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Are you one of the millions suffering with diabetes?
If so, you should not have to pay full price for life saving blood sugar test kits and diabetic supplies.
At Diabetic1.com we carry Accu Chek, Ascensia, One Touch, Boca, Freestyle, Prestige, Precision and more online!
You can now purchase these same great products you have always trusted on this web site at a discount prices.
What are some common warning signs of diabetes?
The signs and symptoms can be different in everyone, so please do not feel this is an all inclusive list. Some people have many of these symptoms of diabetes, and yet others may have one or none of them. If think for any reason that you may have diabetes, then immediately visit a physician for diagnosis and testing.
- Frequent urination
- Unexplained weight loss
- Nausea, vomiting, stomach pain
- Always thirsty
- Excessive hunger
- Rapid vision change
- Tingling or numbness in hands or feet
- Feeling very tired much of the time
- Extra dry skin
- Slow to healing sores or wounds
- Increasing number of infections
What are the treatments for diabetes?
Eating healthy foods, exercise, and insulin injections are some of the ways to help treat type 1 diabetes. Insulin injections must be balanced and monitored carefully with blood glucose testing. Your food intake and exercise activities have a large impact on your blood glucose levels.
Healthy eating, exercise, and blood glucose testing are the basic therapies for type 2 diabetes. In addition, many people with type 2 diabetes also may require oral medication, insulin, or both to control their blood glucose levels.
Those living with diabetes must be vigilant to their diet and insulin use to keep blood glucose levels from falling too low or rising too high.
Diabetic people should see a health care provider who will work closely with them to help them learn to monitor and manage their diabetes. People with diabetes may see an endocrinologist who may specialize in diabetes care, or an ophthalmologist for their eye examinations, a podiatrist for foot care, and a dietitian who works with diabetics to educate and teach the skills required for diabetes management.
Do you have a friend or a relative with diabetes?
Please let them know about the savings on diabetic testing supplies and kits at Diabetic1.com.
Have to test blood glucose sugar should not have to cost a fortune.
We hope we can be there to save you money on your blood testing products. Your health should not have to be a huge financial and time consuming decision. There are more important things in life such as friends and family to spend your time on.
Our Current Top Selling Testing Monitor
Accu-Chek Compact Monitoring Kit
- 1 test drum included
- 1 adjustable SoftClix lancet device with 20 lancets
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- Easy to use instructions
- Carrying case
- Self test diary
Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes mellitus is a medical disorder distinguished by varying or persistent hyperglycemia (elevated blood sugar levels), notably after eating. All forms of diabetes mellitus share similar symptoms and problems at advanced stages. Hyperglycemia itself has the capability lead to dehydration and ketoacidosis.
Longer-term complications comprise cardiovascular disease (increased risk), chronic renal failure (it is the main cause for dialysis), retinal damage which can lead to blindness, nerve damage which can lead to erectile dysfunction (impotence), gangrene with risk of amputation of toes, feet, and even legs. The more serious complications are all more common in those with poor glycemic control.
The most important forms of diabetes are due to reduced production of insulin (diabetes mellitus type 1, the first identified form), or diminished responsiveness of body tissues to insulin (diabetes mellitus type 2, the more common form). The former makes insulin injections, while the latter is generally managed with oral medication and only needs insulin if the tablets are ineffective.
Patient understanding and involvement is vital as blood glucose levels change successively, while successfully keeping blood sugar within normal limits has been compellingly exhibited to degrade or delay progress of some of the complications of diabetes. Other risk factors that can require addressing to reduce problems are: stopping of smoking, optimizing cholesterol levels, maintaining a stable body weight, restraining high blood pressure and engaging in regular exercise.
Since insulin is the principal hormone that regulates uptake of glucose into cells (primarily muscle and fat cells) from the blood, deficiency of insulin or its action plays a central role in all forms of diabetes.
Nearly always the carbohydrates in diet are rapidly converted to glucose, the principal sugar in blood. Insulin is actively produced by beta cells in the pancreas in response to rising levels of glucose in the blood, as takes place after a meal. Insulin makes it possible for most body tissues to remove glucose from the blood for use as fuel, for transformation to other needed molecules, or for storage.
Insulin is also the principal control signal for conversion of glucose (the basic sugar unit) to glycogen for storage in liver and muscle cells. Lowered insulin levels result in the reverse conversion of glycogen to glucose when glucose levels fall -- though only in the liver not muscle tissue.
Higher insulin levels increase many anabolic ("building up") processes such as cell growth, cellular protein synthesis, and fat storage. Insulin is the principal signal in converting many of the bidirectional processes of metabolism from a catabolic to an anabolic direction.
If the amount of insulin produced is insufficient, if cells respond poorly to the effects of insulin (insulin insensitivity or resistance), or if the insulin itself is defective, glucose is not handled properly by body cells (about 2/3 require it) nor stored appropriately in the liver and muscles. The net effect is persistent high levels of blood glucose, poor protein synthesis, and other metabolic derangements.
Type 1 diabetes mellitus
Type 1 diabetes is most commonly diagnosed in kids and teenagers, but can take place in adults as well. It is an autoimmune disorder, in which the body's own immune system attacks the beta cells in the Islets of Langerhans of the pancreas, eradicating them or damaging them sufficiently to reduce insulin production. The autoimmune attack may be prompted by reaction to an infection, for example by one of the viruses of the Coxsackie virus family. A subtype of type 1 (known by the existence of antibodies against beta cells) builds slowly and so is often confused with Type 2. In addition, a minor proportion of type 1 cases has the genetic condition maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY).
Some poisons (e.g. certain rat poisons) work by selectively destroying particular types of cells, including pancreatic beta cells, thus producing "artificial" type 1 diabetes. Other pancreatic problems including injury, pancreatitis or tumors (either malignant or benign) can also lead to loss of insulin production.
Currently, type 1 is treated with insulin injections, lifestyle adjustments, and careful monitoring of blood glucose levels using blood test kits. Insulin delivery is also available by an insulin pump, which allows the infusion of insulin 24 hours a day at preset levels, and the capacity to program push doses (bolus) of insulin as needed at meal times. The management must be continued indefinitely. Experimental replacement of beta cells (by transplant) is being examined in several research programs and may become clinically available in the future to come.
About 5-10% of all North American cases of diabetes are Type 1 diabetics. The fraction of type 1 diabetics in other parts of the world differs; this is likely due to both contrasts in the rate of type 1 and distinctions in the rate of other types, most prominently type 2. Most often this disparity is not currently firmly understood.
Formerly, type 1 diabetes was called "childhood" or "juvenile" diabetes or "insulin dependent" diabetes. Each term is a misnomer, particularly since the obesity epidemic in modern years has led to additional incidence of type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents in the USA, and insulin is used in some type 2 cases.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus
Main Article diabetes mellitus type 2.
Type 2 diabetes is distinguished by "insulin resistance" as body cells do not respond adequately when insulin is present. This is a more difficult problem than type 1, but is sometimes simpler to treat, since insulin is still produced, particularly in the initial years. Type 2 may go unnoticed for years in a patient before diagnosis, since the symptoms are typically milder (no ketoacidosis) and can be irregular. However, serious complications can result from unnoticed type 2 diabetes, including renal failure, and coronary artery disease.
Type 2 is initially treated by changes in diet and through weight loss. This can restore insulin sensitivity, even when the weight lost is modest e.g. around 5 kg (10 to 15 lb). The next step, if necessary, is treatment with oral antidiabetic drugs: the sulphonylureas, metformin, or (if these are insufficient) thiazolidinediones. When these have failed, insulin therapy may be necessary to maintain normal glucose levels.
Type 3 diabetes mellitus
One classification system called all other forms of diabetes that do not fit into type 1 or type 2 or gestational diabetes as type 3 diabetes. This terminology is rarely used.
Type 3A: genetic defect in beta cells.
Type 3B: genetically related insulin resistance.
Type 3C: diseases of the pancreas.
Type 3D: induced by hormonal defects.
Type 3E: induced by chemicals or drugs.
Medication
The most important is the hypoglycemic treatment with either oral hypoglycemics and/or insulin therapy. Nowadays, the objective for diabetics is to refrain or reduce recurring diabetic complications, as well as to avoid acute problems of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia.
Adequate control of diabetes leads to a lower risk of the complications of uncontrolled diabetes which include kidney failure (requiring dialysis or transplant), blindness, heart disease and limb amputation.
There is emerging solid evidence that full-blown diabetes mellitus type 2 can be avoided in those with only moderately impaired glucose tolerance6.
Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus require direct injection of insulin as their bodies cannot produce enough (or even any) insulin. As of 2005, there is no other clinically available form of insulin administration other than injection for patients with type 1: injection can be done by insulin pump, by jet injector, or any of several forms of hypodermic needle.
There are different insulin application mechanisms under preliminary initial development as of 2004. There have also been advanced vaccines for type I using glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), but these are currently not being evaluated by the pharmaceutical companies that have sublicensed the patents to them.
For type 2 diabetics, diabetic management consists of a combination of diet, exercise, and weight loss, in any achievable combination depending on the patient. Patients who have poor diabetic control after lifestyle modifications are typically placed on oral hypoglycemics. Some Type 2 diabetics eventually fail to react to these and must proceed to insulin therapy.
Patient education and compliance with treatment are very important in managing the disease. Improper use of medicines and insulin can be very dangerous causing hypo- or hyper-glycemic episodes.
Insulin therapy needs close monitoring and a great deal of patient education, as improper administration is quite dangerous. For example, when nutrition intake is reduced, less insulin is required. A previously acceptable dosing may be too much if less food is consumed causing a hypoglycemic reaction if not sensibly adjusted. In addition, exercise decreases insulin requirements as exercise increases glucose uptake by body cells whose glucose uptake is controlled by insulin. And vice versa. In addition, there are available several types of insulin with varying times of onset and duration of action.
Other treatment
As diabetes is a prime risk factor for cardiovascular disease, examining other risk factors as well as the diabetes is one of the aspects of diabetes management. Checking cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglyceride levels may reveal hyperlipoproteinemia, which may warrant treatment with hypolipidemic drugs. Checking the blood pressure and keeping it within strict limits (utilizing diet and antihypertensive treatment) protects against the retinal, renal and cardiovascular complications of diabetes. Regular follow-up by podiatrist or other foot health specialists is encouraged to prevent the development of diabetic foot.
Optimal management of diabetes entails patients measuring and recording their own blood glucose testing at home. By keeping a journal of their individual blood glucose measurements and noting the effect of food and exercise, patients can adapt their lifestyle to better control their diabetes. For patients on insulin, patient involvement of major importance in accomplishing effective dosing and timing.
Relying on their own perceptions of symptoms of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia is usually unsatisfactory as mild to moderate hyperglycemia causes no clear symptoms in most of patients.
Other considerations comprise the point that, while food takes several hours to be digested and absorbed, insulin administration can have glucose lowering effects for as little as 2 hours or 24 hours or more (depending on the nature of the insulin preparation used and individual patient reaction).
In addition, the onset and duration of the effects of oral hypoglycemic agents vary from type to type and from patient to patient.
An effective test that can be done in a doctor's clinic is the measurement of blood HbA1C levels. This is the proportion of glycosylated red blood cells in relation to the total number of red blood cells. Persistent raised plasma glucose levels causes the proportion of these cells to go up. This is a test that measures the average amount of diabetic control over a time frame initially thought to be about 3 months (the typical red blood cell lifetime), but more recently thought to be about 2 to 4 weeks. In the non-diabetic, the HbA1C level ranges from 4.0-6.4%; patients with diabetes mellitus who manage to keep their HbA1C level below 7.0% are believed to have good glycaemic control.
Regular blood testing specifically more so in type 1 diabetics is essential to keep a tight reign on the evidences of the disease. There are many (at least 20+) different types of blood monitoring appliances available on the market today; not every meter suits all patients and it is a particular matter of preference for the patient to determine a meter that they personally find convenient to use. The principle of the instruments is the effectively the same, a small blood sample is collected by the patient by self-production using a piercing device (a sterile pointed needle) the blood is usually collected at the end point to a test strip. This test strip encompasses various chemicals which when the blood is applied institutes a minor electrical charge between two contacts. This charge will vary dependent on the glucose levels within the blood and its effect on the chemicals held within the strip. In older glucose meters, the drop of blood is put on top of a strip. A chemical reaction takes place and the strip changes color. The meter then measures the color of the strip optically.
It is this level that is measured and a result in either mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter in the USA) or mmol/L (millimoles per litre in Europe) of blood. The average standard person should have a glucose level of around 4.5 to 7.0 mmol/L (80 to 125 mg/dL). In the diabetic patient, more specifically type 2 patients, it of major importance to maintain good glucose control, with a before meal level of <6.1 mmol/L (<110 mg/dL) and a level two hours after the start of a meal of <7.8 mmol/L (<140 mg/dL)12.
A level of <3.8 mmol/L (<70 mg/dL) is generally described as a hypoglycaemic attack. Most diabetics known when they're going to 'go hypo' and usually are able to eat some food or drink something sweet to raise levels. It of major importance to recognize though, that a patient who is hyperglycemic (high glucose) can furthermore become temporarily hypoglycemic under certain conditions (i.e. not eating regularly, or strenuous exercise, followed by fatigue).
Levels greater than 13-15 mmol/L (230-270 mg/dL) should be observed closely and the patient is advised to seek immediate medical attention as soon as possible if this persists to rise after 2-3 tests.
Hyperglycemia is not as simple to catch as hypoglycemia and typically happens over a period of days rather than hours or minutes. If left untreated this can result in diabetic coma and death.
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