Travel can be a lot of fun, but it takes some advance planning.  People with diabetes have to plan a little more.  Here are a few things to keep in mind about your insulin when you head out for that dream vacation.

Your Blood Sugar

When you are traveling, it is important to monitor your blood sugar more closely.  This means checking your blood sugar every four hours when you are awake.  Travel can be stressful, which can raise your blood sugar level.  Don’t treat your blood sugar without monitoring it, and monitor it to make sure that you are giving the correct dosages of medication and/or insulin.

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You can chew a gum to help you quit smoking, why not chew a gum to manage your diabetes?  Generex corporation of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has teamed up with Fertin Pharma from Denmark to create this diabetes gum.

The proposed gum would be for type 2 diabetes, and would be for patients who are not insulin dependant.  The gum would deliver metformin to the patient through the lining of their mouth. Metformin is a traditionally used medication for diabetes.  Generex, a biotechnology company, expects this type of delivery (buccal) to help overcome certain side effects of taking metformin orally.

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Diabetes can lead to many complications, some of them very severe.  This means that the effect that diabetes has on your teeth can often be completely overlooked.  Diabetics are at a higher risk for periodontal disease (diseases of the mouth) than most people.

Having high blood sugar means that your teeth and gums are at a higher risk, because germs multiply in high-sugar environments.  This means that the first step to protecting your teeth is to lower your blood sugar and to maintain a constant blood sugar level.  The difficulty is that if you already have some gum disease, it can be another stress that leads to high blood sugar levels.  This can be an overwhelming cycle, but luckily you can stop it.

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If your child has diabetes, it is probably type 1 diabetes, which means that your child is insulin-dependent.  Even if your child has type 2 diabetes, you will want to tell the school so that your child is supported during their learning process.  You want your child to get the most of their education, and that means helping to make sure that your child gets the proper care at school.

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If you are a diabetic and have a baby, there are certain things to keep in mind while you are breastfeeding.  Firstly, studies have proven that breastfeeding a baby can help to prevent type 1 diabetes development.  Babies who breastfeed until at least six months will be at a lower risk for type 1 diabetes.  Doctors generally recommend that mothers breastfeed their children until nine to twelve months.

Doctors are unsure if the positive effects of nursing come from special nutrients in the colostrum (the special milk from mothers) or if it because babies who are breastfed often grow at a more regular pace than those who are fed from cow’s milk.  Babies weaned on cow’s milk often experience growth spurts rather than the steady growth associated with mother’s milk.  If you are a diabetic, consider breastfeeding to help lower your child’s chances of diabetes due to genetic predisposition.

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Diabetes is a chronic disease that will need to be managed over the course of a lifetime.  Some patients get “diabetes fatigue” or “diabetes burnout” from the stress of having to manage their diabetes every day.

Type 1 diabetes can be managed with exercise, diet, and insulin injections.  Type 2 diabetes can sometimes be managed simply with diet and exercise, though sometimes other medications are recommended.  Regardless, it can be difficult to constantly measure and regulate what one eats and how one exercises.

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Diabetes is a disease that requires constant monitoring and adapting.  Sometimes it is difficult to monitor diabetes on a regular schedule, let alone when you are working a night shift or swing shift.  There are things that you can do to manage your diabetes if you are working shifts.

The key to diabetes is self-monitoring blood glucose levels.  Always have your blood sugar monitor with you, particularly if you are away from home.  Take your blood sugar a few times during your shift to see if you need to raise or lower your blood sugar levels.  You will need to monitor your blood sugar most closely if you are switching to a new shift.

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