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Lifestyle and home remedies

By Mayo Clinic staff

Type 1 diabetes is a serious disease. Following your diabetes treatment plan takes round-the-clock commitment, which can be frustrating at times. But realize that your efforts are worthwhile. Careful management of type 1 diabetes can reduce your risk of serious — even life-threatening — complications. Consider these tips:

  • Make a commitment to managing your diabetes. Learn all you can about type 1 diabetes. Make healthy eating and physical activity part of your daily routine. Establish a relationship with a diabetes educator, and ask your diabetes treatment team for help when you need it.
  • Identify yourself. Wear a tag or bracelet that says you have diabetes. Keep a glucagon kit nearby in case of a low blood sugar emergency — and make sure your friends and loved ones know how to use it.
  • Schedule a yearly physical exam and regular eye exams. Your regular diabetes checkups aren't meant to replace yearly physicals or routine eye exams. During the physical, your doctor will look for any diabetes-related complications, as well as screen for other medical problems. Your eye care specialist will check for signs of retinal damage, cataracts and glaucoma.
  • Keep your immunizations up to date. High blood sugar can weaken your immune system. Get a flu shot every year, and get a tetanus booster shot every 10 years. Your doctor will likely also recommend the pneumonia vaccine.
  • Take care of your teeth. Diabetes may leave you prone to gum infections. Brush your teeth at least twice a day, floss your teeth once a day and schedule dental exams at least twice a year. Consult your dentist right away if your gums bleed or look red or swollen.
  • Pay attention to your feet. Wash your feet daily in lukewarm water. Dry them gently, especially between the toes, and moisturize with lotion. Check your feet every day for blisters, cuts, sores, redness or swelling. Consult your doctor if you have a sore or other foot problem that doesn't heal.
  • Keep your blood pressure and cholesterol under control. Eating healthy foods and exercising regularly can go a long way toward controlling high blood pressure and cholesterol. Medication may be needed, too.
  • If you smoke or use other types of tobacco, ask your doctor to help you quit. Smoking increases your risk of various diabetes complications, including heart attack, stroke, nerve damage and kidney disease. In fact, smokers who have diabetes are three times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than are nonsmokers who have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Talk to your doctor about ways to stop smoking or to stop using other types of tobacco.
  • If you drink alcohol, do so responsibly. Alcohol can cause either high or low blood sugar, depending on how much you drink and if you eat at the same time. If you choose to drink, do so only in moderation and always with a meal.
  • Maintain a healthy weight. Good diabetes control is easier when you're at a healthy weight. If you need to lose weight, ask your doctor about healthy ways to reduce. Some people manipulate their insulin use to induce diabetic ketoacidosis to lose weight — a condition known as diabulimia. This is an unhealthy way to lose weight and extremely dangerous.
  • Take stress seriously. If you're stressed, it's easy to abandon your usual diabetes management routine. The hormones your body may produce in response to prolonged stress may prevent insulin from working properly, which only makes matters worse. To take control, set limits. Prioritize your tasks. Learn relaxation techniques. Get plenty of sleep.

Above all, stay positive. The good habits you adopt today can help you enjoy an active, healthy life with type 1 diabetes.

Coping and support Treatments and drugs
References
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  2. Standards of medical care in diabetes — 2009. Alexandria, Va.: American Diabetes Association. http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/reprint/32/Supplement_1/S13. Accessed April 1, 2009.
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  21. High blood sugar: Definition, symptoms. Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewpage&page_id=EC92D98E-1321-C844-13EB771367A49526. Accessed April 3, 2009.
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