Diabetes Management in Humble, TX
Diabetes requires careful management, but with the right tools you can avoid life-altering complications and symptoms. At North Houston Diabetes Institute in Humble, Texas, Juan Carlos Zubieta, MD, MPH, and his team provide regular digital report cards to track your health and adjust your diabetes management plan to fit your needs. To start managing your diabetes successfully, call or schedule a consultation online today.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic disease that results from having too much sugar, or glucose, in your blood. Consistently high blood sugar can cause or worsen numerous chronic health conditions, so you must manage your diabetes in your day-to-day life with help from health providers.
There are two main types of diabetes that cause high blood sugar in separate but similar ways. North Houston Diabetes Institute can help you manage either type.
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is usually present early in life. If you have it, your pancreas produces no insulin or too little to effectively process the glucose in your blood.
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is often linked to unhealthy eating habits, a sedentary lifestyle, or being overweight. However, these factors aren’t present in every case. With type 2 diabetes, your pancreas produces insulin, but your body can’t use it effectively.
Beyond these two types, you might also get a diagnosis of prediabetes if your blood sugar is higher than normal, or gestational diabetes if you develop diabetes during pregnancy.
How can I keep track of my health with diabetes?
North Houston Diabetes Institute makes it simple to track changes in your health while you have diabetes and adjust your treatment plan to manage them. You’ll receive regular digital report cards with detailed information about various levels and aspects of your health.
Diabetes assessments at North Houston Diabetes Institute take just minutes and your report cards are available almost instantly.
They’re clearly marked with green-colored areas to show where your health is good and red-colored areas to show which parts of your health and wellness need special attention in the next phase of your treatment.
The diabetes assessments look at your:
- Hemoglobin levels
- Hypoglycemia levels
- Body mass index (BMI)
- 10-year cardiovascular risk projection
- Kidney function
- Eye function
- Foot function
- Blood pressure reading
You’ll use an interactive touch screen monitor to take the assessment, which also includes simple tests for your eyesight and foot function.
How does diabetes management work?
To manage your diabetes and its effects on your body, you must take an active role in your care. Each diabetes management plan at North Houston Diabetes Institute includes an individualized set of instructions that target your areas of concern.
With type 1 diabetes, and in some cases of type 2, you need to take insulin every day to replace the insulin that your body doesn’t make or that it doesn’t use effectively.
Individualized weight loss plans are also available to help you manage your diabetes. In many cases, losing even as little as 10-15 pounds of body fat can lower your blood sugar levels and reduce your risk for complications like vision loss, heart disease, and stroke.