Staying Active

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Get Active! | Living with Diabetes | Diabetes | CDC.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7 Aug. 2019, www.cdc.gov/diabetes/managing/active.html#:~:text=If%20you%20have%20diabetes%2C%20being.

This article talks about how Diabetic patients need to have a lot of physical activity to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Being active helps control your diabetes because it increases the body's response to insulin, the hormone that permits your body's cells to use glucose in your blood as fuel. Also, exercise reduces the probability of cardiovascular disease and it prevents damage to the nerves and helps regulate blood sugar levels. When a diabetic patient starts to maintain a healthier lifestyle, they tend to feel happier, more energetic, better sleep, better memory, and increase good cholesterol while decreasing bad cholesterol. Having a good set routine for a set amount of time in physical activity can have many benefits for the health of a diabetic patient. Some ways to engage in physical activity could be walking, running, doing house work, dancing, swimming, bicycling, etc. These are all ways to ensure better health. These exercises also help greatly with the heart which can prevent any cardiovascular disease from higher blood sugars. It is also important to take small steps when first starting to exercise so that one doesn’t strain themselves. This also means that when a diabetic patient exercises, they must adjust their medication so that their blood sugars don’t drop as well. 

Especially for diabetic patients, their blood sugars should be the main concern of their health. A diabetic patient's health can benefit greatly from following a well-defined regimen for a predetermined period of time when it comes to physical activity. That is why before engaging in any physical activity, a diabetic patient should drink lots of fluids and check their blood sugars before starting physical activity. If the diabetic patient’s blood sugars are below 100 mg/dL, then the patient must eat or drink something that will increase their blood sugar levels so that they do not fall into hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia can be very dangerous as it can lead to a patient to faint or even end up in a coma. However, if the diabetic patient has blood sugars about 240 mg/dL, then the patient should first bring down their blood sugar before engaging in physical activity so that they do not fall into hyperglycemia which can lead to ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis can be very dangerous for a diabetic because it can lead to high levels of ketones in the urine and can increase the acidity of the blood. It is also very important that once a diabetic patient finishes their physical activity to once again check their blood sugars so that it is not too high or too low. The last thing to make sure to do is to eat right after the physical activity because the blood sugar decreases during physical activity. The primary focus of the treatment of a patient should be their blood sugar, since they have diabetes. All in all, this research has allowed me to really see the importance of physical activity and maintaining a healthy lifestyle early can lead to less complications in a diabetic patient’s life.