1. Health
2. Diabetes

Help me manage diabetes treatment

• Article - Monitoring Blood Glucose: What You Should Know to Help a Parent with Diabetes

  Monitoring the blood glucose of a parent with diabetes helps identify which treatments work best. Here are the basics of blood glucose monitoring.

• Article - Drugs for Type 2 Diabetes: A Beginner's Guide

  A guide to the oral medications available to people with type 2 diabetes.

• Article - How to Help Your Parent With Diabetes Follow Medication Recommendations

  Strategies to help you help your elderly parent take their diabetes medications on time and consistently.

• Checklist - 12 Items Your Parent With Diabetes Should Always Carry

  Help your parent with diabetes be prepared for medical emergencies when he's not at home: Know the 12 essentials he should always have with him.

• Checklist - 10 Health Checks Your Parent with Diabetes Needs

  Know the 10 types of medical checkups your parent with diabetes should have regularly, and which doctors should coordinate them.

• Checklist - 10 People You Need on Your Diabetes Care Team

  Learn which doctors and other health specialists provide the medical help your parent with diabetes needs, and how to find them.

• Article - Managing Your Parent's Type 2 Diabetes: Coping With the 5 Toughest Challenges

  Learn about the toughest challenges seniors with type 2 diabetes face and find ways you can help your parent with diabetes overcome these obstacles.

• Article - Type 2 Diabetes: A Beginner's Guide

  Learn the basics about type 2 diabetes -- its causes, complications, and management -- so you can help your parent after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.

• Article - 2 Emergency Diabetes Complications You Can Help Your Parent Avoid

  Find out what you can do to help your parent with type 2 diabetes avoid two potentially life-threatening diabetes complications.

• Article - 3 Acute Diabetes Complications You Can Help Your Parent Avoid

  Find out how to help your parent with type 2 diabetes avoid short-term complications such as low or high blood sugar (hypo- or hyperglycemia).

• Article - 9 Things to Do When Your Parent Is Diagnosed With Diabetes

  A handy checklist of things you can do to help your parent when she's newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

• Article - 8 Ways to Help Your Parent With Diabetes Handle Sick Days

  Eight tips to help your parent with type 2 diabetes deal with illnesses.

• Article - How to Help Your Parent With Type 2 Diabetes Deal With Stress

  Effective strategies to help your parent with type 2 diabetes deal with stress.

• Checklist - 10 Essential Diabetes Resources on the Web

  Ten trustworthy and invaluable websites that offer education and support for people with type 2 diabetes.

Questions & Answers

• Question - How long does insulin last once it's been opened?

  After I open a bottle of insulin, how long is it good for, how should I store it, and how do I know whether it's gone bad? Does insulin expire?

• Question - How can I help my father deal with the "dawn phenomenon," or high blood sugar on awakening?

  Dawn phenomenon, having high blood sugar in the morning, is a common problem for diabetics. Get advice on dawn phenomenon treatment strategies.

• Question - What's an A1c test and why is it important for my dad to take it?

  A diabetes expert gives you the scoop on A1c tests and why your parent with diabetes might need one.

• Question - Can a new diabetes drug also help my mother lose weight?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - How can I help my parent figure out when her blood sugar is too high?

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• Question - How can I help my mother handle low blood sugar incidents?

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• Question - How do I handle my dad's denial about his diabetes?

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• Question - Does stress affect my parent's blood sugar levels?

  My mom is diabetic and has a tendency to get upset and anxious. Does stress have an impact on her blood sugar level, and if so, what can I do to help?

• Question - What's carbohydrate counting and should my dad do it?

  A diabetes expert gives you the scoop on why your parent might want to count carbohydrates and what carb counting means.

• Question - Should my father, who has type 2 diabetes, avoid carbohydrates?

  Explains whether it's okay to cut out carbs completely to quickly lower blood sugar following a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.

• Question - How can I help my mom, who seems really down about her diabetes diagnosis?

  Offers guidance on helping your parent deal with depression following a diabetes diagnosis.

• Question - My parent’s blood sugar is going up and down from 275 to 43 on metformin and glipizide, what should we do?

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• Question - What can I do to get my mom to take her diabetes pills, which she doesn't think are keeping her blood sugar in check?

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• Question - What precautions should my dad, who has type 2 diabetes, take when traveling?

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• Question - What extra precautions should my dad with diabetes take when he has the flu?

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• Question - Is it OK if my mom with type 2 diabetes drinks alcohol?

  Know the guidelines, dangers, and precautionary measures involved in mixing alcohol with type 2 diabetes and hypoglycemia.

• Question - How can I help my mom deal with high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol?

  Help your parent use diet, exercise, and stress control to cope with a common triple diagnosis: type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol.

• Question - Should I let my dad, who has diabetes, drive?

  Help your parent with diabetes avoid hypoglycemic episodes while driving, and learn some legalities of driving with type 2 diabetes.

• Question - Should my dad, who’s scheduled to have an operation unrelated to his diabetes, keep up his normal diabetes routine?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - Should I be concerned that my mom has lumps where she injects insulin?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - Does it matter when my dad takes his diabetes pills?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - What is insulin resistance?

  What "insulin resistance" means, how it affects people with type 2 diabetes, and what you can do to treat the condition.

Tips & Reflections

• Tip - How to Take the Ouch Out of Blood Sugar Testing

  Checking blood sugar levels to keep type 2 diabetes...

• Tip - Take Care When Choosing Over-the-Counter Drugs

  Many over-the-counter (OTC) medications, such as cough...

• Tip - Correctly Trim the Toenails of Your Parent With Diabetes

  Advice for people with diabetes and their caregivers on how to correctly cut toenails.

• Tip - Easier Injecting With Insulin Pens

  An insulin pen may be the sharp of choice for the elderly with diabetes who need to inject insulin.

• Tip - Medicare Coverage for Your Parent With Diabetes

  Find out what diabetes services and supplies are covered under Medicare.

• Tip - Safely Dispose of Used Diabetes Sharps

  Advice on how to safely dispose of used needles and lancets for people with diabetes and their caregivers.