more helpful diabetes education. Each of the articles in this section were Association of Diabetes Educators, a founding member of the Advanced Studies …
Diabetes Matters
Volume I of IV Winter 2000
Welcome to Diabetes Matters, a four-part diabetes education series brought to you by the PERS Health Insurance Program Watch for invaluable information in this and the next three issues of HealthWise Also, look on your Diabetes Resources page each issue for new resources within your community, on the internet and from your health plan to receive even more helpful diabetes education Each of the articles in this section were provided by Betty Brackenridge, MS, RD, CDE Ms Brackenridge is a former President of the American Association of Diabetes Educators, a founding member of the Advanced Studies Institute for Diabetes Education and the recipient of several national awards for her work in diabetes education
Stay safe with the facts
Diabetes is one of the most misunderstood diseases around A lack of accurate knowledge about the disease can keep you from managing it correctly Know the facts Listed below are five very common myths about this disease Myth 1: A person can have a touch of diabetes Having a touch of diabetes is no more possible than having a touch of pregnancy Neither can be borderline High blood sugars are abnormal and damaging
If you have diabetes, you have it Myth 2: My doctor takes care of my diabetes Diabetes is very different from other diseases you may have had If you have an infection, your doctor gives you medicine to kill the germs If
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she picks the right antibiotic, the problem goes away In this case, what the DOCTOR does is most important to the outcome In diabetes, however, what YOU do is whats most important You are in charge of the daily decisions: what to eat, when to exercise, whether to check your blood and so on If you leave everything in your doctors hands, you are almost sure to have poor control Myth 3: As long as I feel OK, my blood sugar doesnt matter Blood sugars above the normal range damage eyes, kidneys, nerves and blood vessels These problems are not usually noticeable until the damage is truly serious
You cannot manage diabetes by how you feel To protect your health, manage it by the numbers See related stories on blood sugar monitoring and goals of control Myth 4: Blood testing and diabetes education are only for people with bad diabetes Because your decisions are the most important part of diabetes care, you need the right information and tools, RIGHT FROM THE START
Would you fly in an airplane with a pilot who didnt know how to keep the thing in the air? Of course not Your body is in just as much danger as that plane unless YOU know what youre doing Ignoring Continued
this reality doesnt change it Learning to manage your diabetes is what allows you to bring the plane in safely Myth 5: Bad diabetes is the kind where you take insulin Insulin is not your enemy, high blood sugar is Most people with type 2 diabetes eventually need insulin - not because they have done anything wrong, or because their diabetes is now more dangerous They need it simply because their pancreas has worn out High blood sugars and high hemoglobin A1cs make your diabetes very dangerous and your risk of diabetes complications great The only good diabetes is CONTROLLED diabetes It has nothing to do with the form of treatment Look for 5 More Myths of Diabetes in Volume II of
Monitor your blood sugar regularly
If youre not testing your blood sugar regularly, youre ignoring your most powerful tool for better control You may have stopped testing because you think that it doesnt change things Thats very true if you simply give the results to your doctor every few weeks The real
power of testing comes from using it in a very different way Make testing YOUR tool Test to see the effect of what you do You can use this information every day to better understand your diabetes and improve control months before you see the doctor again TRY THESE TWO EXPERIMENTS:
1 Is your dinner working for you? Most people who test,
only test before meals This gives a very incomplete picture of control Test after supper at least two nights in the next week If your blood sugars are above 180mg/dl after eating, its time for some changes Eating less food, especially foods with starches or sugars, may help If it doesnt, talk to your doctor about your medicine types or doses Or try exercise
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2 What does activity do to your blood sugar? If you have
type 2 diabetes, youve probably been told to exercise either to lose weight or to improve blood sugar control It may help to see exactly what exercise can do Check your blood sugar Go for a walk A mile is good, but if youve been very inactive, a shorter walk is just fine Test your blood sugar when you get home If you are like most people with type 2 diabetes, you will see a big improvement in your blood sugar with just
a short walk If you found high blood sugars in 1 above, a walk may be one way to improve things
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106
10
84
8
Prevalence of Diabetes among Oregonians according to age
6
48
4
31 07
2
106 of Oregonians age 65 and older have been diagnosed with diabetes
From the Oregon Diabetes Coalition
0
18-34 35-44 45-54 55-64
65
The Goals of Control
The complications of diabetes are extremely serious: heart disease, blindness, kidney failure and nerve damage Thankfully, your risk for these problems can be greatly reduced or even eliminated through good control The Oregon Dia-betes Coalition has set the following goals for blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood lipid blood fats control Their purpose is to protect the health of people with diabetes and cut the human and financial costs of this disease Hemoglobin A1c
measures your blood sugar control over the last three months It is the best way to know if your blood sugar is under control
Are you at risk for diabetes? Find out
Approximately 1 in 10 Americans over age 60 has diabetes The number is even higher among certain ethnic groups and in people with a family history of the disease At least a third of people with diabetes dont
even know they have it As a result, nearly half already have complications when their diabetes is first diagnosed Answer the following questions to learn if youre at risk If your total score is 10 or more, you are could be at risk for diabetes Check with your doctor to determine if you should have a fasting blood glucose test This is the test that is now used to diagnose diabetes What you dont know CAN hurt you when it comes to undiagnosed diabetes
8 PER CENT or lower Blood Pressure less than 130/85 mm LDL Cholesterol below 130 mg/dl less than 100 if you have heart disease
Diabetes self-assessment
YES I am overweight or obese I get little or no exercise during a usual day I am between 45-64 years of age 5pts 5pts 5pts 9pts NO 0pts 0pts 0pts 0pts
TALK ED LIKE TO W WITH YOU with
I am 65 years old or older I am a woman who had a baby weighing more than nine pounds at birth I have a sister or brother with diabetes I have a parent with diabetes
r ERS membe If you are a P ld like to be tes and wou , diabe icle entitled red in an art featu e betes, in th ing with Dia Liv , of this series next volume day contact us to or althWise Edit y Meyer, He Tiffan 54 503-228-65
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1pt 1pt
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TOTAL POINTS
Diabetes Resources
Volume I of IV
The information contained in these resources is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice or medical care Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or prior to starting any new treatment
R E S O U R C E S AVA I L A B L E T O A L L P E R S M E M B E R S BOOKS MAGAZINES
AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION PUBLICATIONS To order, call 1-800-342-2383 The American Diabetes Association Complete Guide to Diabetes The American Diabetes Association Healthy Living Catalog Diabetes A to Z: What You Need to Know About Diabetes - Simply Put Diabetes Forecast Diabetes Self-Management bi-monthly magazine R A Rappaport Publishing Inc 1800234-0923 The Johns Hopkins Guide to Diabetes: For Today and Tomorrow Christopher D Saudek, Richard R Rubin, Cynthia S Shump Available at bookstores
BOOKS MAGAZINES
The Joslin Guide to Diabetes: A Program for Managing Your Treatment Richard S Beaser, with Joan V C Hill Available at bookstores The Type II Diabetes SourceBook David E Drum, Terry Zierenberg Available at bookstores
ON THE
INTERNET
American Diabetes Assoc wwwdiabetesorg Center for Disease Control Diabetes Public Health Resource wwwcdcgov/diabetes Providence Health Library wwwprovidenceorg Kaiser Permanente wwwkporg
BY PHONE
American Diabetes Association Oregon Affiliate 1-800-342-2383 American Dietetic Association Nutrition Information Line 1-800-366-1655 Providence AudioLibrary 1-800-700-0561
ODS Health Plans wwwodshealthplanscom wwwdiabeteswebsitecom Mayo Health Oasis wwwmayohealthorg My Web MD wwwwebmdcom Joslin Diabetes Center wwwjoslinharvardedu
R E S O U R C E S AVA I L A B L E T H R O U G H Y O U R H E A LT H P L A N KAISER PERMANENTE
wwwkponlineorg Nurse Advice Line 1-800-813-2000 KP Health Resource Centers Interstate Medical Office South 503-331-6050 Salmon Creek Medical Office 360-571-3080 Sunset Medical Office 503-617-2329
ODS HEALTH PLANS
See general resources above For more information, contact your doctor
PROVIDENCE HEALTH PLAN
Providence RN 1-800-700-0481
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This series is supported in part by an unrestricted educational grant from Eli Lilly and Company
Source:pershealth.com
