People with pre-existing medical conditions appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with COVID 19 virus. When people with diabetes mellitus develop a viral infection like COVID 19, it can be harder to treat due to fluctuation in blood glucose level and presence of diabetic complications.
If you have diabetes, you are highly recommended to follow instructions in the period of outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic. These steps are helped to you to improve your quality of life.
1. Prepare in case you get ill.
2. Make sure to keep all relevant contacts details with you.
3. Pay extra attention to your glucose control.
Target blood suger levels for diabetes ( age 20+)
- Fasting - less 100 mg/dL
- Before meal - 70-130 mg/dL
- After meal(1-2hours) - less 180 mg/dL
- Before exercise - If taking insulin, at least 100 mg/dL
- Bed time - 100-140 mg/dL
4. Make sure you have good supply of the diabetic medications.
5. Make sure you will be able to correct the situation if your blood glucose suddenly drops.
6. If you live alone, make sure someone can rely on knows your medical details.
7. Follow regular schedule, avoiding over work and having regular sleep.
8. Make sure that you have access to sufficient water and enough foods.
Healthy nutrition is essential component of diabetes mellitus management. So give your priority to foods with Low glycemic index eg: vegetables, fruits, pasta, noodles, Avoid excessive consumption of fried foods, limit consumption of food with sugar, carbohydrate and fat, chose lean proteins eg: fish, meat, eggs, milk, beans after fully cooked.
9. Follow regular physical activity session
That has great benefit to the general population and even more for people living with diabetes. It is better to follow a serious of daily exercises that can be performed at home.
10. If you do flu- like symptoms (raised temperature, cough, difficulty breathing) it is important to consult medical care.
Prasadi Amarasekara
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