabetes can track which exercise helped him or her for effectively bringing down glucose levels.
Being a caregiver myself and having seen a family member living with diabetes, I feel it is my duty to spread awareness about more precise ways of diabetes management. If you found this post helpful then do let me know in the comment section or share the post with your near and dear ones. You can check and buy FreeStyle Libre Continuous Glucose Monitor in India here.
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The three M’s, Move, Meals, and Monitoring so succinctly sums up proper management of diabetes. These are indeed the essential points to focus on by caregives of diabetic patients. Sandy N Vyjay
It is very helpful and thank you for sharing. We don’t have diabetic patients in family but it’s so common these days. We should be aware about it.
Very well written & informative article. Yes, glucose monitoring is very important for diabetic patients & I will check Freestyle libre glucose monitor.
The caregiver should know all these details while taking care of a diabetic person. It is very important to be educated on every aspect.
Diabetes is a lifestyle disorder, and correcting one’s lifestyle is so important to battle diabetes. Monitoring regularly glucose levels is of paramount importance coupled with a healtthy and stress-free lifestyle.
Informative post about diabetes. I agree that being active and the right diet helps in controlling diabetes. And also one definitely needs to monitor the sugar levels regularly.
The caretakers of diabetic patients just very well be wa aware of the three pointers that you have given.freestype libre seems to be good one to monitor
Diabetes can be crippling for the entire family. Really love how you have touched all the important points so thoroughly. Living with DM requires a well balanced lifestyle.
That’s such an informative post. With the help of these pointers one can control and stay safe.
I’ve cared for my mom who had diabetes since many years. All your pointers are right and must be followed to stay healthy despite diabetes.
diabetes is so common nowadays, but glad to know that people are so much in to make right choices while managing life with diabetes and keeping a good monitor on the same is crucial.
No one in my family has diabetic but it is good to know about it. It is very helpful and useful Post.
These are the most important things to be taken care of when one is diabetic or pre-diabetic. Monitoring, food and mobilization – all play crucial role in our lives.
My father had diabetes and I have seen him follow these important pointers to keep his diabetes in check. I agree that the food, exercise and monitoring are most important.
Controlling diabetes is very important and especially monitoring it regularly is one of the crucial things in controlling it. Thanks for this informative post.
Balanced diet, right medication and routine exercise can treat most of the diseases and in case of diabetes apart from all these regular monitoring is really important. Very insightful post and need to be shared.
I agree with you, even I am a caregiver and understand that we have to be more vigilant and aware how to handle and monitor glucose.
My father in law is having diabetes for last 35 years and even after reaching senior citizen age he is doing well. The reason behind this is that he is disciplined and eat, sleep, walk in proportion as required to stay fit with this disease. But credit Aldo goes to my mom in law because nothing would have been possible without her care
Diabetes is a condition that requires proper managementt. Apart from prescribed regular medication, periodic monitoring, diet and exercise is what is required .
Diabetes is one deadly disease. What’s more sad is this can be inherited and come with your genes making others no choice but to live with it. Great content on how living with diabetes can be made easy.
A great write. My father was an endocrinologist and had diabetes. Nothing can be a worse ailment than this. It interferes in any and all treatments like blood pressure, heart, kidneys, cancer etc. one needs to be very careful regarding this.
The pyramid representation has made it so easy to remember the steps in diabetes management for the care giver and even for the patient himself or herself , Diabetes is a silent killer and we all must be aware of its management , thank you for the reminder and the knowledge
Diabetes brings on a lifestyle change that goes till the end of your life and it is an healthy road must say. Being a vigilant caregiver is also an important task in a hand. The post is insightful.
You explained really well. My father in-law has diabetes, he is 80 but still doing well because he really take good care of his eating, walking, sleeping etc. Your article is really helpful.
Diabetes is probably the .ost dangerous.lifestyle disease as it could lead to many other complications. Your article throws light in the right direction
A great post with lot of information for anyone interested to know about continuous glucose monitoring. Thank you for sharing this,
This is a very informative. Thanks for sharing.
I feel all the caregivers should follow the points you have mentioned above. Even the pyramid explains your points really well. It is a great way to manage the diabetes.