How to Support Someone With Diabetes
Published 24th of March, 2022
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If you’re close to someone with diabetes, they may need your practical and emotional support sometimes. Here’s how you can make a difference to someone who has diabetes.
Diabetes is a condition that makes a person’s blood sugar level too high. It happens when the pancreas has a problem with producing the hormone, insulin. In normal circumstances, when you eat food, it is digested and then the components go into the bloodstream. In terms of glucose, or sugars, insulin moves the glucose out of the bloodstream and into cells so that it can become energy. For people with diabetes, glucose cannot be effectively dealt with. There either might not be enough insulin to do this, or the insulin does not do its job as it should.
Diabetes falls into two categories – type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes relates to the immune system, which destroys cells that produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes is the more common form of diabetes, and means the body does not produce enough insulin, or the insulin does not work in the way it should. Around 1 in 10 Americans has diabetes, which equates to more than 37 million people. It is thought that many more people suffer from diabetes, but are undiagnosed. A further 96 million American adults suffer from prediabetes, which is when you have blood sugar levels above the normal range, but not quite as high as they need to be for a diabetes diagnosis. Having prediabetes puts you at greater risk of getting diabetes, but you can lower the risk through healthier eating and lifestyle choices.
Diabetes is a common ailment that many people have. If you know someone who has it, how can you help to support them?
Educate Yourself
The first thing to do is to understand as much about diabetes as you can. Get to grips with what the disease is, and which type of diabetes the person has. Find out what their protocol for medication and health checks are, and ask what symptoms they experience when their diabetes is not under very good control. People experience diabetes differently and manage their lives around it in different ways too, so it’s good to find out about your friend or loved one’s personal circumstances.
Get To Grips With Testing
Doing finger prick blood tests is an essential part of daily life for diabetes sufferers. It usually works with a quick prick to a finger to draw a speck of blood, which is then put on a testing strip. A machine such as the Contour®Next One then gives a reading to tell the person their blood glucose level. As well as a number, machines such as this one have a traffic light system, which is good for people who are unfamiliar with the target numbers.
If it’s green, the blood glucose level is within a good range. Red means the blood glucose level is below the target range, and the person will need to eat a snack with carbohydrates or sugar to bring the level up. Yellow means it’s above the target range, which can be a little more complicated to solve, depending on the reasons why it’s too high. It may simply be from overeating and the level will go down by itself, the person may need an extra shot of insulin, or they may need medical help. Helping your friend or loved one to remember to do their tests, and knowing what to do when their results are out of range, are both helpful ways to provide support. If you’re comfortable with it, you could also offer to learn how to administer insulin injections.
Support A Healthy Lifestyle
While people with diabetes will need to do regular testing and have insulin injections, symptoms can be better managed through healthy eating and exercise. A great way to support someone with diabetes is to help them source and cook the food that will help them most. Something that is key for people with diabetes is to manage their intake of carbohydrates – not too much, and not too little. Also look at food packaging to make sure they don’t buy anything that is too high in sugar or salt. Consuming too much sugar can cause a spike in blood glucose levels, and salt can be dehydrating, which can impact how the body responds to insulin. Although ready-made meals can be tempting because they’re convenient and you can see the exact nutritional value of the meal, cooking from scratch is often better. This also means you can get more fresh vegetables into the diet, which is important for overall health.
Another way you can support someone with diabetes is to encourage them to keep fit and active. You could even offer to be their exercise buddy. Exercise can help maintain a healthy weight, which is especially important for someone with diabetes, and you can plan the activity level based on the person’s physical abilities.