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Helping Friends and Family Members with Diabetes

Article Description:
====================

It is not easy to learn that ayour close family member or your
best friends isare being diagnosed with diabetes. It is even
harder for those who are diagnosed with it to face the music.
Recognizing that e diabetes ias a disease without a unknown cure
might help you to understand the confusion and hardship your
loved ones have to go through.


Additional Article Information:
===============================

996 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Distribution Date and Time: 2008-07-22 11:12:00

Written By: John Jacobsen
Copyright: 2008
Contact Email: mailto:info@...



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Helping Friends and Family Members with Diabetes
Copyright (c) 2008 John Jacobsen
Diabetic Help Guide
http://www.diabetichelpguide.com



It is not easy to learn that your close family member or friends
are being diagnosed with diabetes. It is even harder for those
who are diagnosed with it to face the music. Recognizing that
diabetes is a disease without a known cure might help you to
understand the confusion and hardship your loved ones have to go
through.

As a family member or a friend of diabetes patient, you’re
playing an important role here. Why? Firstly, in many studies, it
is proven that family dynamics play a stronger role than just the
presence of family members during group medical visits.
Therefore, you have to be proactive instead of merely showing
presence as a form ofyour support. In most cases, physicians will
assess family relationship patterns to find out the effects on
patients’ health before making recommendations on life-style
modification.

On the contrary, if a family relationship appears to be
difficult, it might become a stressor and depression a factor to
the patient. Not only does the physician haves to educate the
patient but the doctor should also spend time with the family
members to inform them about the negative communication and
life-style pattern that will complicate the patient’s health.
This can be time consuming and as a family member or friend, one
should be informed and be ready to put up with all kinds of
situations.

In most of the cases, after learning about the truth of our
diagnosed family member or friend, it is normal for us to be
sympathetic. However, do not be sympathetic for too long as this
can be used as a feeling or an excuse for you to let them be and
do whatever they love since life is short. As you read on, you
will find out there are many things that you can actually do to
help them instead of just being sympathetic.

Many of us have probably heard of diabetes without knowing what
exactly it is. Diabetes is a condition where the sugar (glucose)
level is abnormally high in the blood and it is caused by little
or insufficient insulin in the body. It is important to
understand the types of diabetes our family member or friend is
diagnosed with. The first type (Type I), occurs when the body
fails to produce any insulin. This is most often found in
children. Most of the patients are diagnosed with the second type
(Type II) - they do not produce insulin due to the damage of the
pancreas or the body is insulin-resistant.

Diabetes is a disease without cure and it has to be taken care of
every day with properright diet and medication. Uncontrolled
diabetes can cause one to suffer other health problems such as
blindness, nerve damage, and kidney failure, just to name a few.
When the situation is too stressful, the patient will fall into
depression. Some have undergone behavioral changes. If we really
want to help them, we need to put ourselves in their shoes to
understand why they are or are not taking the advice or
medication that doctors and physicians recommend. Empowerment,
knowledge, and support are often the key elements when helping
the patient.

People with diabetes have to make changes in their lives. In most
of the situations, they need courage and support. This is when
empowerment from family, friends, and even the doctors comes in
handy. Not only do patients have to learn how to monitor and
control their blood sugar level, we can serve as reminders and be
concerned about their daily diet especially when preparing meals
for them. Avoid buying foods that they are not supposed to eat,
such as trans fat and sugary food. Go for fresh food, vegetables,
whole grains, and fish. Not only will the patients’ health will
be taken care of, you will benefit from the healthy diet. Next,
implement healthy life-style changes. Regular exercises such as
walking, jogging, cycling, swimming and dancing are good for both
of you. However, encourage the patients to speak to the doctor to
find out the right kinds of exercise for their age, ability, and
current health.

Helping patients with diabetes is not an easy task, especially
when they are giving up on themselves. However, we have to
realizse that everyone has the potential and capacity for making
healthy behavior changes. Thus, instead of forcing them to accept
the truth, you may focus on helping them to explore their own
concerns, ideas and strategies to overcome the changes they are
going to face in their lives. As a support, you may also consider
to creatinge a rapport by frequently communicating with patients
to assess how they’re handling their lifestyle changes, diet, and
the stress that comes with the diabetes diagnosis.

The steps of changes in patients start with pre-contemplation
when they are not seriously considering any change or
contemplation when they are thinking about change. Even though
the situation may differ, the encouragement and support from
family members and friends must be consistent. When they are
ready to make changes, you have to be ready to prepare yourself
to accept the change. From an advisor or counselor, your role now
is more like a motivator who should constantly provide
inspiration and drive to the patients. During the process of
making the change, you have to be on the go. You can take your
action through daily diet and exercise. Get them to participate
in a healthy life style with you. The last step will be the most
difficult and challenging- to sustain and maintain. Once the
healthy lifestyle is implemented, here comes the maintenance
work. It is important to sustain behavior change and ensure it
becomes a lifestyle.

It takes time to learn to accept and live comfortably with
diabetes. As a family member or friend of a patient with
diabetes, you are the reminder, advisor, motivator, action-taker
and maintainer! Your constant support and attention might be the
best cure of all! Let them know they are not alone.




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John Jacobsen has been writing articles about diabetes and health
care for over 10 years. He believes strongly that patients should
arm themselves with information and be their own best advocate in
their care. He finds http://www.diabetichelpguide.com to be a
valuable tool for diabetes patients, family, and friends.



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