Successfully Managing Your Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is a disease that destroys all of a person's cells that are responsible for producing insulin in the person's pancreas.  Whenever the body is no longer able to regulate the person's blood sugar levels, then daily injections of insulin are required in order to sustain that person's life.  Unfortunately, what causes type 1 diabetes is not yet known.  However, it is generally believed that a person's environment and genetics play a key role.

Who Is Affected By Type 1 Diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is a disease that affects more than a million people in the United States alone.  It can create severe medical complications such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease and circulation problems that lead to limbs having to be amputated.  Therefore, it is mandatory that those who have this disease develop a good self-management program.

Symptoms Of Type 1 Diabetes

The symptoms of type 1 diabetes include excessive thirst, frequent urination, weight loss, excessive hunger, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue and in women it causes them to stop menstruating.

Implementing A Type 1 Diabetes Self-Management Plan

Most of the time it is easier to implement a type 1 diabetes self-management plan for people who are able to maintain a consistent schedule in their lives.  Those who have jobs that require them to travel or work various shifts and people who have others that they have to care for such as children or elderly relatives will have a harder time.

Usually self-management involves the patient giving themselves daily injections of insulin.  However, there is the option to use an insulin pump, which is a device that is about the size of a cell phone and is worn around the person's waist.  It is attached to a catheter that is implanted under their skin and then injects the patient with insulin around the clock in tiny amounts as needed.  The device can be removed whenever necessary and the insulin dosages can be easily changed to keep blood sugar in check.  As such, the pump is a very convenient option.

Having a comprehensive diabetes self-management program is very important when it comes to controlling type 1 diabetes.  There are many new methods to do this becoming available as medical science continues to pursue new ways to treat and manage this disease.  However, for now, those people who have type 1 diabetes should continue to do everything possible to keep the disease at bay so that they can safeguard their health.

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