Juvenile Diabetes
When a child is diagnosed with diabetes, families must learn
how to manage the condition on a daily basis. Education starts
almost immediately with information to absorb and skills to be
practiced. The learning process introduces parents to an array
of medical words and terms that describe diabetes and how to
manage it; insulin,
ketones, shots, pokes, tests, sugars, highs and lows, reactions,
control. Until these words become a part of everyday
language, however, it is easy for misunderstandings to occur.
Take the word
control, for example. It is commonly used when talking
about how effectively diabetes is being managed. For parents,
whose goal is to keep their child as healthy as possible, this
often means keeping a very close watch over blood sugar
readings, amounts and type of food eaten and exercise taken.
For a teen however, 'control' is not so much about keeping
healthy but a threat to his or her need for independence.
It means limiting privacy and the ability to choose for oneself.
It is also easy to see how words like diet and compliance can be
unintentionally viewed as restrictive.
Consequently, this diabetes vocabulary can often be
misinterpreted by both parent and child, resulting in conflict
where neither side feels understood. The
way out of this is to talk less about control and focus more on
the idea and expression of partnership between parent and child,
and child and diabetes. For example, using open-ended
questions such as 'How do you feel you are coping with your
diabetes', or 'What are you finding most difficult about it?',
or 'What would help you now?' is likely to foster a working,
parent-child partnership and avoid excessive conflict. Experts
are finding that this approach generates the kind of support
that children with diabetes need.
Parents must be patient, flexible and willing to respond
accordingly to their child's developing needs. Daily
conversations between parent and child play an important part in
helping to shape the child's view of himself and his world.
Sometimes parents feel that they are not the major influence in
their child's life and that they have been replaced by friends,
movies, television and magazines. Although your child may appear
disinterested, you are still an important source of experience
and knowledge.
Keep in mind that what you say and how you say it can help to
influence the way your child learns to live with diabetes.
Scientists believe that lifestyle and type 2
diabetes are closely linked. This means that lifestyle is one
area individuals can focus on to help prevent or delay the onset
of the condition. A healthy meal plan, weight control,
physical activity and stress reduction are important prevention
steps.
Click
here to review a simple healthy diabetic meal plan.
How is diabetes treated?
Today, more than ever before, people with
diabetes can expect to live active, independent and vital lives
if they make a lifelong commitment to careful diabetes
management.
Diabetes is managed in the following ways:
Education: Diabetes education is an
important first step. All people with diabetes need to learn
about their condition in order to make healthy lifestyle choices
and manage their diabetes.
Physical Activity: Regular physical activity helps your
body lower blood glucose levels, promotes weight loss, reduces
stress and enhances overall fitness.
Nutrition: What, when and how much you eat all play an
important role in regulating how well your body manages blood
glucose levels.
Weight Management: Maintaining a healthy weight is
especially important in the management of type 2 diabetes.
Medication: Type 1 diabetes is always treated with
insulin. Type 2 diabetes is managed through physical activity
and meal planning and may require medications and/or insulin to
assist your body in making or using insulin more effectively.
Lifestyle Management: Learning to reduce stress levels in
day-to-day life can help people with diabetes better manage
their disease.
Blood Pressure: High blood pressure can lead to eye
disease, heart disease, stroke and kidney disease, so people
with diabetes should try to maintain a blood pressure at or
below 130/80.To do this, you may need to change your eating and
physical activity habits and/or take medication.
Click
here to review a simple healthy diabetic meal plan.
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