Vim & Vigor - Winter 2011 - Phelps County Regional Medical Center - (Page 42)
Diabetes
Homework
Keeping complications from turning into major concerns is about more than just glucose testing. Learn to control the disease by doing your homework
n school, you probably dreaded homework. But what if your wellbeing—even your life—had depended on it? Perhaps you would’ve rushed home from the bus to get started rather than dragging your feet by watching TV, playing outside or (gasp!) cleaning your room. Doing your diabetes homework can, in fact, affect your health and quality of life. Think of daily glucose monitoring as part of your courseload; it’s mandatory if you want a healthy grade, but there’s still some homework to be done. And a big part of this homework is managing your ABCs: “A” relates to your A1c levels (average glucose over the past two to three months), “B” refers to your blood pressure, and “C” to cholesterol levels. To help you ace your diabetes management, we’re assigning some worthwhile homework—making note of things you should be doing daily beyond managing your blood glucose levels—to help keep diabetes complications from becoming major health problems. >
Do Your
I
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Vim & Vigor • W i n ter 2 011
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2011 - Phelps County Regional Medical Center