Diabetes

At River Bend Medical Associates, your family physician and our skilled primary health team work together to provide you with exceptional diabetes care. We work with you and your family to promote self-management, set personalized health goals, and preserve your quality of life.

What is Diabetes

Diabetes is a life-long (chronic) condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. If you have diabetes your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or it can’t use the insulin it makes as well as it should.

When you eat, your body converts food into the nutrients it needs: proteins, carbohydrates (including sugar), fats, and vitamins. Typically, a lot of the food we eat (carbohydrate-rich foods) is turned into sugar (glucose) and is released into our bloodstream. When your blood sugar goes up, it signals your pancreas to release a hormone called insulin. Insulin helps turn sugar into energy.  

With diabetes, your body either doesn’t make the right amount of insulin or can’t use the insulin effectively, and too much sugar (glucose) stays in your blood. Over time high blood glucose levels can lead to serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.

There is no cure for diabetes, but your doctor can help you effectively manage your diabetes with medication and support through weight loss programs, healthy eating plans, and physical activity goals.

Types of Diabetes

There are four main types of diabetes:

1. Prediabetes – Is when blood tests show a higher-than-normal blood sugar level that puts you at a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
2. Type 1 – When the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, the hormone needed to convert glucose into energy, type 1 diabetes (diabetes mellitus) develops.
3. Gestational Diabetes – This type of diabetes can develop during pregnancy and usually goes away once your baby is born. With gestational diabetes, your pancreas produces enough insulin, but your body does not use it to convert sugar into the energy it needs. As a result, you have too much sugar in your bloodstream.
4. Type 2 – This is the most common form of diabetes. When too much sugar (glucose) stays in your bloodstream because your body does not produce enough insulin or isn’t using the insulin it does make effectively (insulin resistance), you have type 2 diabetes.

Do you have prediabetes? 

Have you been told your blood sugar level is too high? At River Bend Medical Associates, our primary goal is prevention. We’ll work with you to help you improve your blood sugar levels to prevent a more serious condition.

Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes

The signs and symptoms of diabetes can vary depending on how high a person’s blood sugar level is elevated. 

If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, contact the caring professionals at River Bend Medical Associates. We can help you with diabetes screening, diagnoses, and condition management.

Symptoms of type 1 or type 2 diabetes include:

• Fatigue
• Frequent urination
• Extreme hunger
• Sores that don’t heal
• Frequent infections
• Blurred vision
• Irritability
• Unexplained weight loss
• Increased thirst
• Tingling hands or feet

What To Do If You Have Been Diagnosed with Diabetes 

Diabetes is a chronic condition that can impact many areas of your health and life. The good news is that you don’t have to figure it all out by yourself. Your primary care physician can help you manage your diabetes through education, diet, exercise, medication, and support.

Taking healthy steps toward managing your diabetes can help you feel good today and in the future. 

When your blood sugar is close to normal, you will probably:

• Have more energy
• Heal better
• Have fewer infections
• Be less thirsty
• Need to go to the bathroom less often
• Get less bladder or skin infections

Whether you have been recently diagnosed with diabetes or managing it for years, our experienced family healthcare team can help you stay on track.

How is Diabetes Treated 

Diabetes is treated with help from a physician. Treatment of diabetes requires maintaining your blood sugar at an appropriate level set by your doctor. A combination of medication, exercise, and diet can help you maintain a healthy blood sugar level.

Depending on the type of diabetes you are diagnosed with, and the severity of your condition, you may need to see other healthcare professionals such as an endocrinologist, foot doctor, eye doctor, or nutritionist. Your River Bend Medical Associates doctor can help you build a treatment plan that includes any specialist referrals you may need.  

If you are concerned about your risk for diabetes, talk to your doctor. Prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes can be managed and to some degree, prevented. A simple blood test is used to determine if you have diabetes. 

Strategies for Managing Diabetes

When it comes to managing your diabetes, you are the most important member of your healthcare team.

Your family doctor can help you with a treatment plan, but it’s up to you to follow it. If you have diabetes you need to pay constant attention to your health and make healthy choices.

Six Tips to managing your diabetes

1. Test your blood sugar regularly.
2. Stay physically active.
3. Make healthy food choices.
4. Get enough sleep.
5. If you are taking medications, use them as directed.
6. Make and keep health care appointments.

At River Bend Medical Associates, we diagnose and treat all types of diabetes in adults and children including type 1, type 2, prediabetes, gestational diabetes, high blood sugar (hyperglycemia), and low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).