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Lots of patients ask, how to treat type two diabetes? If you think you or any of your friends and family has been experiencing some signs of diabetes, you may want to consult a psychologist or seek medical help as soon as you can on how to treat type two diabetes. If potential diabetic patients are diagnosed at an early stage and were given treatment as soon as possible, you’d be able to deal with it and manage its effects. People who seek professional help live very normal lives. In this article, you’ll learn how to treat type two diabetes and tips on how to manage the disease.
How to Treat Type Two Diabetes: What You Need to Know
You are not yet considered diabetic if you haven’t hit the target or official level of glucose in your bloodstream but of course, you will eventually get to that stage if you don’t get diagnosed early on which is why it’s important that you know how to treat type two diabetes.
Physicians recommend routine testing for type II diabetes if you are 45 years and above, if you are overweight (especially at a young age) and if you are a woman who recently just gave birth and had a history of gestational diabetes. Aside from that, doctors also advise routine checkup for obese kids between the ages of 10 and 18 as well as kids who had a low birth weight or if the mother had diabetes while she was pregnant with the child.
Tests for Diagnosis
The kind of test that doctors usually implement to detect if you are predisposed to diabetes or positive of the disease is called the Hemoglobin A1C test, also referred to as HbA1c or Glycohemoglobin test. The test simply provides information about the average blood glucose level for the 3 – month period. It is the primary test that will lead to how to treat type two diabetes. It will pretty much tell you on what stage you are (either pre-diabetic or diabetic stage).
Your physician may advise you to take other types of test for accuracy purposes. Nevertheless, it’s important to let your doctor or medical provider administer the test especially if you think you have the symptoms or would want a simple routine checkup. You should not just buy glucose test equipment at a drug store to see for yourself because more often than not it is inaccurate. Always seek professional help especially on how to treat type two diabetes.
How to Treat Type Two Diabetes: Managing the Disease
Aside from eating healthy foods and taking proper exercise or physical activity, you will eventually be advised to take medications and of course insulin intake. In this section, we’ll discuss some methods on how to take insulin, oral medicines for diabetes as well as other injectable meds for you to be able to how to treat type two diabetes and also manage the disease as it progresses from one phase to another.
Common Medications
Various kinds of diabetes medications are a big help on how to treat type two diabetes as well as control and manage it. Physicians usually recommend diabetic patients an oral medication such as metformin pills. These pills are the “starter” pills, they are in liquid form, and can help you lower the blood glucose in your liver as well as help your body properly use the naturally occurring insulin. For slightly overweight patients, this drug could also help you lose some weight.
There are other diabetes medications that act in different ways to lower or control the rising levels of your blood sugar. Your doctor will most probably recommend one or two diabetic pills in combination with other treatment methods to help normalize the glucose in your bloodstream.
It’s also important to always have a follow – up checkup with your doctor so that you can have a gauge if the current medication is working or not. Here are some guidelines before taking any diabetic oral medications and how to treat type two diabetes the right way:
Always talk to a legit doctor or pharmacist before taking any medication so that you should be aware of its effects and possible side – effects on the body. If there are any side – effects you should report it immediately to the doctor so that he or she can change the medicine or maybe give a more appropriate dosage. Don’t suddenly stop taking any medication without first consulting your doctor, or combine it with other types of medicine. This could worsen your condition and the pill or medicine may not work properly if the scheduled or frequency of intake is not followed.
How to Treat Type Two Diabetes: Other Types
Insulin
For patients who are just in the pre-diabetes stage, you may not yet be advised to take insulin as long as proper nutrition and exercise worked out, but if things didn’t go well, your disease will naturally progress to a point where your body will not be producing enough insulin to help your cells absorb blood sugar, which is why most patients start to take in insulin. Insulin intake is a must if you are officially diagnosed as diabetic.
There are various methods in which you can take insulin; this may depend on your preference, lifestyle, insurance coverage, budget, etc. The most common type of insulin intake is through needles but there are also other unique and probably better ways for different types of diabetic patients such as insulin pump, pen injections, inhalers, injection ports, and jet injectors.
Needle and Syringe
The most common type of insulin intake is through the needle and syringe. You can do an insulin shot to yourself or other people may administer it for you. Once you filled up your syringe with insulin from a vial or bottle you can inject it right in your belly, in your arm, in your thighs, or even your butt. Although according to most medical professionals, insulin works fastest when injected in the belly or on your tummy, just make sure to change the spots where you inject the insulin.
Insulin Pen
Insulin pens work just like a needle and syringe, the only difference is that insulin pens already comes filled with insulin and has a needle. Unlike in ordinary injections, you need to fill up the syringe and manually put in the needle before taking the shot. Insulin pens are much easier to use and also portable. There are some versions where you can insert a cartridge (pre-filled with insulin) and just replace them with a new one after use. Insulin pens cost more than the traditional needle and syringe but most patients are now switching to it because of its convenience.
Pump
Some patients prefer an insulin pump. Insulin pumps are a small machine that gives patient steady doses of insulin shots in a day. You could wear it outside your body, hang it on your belt or put it in your inside pocket or pouch. The machine is connected to a small plastic tube with a small needle, and all you have to do is inject the needle on a particular spot under your skin where it will stay for a couple of days.
The insulin will automatically be pumped through the tube in your body 24/7 so that you won’t need to always remind yourself to have insulin shot throughout the day. There are other versions where the pump is directly attached to your skin with no tubes like a self – adhesive pod. We hope you learn the different ways on how to treat type two diabetes.