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Diabetic Doctor Checkup
Contents
1. Overview – Diabetic Doctor Checkup
2. Diabetic Doctor Checkup – Glossary Listings
2.1 Diabetic Blood Pressure
2.2 Diabetic Eye Exam
2.3 Diabetic Foot Exam
Diabetic Doctor Checkup
1. Overview – Diabetic Doctor Checkup
As a patient with diabetes you should have a health care provider that you trust and that is knowledgeable and equipped to treat your diabetes. Visiting them should be a regular occurrence for you so that you can properly monitor your diabetes, your treatment and any complications that you have developed. In addition to a health care provider you may need several specialists in your diabetes treatment team. For example, a foot specialist will help you with specific problems that arise with diabetes regarding the feet.
At your regular appointments, you health care provider should do several things and run several tests. For starters your blood pressure should be checked every time you visit your doctor. High blood pressure is a common complication in patients with diabetes and can lead to a whole host of severe complications so keeping tabs on it is a must.
You should have a regular eye exam every year. While you may not have symptoms of eye problems, they can still develop without you knowing. Eye problems that are common in people with diabetes include retinopathy, cataracts, glaucoma and macular edema. If these problems are not caught early and addressed they can lead to vision loss and even blindness.
You should also get a regular foot exam every year. Diabetes often affects the feet and in the worse case scenarios foot or leg amputation become necessary. Early detect and treatment of all foot complications associated with disease is imperative to your overall well being with diabetes.
In a your regular doctor checkups other tests will be performed such as an HbA1c test to measure your blood sugar management, a cholesterol test, a triglyceride test, and tests on your kidneys and their functioning. These things are also important for detecting complications of the disease.
You should know the symptoms for all diabetes complications. In addition to regular checkups with your doctor, if you notice any symptoms of complications or anything irregular going on with your body, talk to your health care provider. It is always better to be safe than sorry and the earlier you detect a complication the faster you can start treating it and the better your results will be.
2. Diabetic Doctor Checkup – Glossary Listings
2.1 Diabetic Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is a combination of the force on your arteries as your blood pumps through them, the amount of blood pumped, and the size and flexibility of the arteries themselves. The arteries drastically affect blood pressure. Healthy arteries generally mean healthy blood pressure. In patients with diabetes the arteries are susceptible to narrowing and hardening or a condition known as atherosclerosis. Your blood pressure should be checked at every doctor appointment to check for signs of atherosclerosis which can lead to heart disease and even heart attack and stroke.
2.2 Diabetic Eye Exam
Whether you are experiencing any problems with your vision or not, a comprehensive eye exam should be conducted every year for people with diabetes. This includes dilation of the pupils. In the eye exam, your eye sight will be tested, an external exam will be conducted, and the cornea, iris and lens will be examined. Your diabetic eye exam should also include a glaucoma test. Eye problems that are common in people with diabetes include retinopathy, cataracts, glaucoma and macular edema. If not treated these problems can lead to vision loss or complete blindness. Sometimes there are no symptoms for these complications and can only be identified by a doctor.
2.3 Diabetic Foot Exam
Diabetes can lead to a lot of problems with the feet including foot sores, foot ulcers, foot amputation, foot pain and a condition called peripheral vascular disease. Proper foot care is very important on a daily basis, but so is a thorough foot exam performed by a doctor once a year. In a foot exam your doctor should test the sensation in your feet, examine your foot structure, check the pulses in your feet, check the skin on the feet, check for any joint or balance problems and search the feet for any areas of redness, swelling, warmth or calluses.
References
http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/guide/high-blood-pressure
http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/complications/high-blood-pressure-hypertension.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003398.htm
http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/diabetic/retinopathy.asp
http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/Articles/Eyes-And-Vision/what_to_expect_at_your_eye_exam/
http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/complications/foot-care.html
http://www.lifeclinic.com/focus/diabetes/foot_prevent.asp
