Untreated or mistreated diabetes can lead to devastating consequences for seniors. Fortunately, diabetes is a highly treatable disease, and many of the severe side effects of diabetes can be avoided with quality health care. In-home diabetes care for seniors is a simple and effective way of empowering seniors to manage their diabetes, providing extra medical assistance when needed, and letting people get back to living healthier and more fulfilling lives.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease that can interfere with a person’s ability to turn food into energy. When you eat food, your body breaks it down into sugar that is released into the bloodstream. In a non-diabetic person, insulin is released in response to this spike in blood sugar, which allows the sugar to enter your body’s cells to be used as energy.
For people with diabetes, this insulin response doesn’t work as effectively as it should. Too little insulin is released, or your body’s cells don’t respond to insulin appropriately – leading to high levels of blood sugar that can cause tremendous damage over time.
There are two primary forms of diabetes:
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic disorder that causes your immune system to attack the insulin creating cells in the pancreas. Type 1 diabetes is typically diagnosed at a young age, and people with this disorder need to take insulin every day in order to survive.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes happens as a result of lifestyle choices. People can develop type 2 diabetes at any point in the lifespan, though it typically begins in adulthood. This type of diabetes is typically managed with targeted medications, insulin injections, and lifestyle changes.