Archive for August, 2009
How I Discovered I Had Type 2 Diabetes
I discovered I had diabetes when I was in my early 30’s. I really knew nothing about the disease. I knew my mother had it but I wasn’t curious enough to know all of the implications of having diabetes. I was admit growing up I did not obey any of the rules of diet and nutrition like so many of us don’t. Looking back, I can see how our bodies to come back to ‘haunt us’ for past mistakes in eating. Admittedly, my doctor told me that I would have developed the disease at some point in my life anyway but the lack of exercise and poor nutrition habits encouraged the early onset on the disease.
Type 2 diabetes is the type that develops later in life due to the pancreas not producing enough insulin. Type 1 diabetes is what children usually have when the pancreas is not producing any insulin. The worst part about my diabetes story is that I probably had it long before I paid it any real attention because of not listening to the warning signs.
Here are some warning signs of Diabetes I overlooked:
- Excessive Thirst
- Frequent Urination
- Feeling Irritable
- Fatigue
- Weakness
- Tingling, numbness in hands, feet and legs
- Losing Weight Without Trying
- Feeling Unusually Hungry
- Frequent Yeast Infections
- Trouble with infections and bruises taking a long time to heal
Risk Factors:
- Being overweight or obese
- Having a sibling or parent with diabetes
- Having a history of gestational diabetes
- High Blood Pressure
- High Triglyceride Levels (bad cholestorol), Low Levels of HDL (good cholesterol)
- Leading a sedentary lifestyle
- Being over age 60+
These are a few warnings that I know I had that were ignored. If you have any of these, please go see a doctor because early detection like any in other disease is crucial in managing it. I call diabetes a ’sinister’ disease because of the way it creeps up on a person and because of the damage it can ultimately do to a person. I’m glad to say that my diabetes is under control right now with medicine and a good diet.
Following Diabetic Supplies are Eligible Under the CAAT
The following Diabetic supplies are eligible under the CAAT plans. In order to electronically transmit diabetic supply claims to Emergis, a valid prescription (if not already on file at pharmacy) is required due to the agreement between Emergis and the pharmacy.
Diabetic Supplies – Drug Card can be used to purchase the following items:
Control Solution for Meters
- Accu-Chek II
- AccuTrend Control
- Ames GlucoSystem (High/Normal/Low)
- Ames DextroChek (High/Normal/Low)
- Ames Glucofilm (High/Normal/Low)
- ExacTech
- ExacTech 2
- Glucoscan 3000
- One Touch
- Tracer
Insulin Reaction Supplies
- DextroEnergy
- Monoject Reaction Gel
Lancets, Etc. (Blood Testing Supplies)
- Autoclix Pen
- BD Autolance Pen
- BD Lancets (100)
- Glucomet Pen
- Lifescan Lancets (200)
- Lifescan Penlet II
- Lifescan Penlet II Cap (1)
- Medisense Lancets
- Monolet Lancets (200)
- Soft Touch Pen
- Soft Touch Lancets (100)
- Unilets (200)
Needle, Syringes Etc.
- Monoject Alcohol Swabs (200) + (GST)
- BD Alcohol Swabs + (GST): alcohol + cotton swabs are eligible
- BD Magniguide
- BD Micro-Fine IV Syringes (100)
- BD Ultra-Fine Syringes (100)
- BD Safe-Clip
- BD Pen Needles
- Inject-ease (automatic)
- Insul Eze Syringe
- Monoject syringes (100)
- Monoject Injector (Special Order)
- Novolin Needles (100)
- Prep wipes
- Smith & nephew patches
- Terumo Syringes (100)
Insulin / Infusion Pump Supplies
(***Please note Infusion Pumps are not eligible for coverage under the CAAT Plans 50832 and 50834)
- Animas cartridge (filled with insulin, then inserted into pump to dispense insulin)
- AS6C
- AS9MP
- AS9MP (euglycemia)
- Battery Charger
- Canula 17mm (part of infusion kit)
DISETRONICS
- Disetronics tubing (18503)
- Disposable tubing
- Disposable needles
- D-tron Adapter
MINI MED
- Mini Med Infusion (MMT)
- Mini Medi Reservoir (MMT)
- Mini Med SofSet (111)
- Paradigm silhouette mmt – 380
- Paradigm reservoir mmt – 326
- Pouch
- Pouch (139)
- Syringe
- Syringe (1cc)
- Syringe (103)
- 3 cc Syringe Tegaderm
TUBING
- U100 24″x42″ Micro Vol
- 24″x42″ Mini Med (107/6)
- 24”x42” Sub Q
Autolet
An autolet is an ultra-compact device used by diabetics to draw blood so that they can measure their blood sugar levels.
Test Strips
- AccuEasy Strips (50)
- AccuTrend Glucose (50)
- BM Test BG (50)
- Chemstrips BG (25)
- Chemstrips BG (50)
- Dextrostic (25)
- Dextrostix (100)
- ExacTech Strips (50)
- ExacTech Gen 2 Strips (25)
- ExacTech Gen 2 Strips (50)
- Glucoscan Strips (100)
- Glucose Oxidase
- Glucotic Strips (50)
- Glucotic Strips (100)
- Glucofilm Strips (25)
- Glucofilm Strips (100)
- Glucometer Elite (50)
- One Touch Strips (50)
- Sure-Test
- Tracer Strips (50)
- Ultra Test Strips (50)
- Chemstrips UG 5000 strips
- Chemstrips UG 5000K strips
- Clinistix (50)
- Diastrix (50)
- Ketodiastix (50)
- Ketodiastix (100)
- Ketostix (50)
Nutrition Guide for People with Diabetes
Nutritional Needs of Individuals and Families Across the Lifespan.
What You Don’t Know About Diabetes Signs and Diabetes Symptoms
Diabetes is in two broad types; Diabetes Mellitus and Diabetes Insipidus. Diabetes Mellitus is the more popular type, for obvious reasons accounts for one-third of cases of cardiovascular accident commonly known as stroke.
In this piece, we shall be concerned with Diabetes Mellitus; its causes and management.
Diabetes simply put is a chronic disease state that results in glucose interference. Glucose is very essential in the metabolic pathways in the body. For glucose to be utilized by the body, a hormone known as insulin has to act on it to make it fit for body consumption. It’s worthy of note that glucose here does not mean the conventional sugar, as the layman knows it. Glucose is the end of the digestion of carbohydrates, fats and oil, the 3 main components of food.
In diabetes, there is either an insufficient supply of insulin or a relative lack of insulin.
What Factors Call Your Attention to Diabetes In as much as there are individual variations in the presentation of diabetes, there are universally capital symptoms that would need further investigations by a medical expert. This includes:
Excessive Hunger : Most diabetics find themselves excessively hungry and insatiable. This is as a result of the lack of insulin needed to utilize glucose for the body’s need, so the body lacks glucose even among the intake of so much. Excessive hunger in medical parlance is known as polyphagia.
Excessive Urination : This needs a careful interpretation. The patients definitely pass more urine after indulging in plenty fluid intake. This is not part of the diabetic symptoms. We are interested in excessive urination without provocation. A very reliable index of excessive urination is the total amount of urine passed at night (nocturnal). Pause and ask yourself how many times you urinate at night (between the hours of 10pm to 6am). If you answer 4 times and above, you would definitely need further investigation on possible diabetes presence.
Tingling Sensation at the Feet : This sensation is subject and varies for individual to individual. This is one of the symptoms that can be ascribed to chronic uncontrolled diabetes. Diabetes has been shown to affect long nerves and the tingling sensation is as a result of the weakness of the nerves
Blurring Vision : Diabetes affects the lens of the eyes. It causes plaques to be deposited in the lens causing blurring vision. This is one of the symptoms and pointers to the presence of diabetes condition.
There is one more sign, which could very well be considered a symptom. It is the most obvious sign, one you see every day in the mirror if it applies to you. And that is, obesity. Obesity in medical terms doesn’t necessarily mean you are grossly overweight. There is a chart available in many places on the Internet, called the BMI, or Body Mass Index. Just “Google” it. You can use the chart to determine whether you are obese or just overweight or in the healthy weight range.
Of course, not everyone who is overweight or obese has diabetes or pre-diabetes. But obesity is the base from which most of the other signs of diabetes operate. If you have a BMI of 30 or higher and you have two or more of the other signs described in this article, you are at very high risk for diabetes and other serious health problems.
Aggressive Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes
Video : Aggressive Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes – The Advance study presented at the American Diabetes Association show there’s a way to prevent worsening of Type 2 Diabetes.
