Adequate exercise is part 0f the daily programme

In addition to eating the right food, physical exercise plays an important rc in the treatment of diabetes. If you hay! sedentary occupation at work, then YOt must see to it that this is made up for i your leisure time. Physical exercise lOll the blood sugar level.

Sport is good, but do not make top performance demands on your body; kE to a certain level in exercise also.

No top performance, but instead a uniform demand on the body

First the diet-then tablets or insulin

Should the observance of a diet, in combination with physical exercise and the removal of excess weight, not be ade"quate to normalise the blood sugar, then treatment with medicaments begins. There are various types of diabetes mellitus; only the doctor can decide what type of treatment comes into consideration.

In order for you to better understand the decision of your doctor as to whether treatment with tablets or insulin is necessary, you s,hould know that adequa insulin is formed in the pancreas of healthy persons.

As a rule of thumb, it may be said that in diabetic children and juveniles insulin is no longer produced in the pancreas; the diabetic must therefore inject himself witt this insulin.

However, if diabetes does not occur until the 4th decade of life, then insulin is generally still present in the pancreas, bu this insulin cannot become active. In thes cases, treatment with tablets is carried out. Via the treatment with tablets, the body's own insulin becomes active once more.

There are two forms of diabetes mellitus and hence different forms of treatment

Whether you have been stabilised on tablets or insulin, strict observance of the diet is always nec;essary. It is not possible to make up for dietary errors by additional tablets or more insulin. Keep strictly to the prescribed dosage and the time specified by your doctor.

Dosage and dosage time must be strictly adhered to

The tablets for treating diabetes shou take'n just prior to/ or during a meal. Ie some cases additional tablets are prescribed at the midday meal and/ or evening meal. They should never be I together with alcoholic drinks.

Never take tablets together with alcohol!

Note the name of your tablets, and on r account change over to a different preparation without consulting your doctor.

Among the various medicaments there are considerable differences in the way in which they act and also in their potency. You should only take medicaments for other illnesses with the knowledge, and at the direction, of your doctor, for many medicaments influence the blood sugar.

Only take the medicaments prescribed by your doctor! Never exchange your tablets for those of other diabetics

Occasionally, treatment with tablets can also lead to side-effects: too Iowa blood sugar value (= hypoglycaemia). We mean by this a rapid and severe fall in the blood sugar. Not only the diabetic but also his relatives and his colleagues at work should be informed on this side-effect.

A possible side-effect is the blood sugar value becoming too low

At the beginning of treatment, visual disorders occasionally occur. They are. however, only of a temporary nature. Because of diabetes, the lens in your e has taken up too much sugar from the blood and thereby becomes swollen. 0 to the action of insulin, this state abate: once more. Hence a recovery process involved here, thanks to which, serious! damage can be avoided.

Visual disorders at the beginning of insulin treatment are only transient