LIFE WITH DIABETES: WHY MONITOR BLOOD GLUCOSE?
You have diabetes, albeit just “a touch of diabetes”. For one reason or another, your blood glucose levels have been found to be above the normal range.
If your blood glucose stays above normal for an extended period of time, you’ll be at risk for the development of serious complications, including:
• Retinopathy – with loss of vision and blindness.
• Neuropathy – nerve involvement that leads to pain in feet and hands or digestive or heart problems.
• Nephropathy – kidney problems that could lead to loss of kidney function and possible death.
• Large blood vessel problems – leading to heart attacks and strokes.
• Sexual function problems – leading to impotence in men and lack of lubrication in women.
These are some of the bad things that can happen as the result of prolonged periods of high blood glucose levels. If these facts frighten you, that may be a good thing. These facts alone may provide you with the motivation to start now with a programme to keep your blood glucose under control and to stay with such a programme forever.
On the positive side, people with diabetes who keep their blood glucose levels in the normal range report they feel better, physically and emotionally. They say they feel in control of their diabetes, rather than having diabetes control their lives. This fact, too, may provide you with the necessary motivation to take charge of your diabetes.
The one way you can know, at any time, whether or not you have achieved control is through blood glucose monitoring.
It’s something you can do, without the help of your doctor or other health professionals, when you want to and where you want to. Blood glucose monitoring can be done in the privacy of your home, in your office, in a hotel room, at a resort, or even in the rest room of an airplane.
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