Part of diabetes living is understanding diabetes care. The more an individual understands what is involved in the care for the disease, the more involved they can be in their own treatment.

In addition to a diabetic diet and exercising with diabetes, medication plays a major role in helping to treat the disease.

The US Department of Health and Human Services has published guides on their Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality website, which they define as “comprehensive summaries of research reviews”.  The guides are prepared for clinicians, patients and their care givers.

The guide, Pills for Type 2 Diabetes is my personal favorite. It talks about the types of pills that adult type 2 diabetics might take.  This guide gives some background information that the type 2 diabetic may not have known.

Things like combination of pills, possible side effects and benefits and comparative prices are covered. For many, even before the current economic crisis, medication prices have been a concern.

Generic equivalents of brand names are generally cheaper than their name brand counterparts. I take a combination of  Glucophage and Glucotrol. However, the generic versions, Metformin and Glipizide are much cheaper for me. Prices vary by source. People with type 2 diabetes should compare prices. The difference could be considerable over a year’s time.  Your doctor can prescribe drugs with generic replacements.

The 6 guide Diabetes Guides are:

• Comparing Oral Medications for Adults With Type 2 Diabetes
• Gestational Diabetes: A Guide for Pregnant Women
• Gestational Diabetes: Caring for Women During and After Pregnancy
• Pills for Type 2 Diabetes: A Guide for Adults
• Premixed Insulin Analogues: A Comparison With Other Treatments for Type 2 Diabetes
• Premixed Insulin for Type 2 Diabetes: A Guide for Adults

While I trust my doctors to give me information about my disease, it’s good to know that there is a reference that I can use to give me the information that I can use. The non technical, easy-to-understand style helps the reader to digest what might otherwise be a tough read.

In another article, I wrote about a trip to San Francisco this summer.

In that article, I spoke about be prepared while traveling to your destinations. In this article, I would like to cover the tourist aspect of diabetic travel.

Walking Tour

Here is some place where you can get a diabetic-friendly meal, some rest and maybe even some exercise that all fits into your schedule.

If you, however, take a guided tour, you may lose some of that control and may have to take care to stay within your dietary guidelines and may not get the exercise that you would like.

If you are like me, you prefer your own tour and walking becomes a major part of tour. Food choices are limited to whatever you find along the way and could be somewhat expensive in the tourist areas.

Prepare for nutrition with diabetic snacks and prepare for comfort with other diabetic supplies.

To cover nutrition until you return to your hotel, you should carry a mix of diabetic snacks like:

• Glucerna snack bars
  – either Fudge Graham or Caramel Nut
• Extend bars — Chocolate Delight or one of several other selections.
• Kay’s natural Non Gluten Kruncheeze — White Cheddar Cheese or one of several other selections.

To prepare for your tour, you should:

• Wear a pair of comfortable diabetic socks
  
• Wear a pair of comfortable diabetic shoes
• For walking comfort, wear Dr Scholl’s Men’s or Dr. Scholl’s Women’s
  Orthotic inserts
• Carry a small first aid kit
• Carry a diabetic travel case or diabetic cooler & organizer

I personally like to carry a backpack. It keeps my hands free  and allows me to carry more stuff.
A good wheeled backpack provides the flexibility of wearing or rolling.

With a little preparation, your tour can be a no hassle adventure.

It had been a while since I took a flight to anywhere, so I did not know exactly what to expect from the air travel portion of the trip.

Since I am diabetic, I was determined to be as careful as I could about the food that I ate. I was only going to eat low-carb foods in moderate proportions. Well, my best laid plans were soon derailed.

There were some air fare bargains available and I took one. The trip from Philadelphia to San Jose was a one stop flight and the entire trip was supposed to take about 5 hours from beginning to end. What I didn’t count on was a late start from Philadelphia and a missed connection in Las Vegas.

Airline food, on the Las Vegas leg, consisted of pretzels and the beverage of your choice.  A short slip in meal schedule was something that I could deal with, but because of the delay leaving Philadelphia, I was now behind more than usual and did not when I would be able to get normal food. To make matters worse, I had a 4 hour layover while trying to get a connection out of Las Vegas. If you are in an airport and you’re hungry, you tend to eat what is available. Except for salads, there are usually not a lot of nutritional choices.

I am planning a trip to Las Vegas in October and I think I will prepare an emergency snack package.
I’ll include one or more of the following:

• Glucerna snack bars
  – either Fudge Graham or Caramel Nut
• Extend bars — Chocolate Delight or one of several other selections.
• Kay’s natural Non Gluten Kruncheeze — White Cheddar Cheese or one of several other selections.

There are times when the type of nutrition available is out of your control and you risk a detour from your low carb diet.
For those times, a little preparation can avoid the problems that you could be waiting to ruin your day.
Keep healthy diabetic snacks handy for those occasions.

You love sweets and are known for your sweet tooth, but now that you have been diagnosed with diabetes you are afraid that you can’t have them anymore. Diabetic desserts are back on the diabetic menu
The fact is, yes, you can.  Yes, if you previously indulged in many sweets you will have to change that behavior ( it may be a contributing factor to way you have type 2 diabetes).  But there are ways that you can satisfy your sweet tooth and stick to your diabetic diet.

Blood sugar is raised by carbohydrates.  There a number of products that are sweetened by high-carbohydrate sugar, which are harmful to diabetics. Instead, try the many sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners that are available to purchase on their own or in sweets such as chocolate and hard candies.

Another way to add sweets into your diet is to substitute them for other carbohydrates in a meal.  For instance, if you were planning on having a tuna salad sandwich for lunch, eat the tuna without the bread and use the saved carbohydrates on a cookie or two (depending on size and serving information).  This can be done with many different variations, but should be done in moderation – your body really will function better on those two pieces of whole wheat bread than it will on two chocolate chip cookies.

Consult a Dietician.  A Dietician can suggest ways to improve your diabetic diet.  He or she may have suggestions on snacks or meals that you would not have considered sweet but can certainly satisfy your sweet tooth. He or she may suggest eating a banana to satisfy a chocolate craving.  As time goes on you will begin to appreciate the natural sweet things in life too – such as a juicy apple or a fresh orange.

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I read an interesting article by Russell Phillips, PhD about a diabetic event -The American Association of Diabetes Educators Annual Conference.

AADE is “a multidisciplinary association of healthcare professionals dedicated to integrating successful self-management as a key outcome in the care of people with diabetes and related conditions“.

This year the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) hosted it’s annual conference in Atlanta Ga. The event was held August 3 – August 9.

The event focused on new technologies, medicines, lifestyle products,diabetic supplies and research.

Some of the stand outs were:

A new service that allow users to track glucose levels and analyze trends in a way that they could use to monitor their progress. The service works through a widget that can be used on Facebook, Myspace, iGoogle and other personal web pages. The most amazing thing may be that it is absolutely free.

Check it out at healthengage

The Solo MicroPump. This insulin delivery system is about the size of two Ipod Nanos placed back to back. The pump is equipped with removable cartridges that hold about 200 units of insulin. The MicroPump is wirelessly controlled or operated manually by pressing on both sides of the device at once.

See more about the product at the Medingo website.

PreDX Diabetes Risk Score. This users biomarkers obtained from blood tests. It weighs the importance of each protein differently and uses a score to rate individuals’ risks. These test could become more predictive of the onset of diabetes than fasting glucose tests.

Find out more at the Pre Dx website.

Dreamfields Pasta. As a pasta lover, I am very interested in this product.

Dreamfields, has apparently developed a process that keeps carbohydrates ( except 5 grams) from being digested. The end result is a lower blood sugra rise after digesting the pasta.

Check it out at the Dreamfields Pasta.

One of the most effective ways to lower blood sugar amount, greatly reduce the dangers of heart disease, and increase health and welfare is exercise.

In today’s inactive world where almost every job can be carried out online, from the ergonomic chair in front of a computer, or with a line of messages from a fax machine, exercising can be a hard argument to win over.

The Importance of Exercise

Everyone should exercise, yet health experts say that only 30% of the United States population gets the recommended thirty minutes of daily physical activity, and 25% are not active at all. In fact, inactivity is thought to be one of the key reasons for the surge of type II diabetes in the U.S., because inactivity and obesity lead to insulin resistance.

The good news is that it is never too late to get moving, and exercise is one of the easiest ways to start controlling your diabetes. For people with type II diabetes, exercise can improve insulin sensitivity and lower the risk of heart disease, and help with weight lo

Type II Diabetes

Diabetes is growing. The number of people diagnosed with diabetes every year increased by 48% between 1980 and 1994. Mostly all the new cases are Type II Diabetes, or adult-onset. Symptoms of Type II Diabetes include increased thirst, appetite, and need to urinate; feeling tired, edgy, or sick to the stomach; blurred vision; tingling or loss of feeling in the hands.

The causes of type II diabetes are not completely understood, although research is uncovering new clues.

However, it has already been proven that one of the reasons for the large growth in type II diabetes is the widening of waistbands and the trend toward a more deskbound and inactive lifestyle in the United States and other developed countries. In America, the shift has been striking; in the 1990s alone, obesity increased by 61% and diagnosed diabetes by 49%.

To fight the onslaught, health experts encourage those who already have type II diabetes to start exercising to get the benefits therein. Without exercise, people have the tendency to become obese. Once they are obese, they have bigger chances of accumulating type II diabetes.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that over 80% of people with type II diabetes are clinically overweight. It is past time that people, whether inflicted with type II diabetes or not, should start doing those jumping and stretching activities.

Getting Started

The first order of business with any exercise plan is to consult with your health care provider. If you have cardiac risk factors, the health care provider may want to perform a stress test to establish a safe level of exercise for you.

Certain diabetic complications will also determine what type of exercise program you can take on. Weightlifting, jogging, or high-impact aerobics can possibly pose a risk for people with diabetic retinopathy due to the risk for further blood vessel damage and possible retinal detachment.

If you are already active in sports or work out regularly, it will still benefit you to discuss your regular routine with your doctor. If you are taking insulin, you may need to take special precautions to prevent hypoglycemia during your workout.

Start Slow

For those who have type II diabetes, your exercise routine can be as simple as a brisk nightly neighborhood walk. If you have not been very active before now, start slowly and work your way up. Walk the dog or get out in the yard and rake. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park in the back of the lot and walk to the store. Every little bit does work, in fact, it really helps a lot.

15 to 30 minutes of daily, heart-pumping exercise can make a big difference in your blood glucose control and your risk of developing diabetic complications. One of the easiest and least expensive ways of getting moving is to start a walking program. All you need is a good pair of well-fitting, supportive shoes and a direction to head in.

You do not have to spend a lot of money on costly “health club memberships,” or the most up-to-date health device to start pumping those fats out. What you need is the willingness and the determination to start exercising to a healthier, type II diabetes-free life.

Exercise your way to diabetic health.

Diabetics have similar interests as many people who do not have diabetes.
We enjoy, music, sports and oh yes, travel. Travel is one way that we reduce tension and ease the conditions that cause the disease to effect our bodies.

Preparing for travel can improve the experience while reducing the stress that could be present.

Diabetic travel can be as enjoyable as any other with adequate planning and diabetic supplies handy.

Here are some tips to consider before you leave on your trip.

1. Medicines: Use the expected trip duration to determine the amount of each medication to take.
What is the daily dosage?
How many days are involved?
Remember to keep insulin refrigerated. At the lodging, refrigerators, or other cooling devices will be available. While en route, insulated coolers or specially made diabetic insulated wallets should be used.

2. Prescriptions and doctor’s notes: Consult your doctor before the trip. Ask your doctor to write prescriptions that you will need and a note describing your condition. The note, along with other identifiers, like a medical bracelet, will alert medical personnel about your condition. Be aware that you may need to contact your insurance provider if there are limits to the amount of medication that is allowed within a certain period.

3. Clothing: Take diabetic shoes and several pairs of diabetic socks for foot comfort and protection while traveling. Remember; NEVER go barefoot, not even at the pool or in the shower.

Find the diabetic shoes you’ve been looking for at ZenDiabeticShoes.com!

4. Food: Plan your itinerary carefully. You should have a good idea WHEN and WHERE you will have meals. Meal times should be as close to regular meal times as possible.
When moving through time zones, account for time changes in your meal plans. Something that reminds you, like a watch with an alarm, will be helpful.
For snacks or emergencies, take along a supply of glucose tablets or sugar-free products. If you must have a meal outside of the plan, look for a place that is known to have menu selections that are reasonable.

5.Traveling by air: The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) recommends that people traveling with prescriptions, should have them clearly identified.
The TSA does allow multiple containers of items used to control blood sugar, like glucose. Alternatives, such as glucose tablets, should be considered. Long or repeated exposure to x-ray machines will make insulin unstable. However, never place insulin in checked baggage due to the dangers there.

For more information about air travel, contact the TSA.
a. Phone: (866-289-9673)
b. Web: www.tsa.gov