Diabetes Diabetes Treatment

Keeping Type 2 Diabetes Under Control

Summary & Participants

Keeping her type 2 diabetes under control means Susan can live a normal, healthy life.

Medically Reviewed On: August 11, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Monitoring sugar levels in her blood is just one of the ways Susan keeps her type two diabetes under control. Diet and exercise help her keep those levels in the healthy range.

ASTRID ALMODOVAR, FAMILY PHYSICIAN: It is amazing, but true -- healthy diet and exercise constitutes a treatment. You do not need to be skinny to stop the progression of this condition. You can just lose 10% of your body weight and stay active. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, you know, or the escalators.

SUSAN, HAS TYPE 2 DIABETES: I'm on a low-carb protein diet, lot of vegetables and fruit.

ANNOUNCER: It’s a myth that people with diabetes need to avoid all sweets.

ASTRID ALMODOVAR, FAMILY PHYSICIAN: You have an allowance of carbohydrates. You could decide to have it in a cake or you could decide to have it in pasta. It is not as restrictive as people think,

ANNOUNCER: When diet and exercise aren’t enough – medications help the body manage blood sugar. Many involve insulin, the hormone that gets sugar out of the blood and into the cells where it can be used for energy.

ASTRID ALMODOVAR, FAMILY PHYSICIAN: We have medications that promote the pancreas to secrete more insulin. We have medications that block carbohydrate absorption in the gut. We have medications that improve insulin sensitivity. We have insulins of a wide variety of sorts.

ANNOUNCER: But sometimes treatment can make blood sugar drop too low, leaving a person feeling dizzy or shaky. Susan says she’s always prepared.

SUSAN, HAS TYPE 2 DIABETES: I carry a toolbox now. There's several things you do need to carry. Your meter, which is your lifeline. The second thing I carry is pure sugar. It's called glucose dex-4 and that's in case I’m on like the parkway. There's nowhere to stop and I’m dropping, take the pure sugar and then I carry my medicines. There's life with diabetes. And it can be fine. Diabetes will not kill you. You'll kill you if you don't listen to what you have to do.

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily.