Your body needs energy to perform even the most mundane tasks, and your blood glucose (also known as blood sugar) levels play a major role in how much energy you have.
This simple carbohydrate is derived from the food you eat and in healthy amounts, works to provide necessary fuel for your cells. Fluctuations in your blood sugar levels can cause conditions like hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) that lead to diabetes.
Statistics as recent as 2021 show that 11.6% (38.4 million) of people in America struggle with this disease, with 8.7 million meeting the criteria without even realizing they’re at risk. Diabetes is treatable, and you can live a full, healthy life if you make the necessary changes to manage it properly.
If you live in the Beverly Hills, California, area and you’re struggling with diabetes, Dr. Shawn Veiseh and his experienced team can help you manage it.
When your body takes in blood glucose, it produces insulin to regulate the amount that gets into your cells for use. If your levels are too high and you become hyperglycemic, you can easily become diabetic.
Once that happens, insulin can’t properly control how your body deals with the glucose. Without appropriate diagnosis and care, this can lead to insulin resistance and other problems throughout your body.
Diabetes often comes with symptoms like increased thirst, dry mouth, fatigue, frequent urination, unexplained weight changes, tingling and numbness in your hands and feet, slow healing cuts and sores, and frequent skin or vaginal infections.
Most diabetes complications happen when the disease is left untreated or is badly managed and can affect a number of systems in your body. This includes problems like eye damage (diabetic retinopathy and vision loss), heart disease, nerve damage (neuropathy), dementia, hearing loss, skin ulcers and sores, foot infections, and depression.
During pregnancy, diabetes can cause problems for mother and child, including premature birth, higher birth weight, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), jaundice, preeclampsia, and stillbirth. Your child also has a higher risk of type 2 diabetes later in life.
Diabetes responds well to a range of lifestyle changes to lower your blood sugar, including:
A healthier diet is one of the most important changes, as what you eat significantly influences your blood sugar levels. This means avoiding foods high in cholesterol, sodium, and sugar. A diet of whole fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, whole grains, lean meats, beans, and nuts can help lower your glucose levels.
Obesity increases your risk of developing diabetes, along with other related conditions like hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) and cardiovascular disease. Losing weight does a lot to reduce your risk of these problems and manage your blood sugar.
Spending too much time in front of your TV, computer, or other digital devices without any exercise is an easy path to diabetes. Getting out more often, spending more time in the gym, or simply taking more walks to get the blood pumping will help lower your chances of diabetes and its complications.
Stress not only creates anxiety, poor sleep patterns, low energy, and other problems, but it can lead to unhealthy ways of coping, like increased eating and drinking. Managing your stress is an important part of reducing the impact of diabetes.
Smoking is bad for anyone, but for those with diabetes, it also carries the risk of increased bad cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, blood clots, and a reduced ability to exercise. Smokers are also at much higher risk (up to 40%) of developing diabetes, so quitting helps in many ways.
Diabetes doesn’t have to make your life harder. Make an appointment with Dr. Veiseh and our team today. Call our office or schedule a visit online to get the help you need to manage your diabetes.
