Health Advice

Health Advice 

From 

Centrepoint Healthcare

  

~ Diabetes Mellitus ~

Question: Doc I am 35 years old, quite overweight and Diabetic. A recent medical check up revealed that my fasting sugar was 177 and 2 hours after eating sugars were 350. Could you give me some advice? Thanks

Dr Madan: Diabetes is the world biggest epidemic. Younger people are being affected by this condition mostly because of their lifestyle.

My suggestion for you are as follows;

1. Pharmaceuticals - Make sure you consult your family physician to get the appropriate medicines to bring down your blood sugar.

2. Diet - Ensure you decrease your caloric intake to bring down your weight. Eat food  high in fibre like vegetables and fruits. Meat low in fat like fish or chicken are advisable. The Carbohydrates that you should eat are those that are complex like Brown/red rice, yam, oats and brown bread. When consuming a meal make sure you bulk up on fruits and vegetables first before consuming the meat and carbohydrates

 

3. Exercise - Make sure you concentrate on both aerobic and muscle building exercise to bring down your blood sugar. Muscles are the major consumers of sugar, hence the bigger the muscle mass the larger is the consumption and hence the lower will be your blood sugar. 45 minutes to 1 hour of exercise per day is more than enough. Whilst exercising make sure you use good fitting well padded shoes as Diabetes is famous for causing foot conditions like ulcers and sores.

 

4. Baseline study of your eyes, heart and kidneys - Diabetes per say does not cause a person to suffer. It is the complications that causes the most pain. Diabetes affects your eyes, heart and kidneys. Ensure you request your family physician to do test to ensure your organs are in top shape.

5. Regular follow up of blood sugars - If you have just been diagnosed with Diabetes, a monthly follow up with your family physician to ensure blood sugars are controlled is essential. Once controlled a once in 6 months follow up is sufficient.

Hope these advice helps.