Diabetes: What You Need To Know
Diabetes is currently affecting the lives of approximately 12 million Australians, with numbers continually rising. When you eat, your body turns food into sugars, or glucose. At that point, your pancreas is supposed to release a hormone called insulin. Insulin serves as a ‘key’ to open your cells to allow the glucose to enter, and allow you
to use the glucose for energy.
In people with diabetes, insulin is no longer produced or not produced in sufficient amounts by the body. It requires daily selfcare and if complications develop, diabetes can have a significant impact on quality of life and could reduce life expectancy. While there is currently no cure for diabetes, you can live an enjoyable life by learning about the condition and how to effectively manage it.
Parkes Pharmacy’s aim is to help people with diabetes be confident in managing their medicines and blood sugar levels (BGL) for improved day-to-day quality of life and reducing long-term complications. Over the next month we will focus on supporting patients with diabetes’ effective use of medicines by offering Diabetes MedsChecks, and discussing effective BGL monitoring.
The Diabetes MedsCheck is a government- funded pharmacy program, involving a private, face-to-face consultation and medication review with the pharmacist. It focuses on education and self-management, and will help the patient better understand or manage their structured BGL monitoring.
We can also help people who might be at risk of diabetes due to genetic and lifestyle factors. Evidence shows that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed in up to 58% of cases by maintaining a healthy weight, being physically active and following a healthy eating plan.