How to Treat Diabetes. Part 3.

What to do about diabetes?  What are my treatment options?

This is part 3 of a 3 part series explaining what diabetes is, why it is bad for you, and what to do about it.

Again using the same analogy as before, Imagine your body is like a town:

• Glucose (cars): This is the energy source for your body, like cars moving around town.

• Insulin (traffic cops): Insulin is like the traffic cops directing the cars (glucose) to where they need to go.

• Cells (houses): The cells in your body are like houses that need energy (glucose) to function.

Our choices can help decrease the amount of cars on the road.

1. By eating low carbohydrate diets, we can decrease the amount of glucose in our blood.

2. By regularly exercising, we can increase our use of glucose, thus decreasing the amount of free floating glucose in our blood.

3. By lowering stress levels, it is well known that in stress states hormones increase the amount of glucose in our blood.

Sometimes we need more help with the use of medications.  These medications work in a variety of different ways:

1. Metformin (Street Cleaners): Metformin helps clean the streets (improve insulin sensitivity) so that the traffic cops (insulin) can guide the cars (glucose) more efficiently into the houses (cells).

2. Sulfonylureas (Extra Traffic Cops): Sulfonylureas can be like bringing in extra traffic cops (increasing insulin production) to help manage the flow of cars (glucose) into the houses (cells).

3. DPP-4 Inhibitors (Traffic Cop Assistants): DPP-4 inhibitors assist the traffic cops (insulin) by making them more effective in guiding the cars (glucose) into the houses (cells).

4. Insulin Injections (Additional Traffic Cops): In some cases, insulin injections are like adding more traffic cops to the streets to ensure that the cars (glucose) find their way into the houses (cells).

Along with the above, Amity health can help with:

Regular Town Inspections (Monitoring): Regularly checking the known problem areas such as the feet and retina helps make sure everything is running smoothly. If there's a traffic jam, adjustments can be made to the medication plan.

Town Meetings (Education and Support): Town meetings (getting diabetes education and support) can empower everyone, from traffic cops to residents, to work together for a healthier town.