Living With Diabetes

You’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, and you want to do everything you can to prevent the disease from overshadowing your life and your health. You’re not alone. Approximately one in 10 people in the United States has some form of diabetes, leaving them vulnerable to serious complications that range from nerve damage to vision loss.

At our practice, Dr. Sean P. Nikravan and our experienced endocrinology team specialize in diabetes, helping patients manage this disease in a way that avoids the life-changing consequences that stem from poorly managed diabetes. In this blog, we explore how we can work together to prevent diabetes from irreversibly altering your life.

Understanding the complications of diabetes

Our goal here isn’t to scare you unnecessarily. However, we feel it’s paramount that you understand the extremely serious consequences that can develop if your diabetes isn’t managed properly.

Peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage) is a clear and present danger and affects up to half of people with diabetes. This nerve damage typically occurs in your lower extremities and, if it progresses unchecked, neuropathy can ultimately lead to amputation.

Another concern is diabetic retinopathy, which is the leading cause of blindness in adults in the US. In addition, people with diabetes are twice as likely to have heart disease or stroke.

There are other concerns when it comes to unmanaged diabetes, but we think the above is enough to get your attention and to underscore the seriousness of the problem. The good news is that you can greatly reduce your risks for these complications with a solid management plan.

Working with the right team

The first, and most important, step you should take is getting the right medical team in your corner when you have diabetes. At its core, diabetes is a metabolic issue, which means an endocrinologist such as Dr. Nikravan should be at the heart of this team.

We have extensive experience helping patients with diabetes, and we vigilantly monitor your diabetes so we can intervene at the first signs of a problem. If you need specialists in other areas, such as a cardiologist or podiatrist, we have a great network of providers who can help.

Taking your own management steps

While we can monitor your diabetes, the steps you need to take on your own are also important. Before we embark on your treatment plan, we make sure to provide you with the education you need to manage your diabetes at home.

From reading your glucose numbers to understanding how your diet can influence your diabetes, we ensure that you have the resources and education you need to effectively live with and manage this condition.

The medications we prescribe can go a long way toward that end, but you need to be sure you’re not offsetting these controls through your lifestyle choices.

Because diabetes is systemic, we support a multi-pronged approach to managing your diabetes, which includes:

• Nutritional counseling
• Exercise plans
• Quitting smoking
• Weight management

We recognize that there are many changes that you need to make when you have diabetes, but we want to emphasize that we’re with you every step of the way.

The bottom line is that when you manage your diabetes well, you can still very much lead a happy, active, and full life.

To learn more about living with diabetes, please contact our office in Newport Beach, California, to set up an appointment. We also offer telehealth, which allows us to monitor your diabetes remotely, as well.