The first letter 'D' in the word DIABETIC stands for Dietary Discipline.
The second letter ‘I’ stands for Intelligence and Information - which is also important in understanding how to manage the condition effectively.
The Oxford English Dictionary gives several meanings of the word Intelligence. One definition is ‘the faculty of understanding’ while another is ‘knowledge communicated by or obtained from another’. The second of these meanings is the one usually used in military parlance, where Intelligence really means Information.
Managing Diabetes
Both these forms of Intelligence are needed by the Diabetic to manage his or her condition effectively (because the goal of managing Diabetes is to prevent the complications of the disease, avoid the pitfalls of treatment) and maintain as normal a lifestyle as possible. In order to do this, one of the most important things a Diabetic must have is Intelligence in the military sense – information about
- what the disease is and how it exerts its ill effects
- what foods are beneficial and what foods must be avoided
- how one’s medications work. and
- what one needs to do in order to help these medications work
Information about Diabetes is available from a variety of sources – one’s own doctor, dieticians, nurses, books and the internet. It is important if one is seeking information to go to the best sources. Just because you read something in a magazine or the newspapers or the internet you must not assume that it is correct – always check with authoritative sources.
Information About Disease
Tne internet source I have found particularly helpful and to which I refer patients is that maintained by the US National Library of Medicine. Called MedlinePlus, it provides credible, jargon-free information that is readily understood. Another good source of information for Diabetics and their families is that of Diabetes Australia .
I often tell my patients who are newly diagnosed with Diabetes that within a year of being diagnosed, they must educate themselves about this disease and come to know as much or even more than I do about the management of diabetes.
The other meaning of the word Intelligence is also important when it comes to managing one’s Diabetes. If one has acquired the knowledge and information about looking after the disease, one must use this Intelligence to Intelligently look after oneself. There is no point in knowing that chocolate cake with ice cream is highly glycaemic and will rapidly put your blood sugar up – and then helping oneself to a huge plate of chocolate cake with ice cream every time you go out to a dinner party!
If you must satisfy your craving for chocolate cake and ice cream, then take no more than two spoons of the dessert (measured with a teaspoon and not a large tablespoon) and enjoy it by savouring each mouthful slowly. Better still, ask your spouse, if he or she is not diabetic, to serve himself or herself a helping of dessert and allow you to take two teaspoons (and two teaspoons only) of it from their plate.
Exercise To Control Diabetes
Exercise is vital in the management of Diabetes because every time you move your muscles you are burning up blood sugar. Regular exercise burns up more sugar than sporadic half-hearted attempts at exercise – and well trained and toned up muscles burn up more sugar than the unfit muscles of a couch potato. Once your Intelligence-gathering has yielded this information, is it not un-Intelligent to be a Diabetic and avoid physical exercise?
So the important second step in looking after your Diabetes is to learn as much about the disease as you can – to acquire Intelligence – and then have the Intelligence to use this information wisely to help you look after yourself effectively.
Sanjiva Wijesinha - Dr. Sanjiva Wijesinha, Associate Professor at Monash University medical school, writes on health, travel and medical topics.
