Causes and ways to prevent diabetes complications
The good news: People with diabetes are living longer, healthier lives with fewer complications. What's the trick here? Increased awareness and better management of risk factors. Find out what you can do to prevent or delay diabetes complications in the article below.
Improving your lifestyle and controlling your blood sugar is an effective way to prevent diabetes complications
1. Causes of diabetes complications
Long-term high blood sugar can seriously damage your blood vessels. If your blood vessels aren't working properly, blood can't move to the parts of your body that it needs. This means your nerves won't work properly as well and means you'll lose sensation in parts of your body. When diabetes complications damage blood vessels and nerves in one part of your body, you're more likely to develop similar problems in other parts of your body. So if your feet are damaged, serious heart problems can occur.
The higher your HbA1c, the more likely you are to develop complications. Even a slightly high HbA1c increases the risk of the disease. But complications aren't just affected by blood sugar. High blood pressure, smoking, and having a lot of fat in your blood (cholesterol) can all damage your blood vessels and put you at higher risk for the disease.
2. How can complications be prevented or delayed?
These complications are not inevitable. Controlling blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood fats will greatly reduce your risk of developing complications.
Regular check-ups and adherence to the treatment regimen are imperative for good control of your blood sugar as well as other comorbidities.
Stopping smoking and lowering HbA1c levels and keeping cholesterol and blood pressure under control will prevent or slow these complications. Quitting smoking is the best thing you can do if you have diabetes because smoking makes it harder for blood to circulate around your body.
Smoking cessation is an important factor in preventing diabetes complications
3. Lifestyle improvements to prevent diabetes complications
A healthy lifestyle is your road map for managing diabetes, which is the key to preventing or delaying complications:
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Follow a healthy eating plan.
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Be physically active for at least 150 minutes a week (just 30 minutes, 5 days a week).
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Manage your ABCs:
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A: Get a regular A1C test to measure your average blood sugar over 2 to 3 months; aim to stay in your target range as much as possible.
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B: Try to keep your blood pressure below 140/90 mm Hg (or the target your doctor sets).
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C: Control your cholesterol levels.
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s: Stop smoking or don’t start.
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Your doctor may also prescribe medicines that can help you manage your blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels.
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Lose weight if you’re overweight—just a 5% to 7% weight loss lowers the risk for complications. That’s 10 to 14 pounds for someone who weighs 200 pounds.
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Take medicines as instructed, and talk to your doctor if you have questions about or problems with your medicine.
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Make and keep appointments with your health care team (primary care doctor, dentist, foot doctor, eye doctor, and dietitian).