Diabetes Health Center
Type 2 Diabetes: Living With the Disease - Treatment Overview
Your treatment for type 2 diabetes will change over time to meet your individual needs. But the focus of your treatment will always be to keep your blood sugar levels within your target range to prevent complications from diabetes, such as eye, kidney, heart, blood vessel, and nerve disease. You play an important role in managing your condition. By learning about diabetes and working with your doctor to create a plan for treatment, you can improve your health and quality of life.
How can you manage your diabetes?
Follow your diet
It is important to follow a healthy, balanced diet that includes whole grains, lean meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, and low-fat milk products. To help control your blood sugar and reduce your risk for complications from diabetes, limit alcohol. And reduce calories if you need to lose weight.
Of the three major nutrients (carbohydrate, protein, and fat), carbohydrate has the greatest effect on blood sugar. Because you have diabetes, it's important that you include the proper amount of carbohydrate in your daily diet and that you space carbohydrate evenly throughout the day. You can use one of the following approaches:
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Diabetes: Counting carbs if you don't use insulin
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Diabetes: Counting carbs if you use insulin
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Diabetes: Using a food guide
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Diabetes: Using a plate format for eating
Planning meals to manage diabetes often means looking at food in a new way. Some people may have trouble accepting the changes they need to make in their lifestyle. You may find it helpful to read about how emotions influence what we eat, when we eat, and how much we eat:
Take an aspirin daily
If you are age 40 or older, talk to your doctor about taking a low-dose aspirin daily to help prevent heart attack, stroke, and other large blood vessel disease (macrovascular disease). People with diabetes are 2 to 4 times more likely than people who don't have diabetes to die from heart and blood vessel diseases.1
Exercise regularly
Exercise helps control your
blood sugar, because you use glucose for energy during and after activity. It
also helps you stay at a healthy weight; lower
high cholesterol; raise
high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good,"
cholesterol; and lower
high blood pressure. These benefits help prevent
cardiovascular
disease.
Do activities that raise your heart rate. Try to do moderate activity at least 2½ hours a week.2 One way to do this is to be active 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week. Also try to include resistance exercises in your program at least twice a week.2, 3 These activities can include things like weight lifting or yard work. See the topic Fitness for more ideas.
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
Type 2 Diabetes: Living With the Disease Topics
Indication
Uroxatral® (alfuzosin HCl 10 mg extended-release tablets) is an alpha1-blocker for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of BPH.
Important Safety Information
Do not take UROXATRAL if you have liver problems or if you are taking antifungal drugs like ketoconazole or itraconazole, or HIV drugs like ritonavir.
UROXATRAL can cause a sudden drop in blood pressure, especially when starting treatment. This may lead to fainting, dizziness, and lightheadedness. Do not drive, operate machinery, or do any dangerous activity until you know how UROXATRAL will affect you. This is especially important if you already have a problem with low blood pressure or take medicines to treat high blood pressure. There may be an increased risk of low blood pressure and fainting when taking UROXATRAL in combination with blood pressure medication or nitrates, or erectile dysfunction medication.
If considering cataract surgery (clouding of the eyes), tell your eye surgeon that you are currently taking UROXATRAL or have previously been treated with an alpha-blocker.
Before taking UROXATRAL, tell your doctor if you have kidney problems.
Also, tell your doctor if you or any family member(s) have or take medications for a rare heart condition known as congenital prolongation of the QT interval.
BPH and prostate cancer can cause the same symptoms. However, UROXATRAL is not a treatment for prostate cancer.
The most common side effects with UROXATRAL are dizziness, upper respiratory tract infection, headache, and tiredness.
Please see UROXATRAL full prescribing information.
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