February 2012
Understanding Insurance Coverage
Most Americans with health coverage are covered by one of these plans.
Group or Individual Private Health InsuranceYour employer might contract a large health plan to manage employees' health benefits. As an employee, you might have health plan options, such as a choice of a fee-for-service plan, a Preferred Provider Organization(PPO), or a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). The options usually have different costs...
February 2012
Love Your Heart
Aerobic activities help improve your blood sugar control and your heart health. These are activities that increase your body’s oxygen use and heart rate, such as walking at a 15–minute–per–mile pace or ballroom dancing.
- Better blood sugar control
- Help in reaching and maintaining a healthy weight
- Prevention or delay of diabetes complications
- Greater flexibility
- Improved strength and endurance
- Feeling more comfortable with your body
- Reduced stress ...
February 2012
Help Control Your Diabetes: Learn the Myths, Get Expert Tips
Molly Gee, registered dietician and Managing Director of the Behavioral Medical Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, helps dispel some diabetes myths and shares three simple–but important–lifestyle tips to help you control your diabetes.
February 2012
The Facts About Impaired Glucose Tolerance
People who develop type 2 diabetes usually experience two preliminary stages: insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance. Insulin resistance is a condition in which the pancreas manages to pump enough insulin to bring down blood sugar levels, but with levels of insulin much higher than normal.
Over time, a person with insulin resistance secretes more and more insulin to move the same amount of glucose into the cells, where it is needed for energy. In many people, this ability to compensate eventually breaks down. When this happens, blood sugar levels begin to climb, despite the high levels of insulin produced by the pancreas...
January 2012
Understanding Nutrition Labels
Nutrition–conscious shoppers are bombarded with claims on packages these days. How do you make sense of it all?
Luckily, the food industry and the government have helped standardize and define labeling claims for most foods. Check out the nutrition labels guide from SparkPeople® to get a better understanding of what everything on the label means.
January 2012
Keeping a Daily Diabetes Record
Your diabetes logbook is an invaluable tool. The information you enter helps you and your health care provider know whether your diabetes care plan is working. Logbooks also help your health care provider know when to make changes to your diabetes care plan to reduce the risk of complications. This information paints a picture of how food, exercise, medication, and ⁄or insulin affect your blood sugar results.
A Logbook Can Help Your Health Care Provider Help You
Knowing blood sugar readings, grams of carbohydrates eaten, and activity level helps your health care provider prescribe the best treatment for you.
- A well–kept logbook will capture peak times when you take medication or insulin—information that is important when developing a care plan...
December 2011
Abbott Nutrition Launches Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ Products
Abbott Nutrition is introducing Glucerna Hunger Smart nutrition shakes and snack bars to respond to the growing diabetes and obesity epidemic in the United States. Studies show these kinds of meal replacements, as part of lifestyle intervention, can help people with diabetes manage their weight.
