Diabetes Management

My great aunt used to “manage” her diabetes by scraping off the frosting before treating herself to a piece of cake. She and her husband held a deep distrust of their doctor, and, living in a rural area, did not have many options for seeking care. Needless to say, Aunt Maude did not live out her twilight years as comfortably as she might have.

Today’s seniors have a lot more options for diabetes management. There is a wealth of information available online, some of it more trustworthy than others. Nonetheless, careful research can help make living with diabetes more comfortable and easy. Additionally, there are a number of tools available to help manage and monitor one’s diabetic condition at home. Whether you trust those “darn doctors” or not, it is always important to be under the care of a physician, but daily monitoring of glucose levels can be handled quite easily. Glucose monitors are readily available, as well as inexpensive. It’s important to know one’s blood glucose level and check it regularly. Seniors run a greater risk for reactions to low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Another monitor that’s handy to have at home is one for checking blood pressure. Although more expensive than monitoring glucose, this, too, is important, because high blood pressure can lead to heart disease, the number one cause of death for people with diabetes.

Results from this at-home monitoring help doctors treat diabetics more effectively. Medications are important, but the levels can be reduced through higher degrees of exercise and more care with one’s diet. Even those for whom “diet” is a dirty word can find tasty diabetic recipes online or in special cookbooks. Working regular exercise into the day, even something as simple as a morning walk, actually becomes more important in overall health as one ages. Making better choices in life management can lead to a happy, long life, frequently free from the complications associated with diabetes.

Playing an active role in planning healthy living for those with diabetes is particularly important for seniors. Rather than feeling betrayed by an aging body that no longer functions as desired, a senior can be proud of strides made through exercise and diet control. Following simple rules for medication, exercise, and nutrition for diabetics can make a senior’s golden years richly rewarding, much more so than just feeling noble for scraping off the frosting.