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Posts Tagged ‘Diabetes’

Ice cream or yogurt? Regular or diet soda? These may not be critical decisions at your dinner table – unless you’re one of nearly 18 million Americans living with diabetes today.

People with diabetes face daily challenges. To remain healthy, they must monitor their blood sugar levels, eat a balanced diet and exercise regularly. Some people also need to take insulin to stay alive.

In an effort to recognize champions of these challenges, Eli Lilly and Co. established the LillyforLife Achievement Award in 2002. The award celebrates the inspiring achievements of people of all ages who live with diabetes.

Those recognized do not have to be well known or famous for their achievements but can be everyday people who have accomplished or are working toward exceptional personal success.

This year, Lilly has expanded the award program to include not only people with diabetes but also anyone impacted by the condition or involved with the diabetes community.

Categories of submission include: patients age 18 or over; patients age 17 or under; professionals; caretakers or spouses; and journalists.

One person from each category will be selected by a panel of judges to receive this special award. Applicants are eligible to apply for one category. Peer or self-nominations are accepted from the public through Aug. 30, 2004.

Last year, Rick Largent was honored with the first ever LillyforLife Achievement Award. Largent has been living with type 1, or insulin-dependent, diabetes for 25 years. He has faced extraordinary challenges during his life beyond diabetes. An unfortunate accident left him quadriplegic, and he later lost his 19-year-old daughter to cancer.

Largent neglected to control his blood sugar, putting himself at risk for diabetes-related complications. It was not until he began using an insulin pump that he started taking control of his health again.

Largent began traveling cross-country sharing his story and teaching others that anything is possible when diabetes is managed well. He also visited Capitol Hill in an effort to educate policymakers on the dual dilemma of diabetes and disabilities.

Largent’s resilience to conquer diabetes and quadriplegia represents the kind of spirit the LillyforLife Achievement Award stands for. As many who live with diabetes know, if the disease is managed, there’s no reason you can’t achieve your goals.

I did not become familiar with gestational diabetes until recently when my sister-in-law and my best friend were both diagnosed with it within a week. Many women I know, myself included, have made it through pregnancies without having any serious problems like gestational diabetes.

Basically, gestational diabetes is a disease that can come on during pregnancy but that usually disappears once the baby has been born. In some women, pregnancy results in their blood sugar levels getting out of balance. A pregnant woman might realize that she is having blood sugar problems on her own or it might take a doctor to determine that her levels are not normal. Regardless of how it is discovered, gestational diabetes is a serious issue that needs to be handled with caution and care throughout a woman’s pregnancy and after.

When my sister-in-law and my closest friend were struggling with feeling abnormally up and down during their pregnancies, their doctor took blood tests and determined that their blood sugar levels were being affected by their pregnancies and their food choices. They were both diagnosed simply by having this blood work done. At first they were hesitant and scared because gestational diabetes sounded huge and they didn’t know how relatively simple the treatment process could be.

Gestational diabetes, because it is primarily an imbalance of blood sugar, can often be regulated by changes in diet and levels of exercise. The amount of changes that are necessary are dependant upon how poor of habits the women have to begin with. My sister-in-law and my friend had to make different levels of changes to their diets, but neither had to make such significant changes that their lifestyle was radically altered. Mostly their changes consisted of going on a low-sugar and low-carb eating plan. Gestational diabetes brings a risk of the baby getting to large during its gestational period and needing to be delivered early or by c-section. The more the pregnant mother cuts down on sugar intake, the less likely it is that the baby will get too large to be delivered vaginally.

If you are pregnant or are thinking of becoming pregnant in the near future, take some time and learn about ways to prevent gestational diabetes. It is the best for you and your baby. Prevention is always a better option than having to find a solution to high blood sugar levels. Be wise with your food and exercise choices from the start and you should be able to avoid dealing with gestational diabetes in your pregnancies. Talk with your doctor and take every possible precaution.