Treatment of diabetes naturally involves disciplined Diabetes Self-Management. Once a patient is diagnosed, the doctor should implement diabetes self-management education (DSME) and support. DSME involves lifestyle management, frequent medical checkups, and other forms of care like counseling.
- Lifestyle management.
- Dietary Considerations. Individuals with T1D need to watch out that they eat since they can suffer from hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. There is no one meal plan or one superfood that will work for everyone. A patient’s nutritional plan should be drafted together with a dietitian.
- Physical activity. Exercise has been proven in helping regulate glucose. Diagnosed T1D individuals should be careful in overexerting themselves as glucose can drop and lead to hypoglycemia.
- Alcohol consumption. Women are advised not to have more than one drink per day while men should only have two drinks per day.
- Smoking. Tobacco smoking and e-cigarette smoking should be stopped. There is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in patients who have T1D.
- Medical checkups. Patients should have regularly scheduled visits to their doctor. This will depend on the doctor’s recommendation. The American Diabetics Association has also urged patients to seek help whenever they notice any new symptoms with their disease.
- Psychosocial care. T1D is a complicated disease, especially for children and adolescents. It can make them feel limited so doctors should include a support system for patients including attending a support group for their care.
- Self-monitoring. Patients should also monitor their blood glucose levels by themselves. Reports have shown that patients who monitor their blood glucose levels experience fewer hypoglycemic episodes.
- Herbal supplements. A lot of research is ongoing in the possibility of beta cell regeneration which can be triggered by a lot of naturally occurring compounds. Beta cell regeneration is essential in the fight against T1D as beta cells in the pancreas produce insulin that regulates glucose. Some herbal supplements that have provided mechanistic evidence against T1D are L-arginine commonly found in flaxseed, cinnamon, bitter melon, ginseng, curcumin found in turmeric, genistein from soy, and honey.
References:
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/41/Supplement_1/S38
https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/managing/eat-well.html
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/117739-treatment#d12
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/117739-treatment#d6
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4380133/
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/10-natural-substances-may-help-cure-type-1-diabetes
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