Type 1 Diabetes
Treatment Overview
Treatment for adults
Type 1 diabetes requires lifelong treatment to keep blood sugar levels within a target range. Treatment includes:
- Taking several insulin injections every day, or using an insulin pump.
- Monitoring blood sugar levels several times a day using a home blood sugar meter.
- Eating a healthful diet that spreads carbohydrate throughout the day, to prevent high blood sugar levels after meals.
- Regular physical exercise, because exercise helps the body to use insulin more efficiently. Exercise may also lower your risk for heart and blood vessel disease.
- Regular medical checkups to monitor and adjust treatment as needed. Screening tests and exams need to be done regularly to watch for signs of complications, such as eye, kidney, heart, blood vessel, and nerve diseases.
- Not smoking.
- Not drinking alcohol if the person is at risk for periods of low blood sugar.
A regular daily schedule makes managing blood sugar levels easier. Blood sugars are easier to predict and control when mealtimes, amounts of food, and exercise are similar every day.
Many people find out that they have type 1 diabetes when they are admitted to a hospital for diabetic ketoacidosis. If their symptoms are severe, they may need to be treated in an intensive care unit. Treatment for diabetic ketoacidosis includes fluids given through a vein (intravenous, or IV) to treat dehydration and to balance electrolytes, and insulin to lower the blood sugar level and stop the body from producing ketones.5
Treatment for children
Treatment for children includes all of the above measures to keep blood sugar levels within the child's target range. Treatment for children should also allow for normal growth and development. See the topics Type 1 Diabetes: Recently Diagnosed and Type 1 Diabetes: Children Living With the Disease.
When a small child has diabetes, the parents have the responsibility for blood sugar control. As the child grows, he or she can take more responsibility for diabetes care.
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| Author: | Robin Parks, MS | Last Updated: November 21, 2006 |
| Medical Review: | Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine Matthew I. Kim, MD - Endocrinology & Metabolism | |
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