New Hope for Curing Type 1 Diabetes

By Brooke Strickland

 Diabetes is a life-altering disease.  If you’re one that suffers from it, you don’t have to feel like it needs to overtake your life.  A new experiment showed that it’s possible to reverse Type 1 diabetes using an inexpensive vaccine that stops the immune system from attacking cells in the pancreas. People with low doses of the vaccine in their system showed increases in insulin production. [1]

If you’re battling diabetes and if the daily management of the disease has got you down, take heart and don’t burn out.  You’re not alone in the fight.  We’ve compiled some tips to keep you hopeful and healthy.

·         Celebrate your victories:  Keep a journal of things that you’re doing right.  This will keep you encouraged on days that you’re feeling frustrated and will help keep your spirits up.  Things to include might be that you ate a plethora of healthy snacks instead of junk food, or you remembered to check your blood sugar on time.

·         Cut caloric intake:  You don’t have to sacrifice good food.  Just eat in moderation.  Eat 1 serving instead of 2 and skip high-fat convenience foods and treats and increase your intake of fiber.  They’re not healthy for anyone.

·         Find a friend:  Support is always helpful when going through health challenges, especially with one such as diabetes.  Reach out to a support group or confide in a friend who is also struggling with the disease.  There’s no reason to go through this alone. 

If you’re feeling the aggravation of managing your diabetes and nothing seems to be helping lift your spirits, it might be time to talk your doctor.  There may be ways to support your efforts, new therapies to try, or other advice that your medical profession can give you to put you back on the path of hope.  

·         Keep exercise manageable:  It’s true that exercise has to be part of your diabetes management routine, but you don’t need to start training for the next half marathon in your city.  It simply means you need to exercise regularly, so if you’re feeling out of energy, try breaking your exercising into bits.  Walk briskly for 10 minutes a day, 3-6 times.  As long as you get that 30-60 minute time frame completed during the day, you’re good to go.