Sunday, June 30, 2019

Discover How Diabetic Supplies Have Changed Over The Years

By Thomas Reed


There have been many changes with diabetes technologies over the last four decades. Management has had some noteworthy changes in insulin administration, measuring glucose, and types of insulin. Changes with diabetic supplies have improved the lives of numerous people significantly. For example, in the 1970s people monitored their glucose by urine using tablets that changed the color, and monitoring tapes. The dipstick was just newly introduced.

In spite of nonexistent technology, health care practitioners believed diabetes management was state of the art. There were no notable changes in the management of diabetes from 1947 to 1977. Folks monitored glucose in the urine and took one to two doses of insulin at a fixed amount. Today there are personal glucose monitors that test the blood, many different types of insulin, and a variety of options for injection. This disease requires a high level of diligence by the patient.

Because of the nature of the disease, it necessitates attention several times during the day. The patient must calculate meals and snacks, administer insulin, and check glucose. In addition, the need to pay close attention to how they feel to identify hypoglycemia. This condition requires a higher level of attention than most. Unfortunately, over the years, this fact has not changed.

The medical professional who does not live with this disease will never know the intensity of this burden. In spite of all the changes that have improved the way in which folks monitor glucose and take their insulin, the burden of caring for and managing diabetes is not something that has changed. Advances in technology have made things easier however it is still vital that the patient be diligent in caring for their diabetes.

Nutritional therapy has been affected by the changes as well. Today, the patient will be counseled on what types of food they should or should not be eating. The new concern is if insulin should match the foods consumed or if the food should match the insulin dosage. For decades, folks were given a diet to follow, a food exchange list, lists of carbohydrate values, and met regularly with a dietitian. The insulin dose was determined by the foods included in the diet.

With diabetes Type I, people measure their glucose and then adjust the insulin dose according to the the level. This practice takes place before eating. Today folks have the option to match the insulin to the food after they have eaten. This is not a pass for the person to eat anything they want, however. This method gives insulin after meals.

With this method, the patient must evaluate the content of the meal, type of food, and amount. Once the analysis is complete, the individual makes a judgment and determines the amount of the insulin the will need after they eat. This is a more complicated method that many patients may not have the capability to perform. This method involves the calculation of the correct insulin dosage.

In the past, people ate their meal after they took a fixed dose of insulin. Now they have the option to select foods, analyze them, taking glucose level into account, and determine the dose of insulin that is needed following a meal. This method is indicative of a shift in managing diabetes.




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