Contents:
- Medical Video: Treatment and Management of Type 2 Diabetes
- Do you need to routinely take diabetes medication?
- If you have a healthy lifestyle, do you still need to take diabetes medication?
- Other diabetes drugs are also needed when blood sugar levels don't go down
- What happens if I don't take diabetes medication as recommended by the doctor?
Medical Video: Treatment and Management of Type 2 Diabetes
One classic advice aimed at people who have diabetes is to regulate their eating patterns and do not be lazy to exercise. If properly followed, both of them do play an important role in controlling the symptoms and development of this disease.
So, does this mean that diabetics don't need to take diabetes medication very much, even though doctors have prescribed it? Is it possible for people with diabetes to live everyday without taking diabetes medication at all?
Do you need to routinely take diabetes medication?
There are two diabetes diseases, namely type 1 and type 2. Both have different causes. On type 1 diabetes, the body of the sufferer cannot produce enough insulin to process the sugar that enters the body from food. Type 1 diabetes affects many children.
On the other hand, type 2 diabetes usually more caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. As a result the hormone insulin produced by the body is no longer able to process the sugar consumed. Type 2 diabetes tends to appear and suffer from adults.
For people with type 1 diabetes, you are required to use medicines prescribed by your doctor - usually in the form of an injection of insulin which is used to replace the insulin hormone that the body should produce. If you are absent from using insulin injections, type 1 diabetics will not be able to survive.
How about type 2 diabetes? Actually, only 20-30% of type 2 diabetics need diabetes medication in the form of insulin injections. The rest, type 2 diabetics will be given various other diabetes drugs to regulate their blood sugar levels and recommend to change their lifestyle to be healthier.
If you have a healthy lifestyle, do you still need to take diabetes medication?
Whichever you want, diabetes is a lifelong disease and does not have an effective antidote that can cure it. But you can control the symptoms and risks of complications by leading a healthy life and prescribed diabetes medication.
If indeed you can control blood sugar levels to remain normal and HbA1C levels - a test that measures how much sugar enters a blood vessel - well through a healthy lifestyle, then you can live peacefully with diabetes without taking drugs.
Of course, to control blood sugar remains normal, you must adopt a healthy lifestyle, regulate food, and exercise regularly. If necessary, you should consult a nutritionist to help you make the right diet rules.
Normal levels of HbA1C are less than 7.5%, but if within 3 months your HbA1C level is more than 7%, your doctor will give you diabetes medication to control that number. One drug that is commonly recommended in people with type 2 diabetes is metformin.
In a Clinical Diabetes journal published in 2012, the drug metformin is a drug that can be relied on to reduce HbA1C levels - the amount of blood sugar that enters the bloodstream.
In this study it was known that metformin was able to reduce HbA1C levels by 1-2%. Normal amount of HbA1C is less than 7%. If your blood test results still show a number that is more than this limit, the doctor will usually give metformin.
Other diabetes drugs are also needed when blood sugar levels don't go down
Although metformin is a drug commonly given to control blood sugar levels, sometimes you also need other types of diabetes medication. If the A1C level does not decrease also within 3 months, even though metformin and the adoption of a healthy lifestyle have been given, the doctor will give you another diabetes medication.
Some diabetes medications are usually given after metformin, namely:
- Sulfonylureas
- Meglitinide
- Thiazolidinediones
- Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors
- Incretin agents / GLP-1
- Insulin
However, don't worry, insulin injections will usually be the last choice in your diabetes treatment. If you can control blood sugar levels with a new diabetes drug given and still apply a healthy lifestyle, then the doctor will not recommend injecting insulin
What happens if I don't take diabetes medication as recommended by the doctor?
If you miss taking diabetes medication that is recommended by a doctor, then this will have a negative impact on your health. Not taking drugs that have been recommended by your doctor, can make your blood sugar levels out of control. This will not keep you waiting for a long time for complications of diabetes.
Because the complications of diabetes will appear at least in 5 years and 10-15 years later, you have experienced various other chronic diseases. Complications of diabetes can be started from a relatively mild condition, such as uncontrolled blood pressure, sudden blurred vision, wounds and ulcers on the legs, to heart attack and kidney failure.
If you do not want this to happen, then you should follow the doctor's advice to take diabetes medication, often - often check your blood sugar levels, and of course still live a healthy lifestyle so that your diabetes is under control.
