India may be the second most populated country in the world; however, it’s already beaten everyone to become the diabetes capital. National NCD Monitoring Survey, led by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Centre for Disease Informatics & Research (ICMR-NCDIR), Bengaluru, with support from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Government of India suggested that 9.3% adult population in our country were living with diabetes. Correlate that to numbers, it’s huge.
Diabetes has become so common that most of us have someone in our family who has it. It’s no longer a disease of the elderly, it’s rising in number in the young people aged between 20-40 yrs. Lifestyle changes, lack of awareness, food habits, and genetic predisposition are a few reasons responsible for the rise of cases.
In my family, both my parents & in-laws have diabetes. As a caregiver to my seniors, I have learned how to take care of & help them manage diabetes effectively. I keep on updating myself in this respect as knowledge and awareness are the keys. I recently saw a very insightful discussion on the same.
Sharing my 5 Key takeaways from the discussion – some I already uphold while others were new for me are as follows.
Be regular with your medication:
Proper diabetes management can help control it effectively. Once you are diagnosed, regular medication is vital in maintaining your blood sugar levels. Since it’s a chronic disease, daily medication becomes part and parcel of life, and we all have tendencies to miss our doses for various reasons. One thing I have learnt from this discussion is that taking your medicines timely is important.
Having a patient at home with high blood sugar and missing medication can lead to complications and even hospitalization, which will only worsen the situation and increase the cost of treatment.
We usually keep medications at home for 2-3 months and check the stock regularly to prevent missing doses.
Healthy & Balanced meals:
Having a healthy balanced meal is imperative for every person; however, its significance increases for someone living with diabetes. A doctor can advise a list of food items that the person can take.
Having smaller proportions and a regular intake of food helps a lot. With small modifications, we can enjoy our favourite food items easily.
Home-cooked food is ideal for someone living with diabetes because we can take all the precautions while making it. Less processed food is easy for digestion.
In case of travel, we need to monitor our food intake and select the food items which won’t cause much trouble.
Regular exercise:
Regular physical activity increases your Insulin sensitivity which is good for your body.
Start slow and build up gradually. It can start with a simple walk, increased physical activity like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, simple exercises at home, etc.
As a caregiver, we need to keep in mind to rotate the activities to avoid monotony and maintain regularity for the patient.
Monitoring & Testing of Sugar levels:
Monitoring is essential for every person with diabetes. Thankfully folks at home understand it and are pretty regular in their monitoring. A person with diabetes has chances of high or low blood sugar which needs attention and monitoring is the mirror to see these changes inside the body.
People living with diabetes can check their blood sugar with a prick at home. However, regular pricking can be a cause of concern. I am glad to learn about the concept of Continuous Glucose Monitoring devices like FreeStyle Libre from this discussion. A device that can help continuous monitor glucose levels without a prick is a boon, trust me.
Daily pricking does cause pain in the fingers; I have seen that with my parents.
Emotional Support:
Last but not the least, emotional support plays a major role in any disease or situation. For any individual to accept that he has got a chronic disease and medicines are part of his/her life permanently is not easy.
Our parents especially are in such a stage of their life that such lifestyle diseases affect them a lot. Restrictions really make them irritable many times, so we really need to take care of their mental and physical well-being.
With regular tracking and good mental and physical health, we can take care of diabetes effectively. As a caregiver, our role is crucial and equally tough. We need to take care of certain lifestyle changes to help our loved ones manage diabetes better. I am glad I was able to participate in this discussion.
Know more about FreeStyle Libre and Continuous Glucose Monitoring.
You can buy FreeStyle Libre here.
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