It Pays to be Prepared - DIABETES

An early insulin pen ("Painless diabetes syringe")
from the swedish manufacturer Helinos (Getinge Skärhamn)
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having diabetes can change to live of person entirely. From the way one chooses the foods that he will eat to the way he lives his daily life, everything will change. For someone who doesn’t know much about diabetes, there are a lot of webs sites, magazines, and books that can help you understand better of the nature of diabetes.

The greatest problem for diabetics is not being able to access medication when emergency situations occur. That is why it is important to always have an emergency kit at hand. To keep the medicines from expiring, use them from time to time and replace them with new refills. The emergency kit can include cold medications, antacids, cough syrup, test strips and insulin with syringes if you use one and blood glucose monitoring supplies. If you will purchase over the counter medicines, make sure to read the label before using it. If there is a warning that diabetic people should consult their doctor before using the product, then do so. If you have these emergency kits at home, try to also have it at work or at school.

It is also essential to include in the emergency kit your medical history, prescription medications and emergency contacts. To keep them from getting wet, keep them in a waterproof bags. If you are using insulin keep extra syringes, glucagons emergency kit and urine ketone strips. A glucagon emergency kit consists of a syringe filled with a liquid which must be mixed with a powder. This kit is only used in case of a Severe Hypoglycemic Emergency. Try also to keep the insulin in a cool place as much as possible to keep it from being damaged.

For people who got caught in the Katrina and Rita hurricane disaster, being prepared made the difference between life and death. And for people with diabetes, being prepared is important to their own personal safety and health. Hence, the best thing a diabetic person can do to prevent any problem with diabetes is to live a healthy lifestyle. It is important to eat healthy foods and have a regular exercise to keep blood pressures at normal and reduce the risk of heart disease and other serious conditions. And most importantly, have emergency kits close at hand at all times.

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