Newly Diagnosed with Diabetes or Asthma?

This is a sponsored post where I was provided with a complimentary product for the purposes of review. All opinions and blood sugar results are my own!

What would you do if you were newly diagnosed with diabetes or newly diagnosed with asthma?

A year ago I started to feel bad pretty consistently. After a trip to the emergency room I followed up on my blood tests with my regular doctor. Along with thyroid problems, a diagnosis of prediabetes shocked me.

Diabetes runs in my family. My aunt and uncles all have it and my grandmother had it too. I don’t know why I felt I would be immune from it.

I turned to the Internet for information, but it tended to be either too technical or of dubious medical accuracy. Luckily, I have a good doctor who answered a lot of questions for me and gave me good advice.

Getting good information and items I could take action on helped calm my fears and take control of my health. I started restricting sugar in my diet and eating as mostly plant-based whole foods during the week. (I call this being a “weekday vegan”.)

So far I’ve kept full-on diabetes at bay. I have a follow-up blood test this week, so we’ll see how that goes.

Optimal Life has information kits for people affected by diabetes, asthma, or breast cancer, among others. Optimal Life: The Essentials of Diabetes is set containing an illustrated, full color 260-page book and two DVDs with almost 120 minutes of information. 

According to Optimal Life, the diabetes set teaches: “what diabetes is, the science behind why complications occur and how to prevent them, why exercise is so important and what you need to know if you have diabetes, healthy eating, and a review of medications, including insulin.”

So far, my blood sugar is controlled by diet and exercise. My family is adjusting to fewer prepared foods and desserts. They are okay with it if it means keeping me healthy. After all, none of them are very good cooks.

If you have been newly diagnosed with diabetes, asthma, or breast cancer, talk to your doctor and seek out the best information you can so you can make the best choices for your health.

• Diabetes – From the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet

  25.8 million children and adults in the United States—8.3% of the population—have diabetes. In addition, 79 million people were considered prediabetic.

  In 2007, diabetes was the underlying cause of 71,382 death and was a contributing factor to an additional 160,022 deaths.

  Complications include heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, vision loss (diabetic retinopathy), kidney disease (diabetic nephropathy), nerve disease (diabetic neuropathy) and loss of limbs via amputation.

  The cost of diabetes was $174 billion total costs of diagnosed diabetes in the United States in 2007, with $116 billion for direct medical costs and $58 billion for indirect costs (disability, work loss, premature death.)

  After adjusting for population age and sex differences, average medical expenditures among people with diagnosed diabetes were 2.3 times higher than what expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes.

  Factoring in the additional costs of undiagnosed diabetes, prediabetes, and gestational diabetes brings the total cost of diabetes in the United States in 2007 to $218 billion.

  $18 billion for people with undiagnosed diabetes

  $25 billion for American adults with prediabetes

  $623 million for gestational diabetes

If you’d like to learn more about Optimal Life products founder, Dr, Christine Lee, find more information on optimalife.net.