Hello everyone.

I was wondering how do you treat diabetes?? With drugs?? Insulin??

I'm curious because my brother is showing all the symptoms of diabetes and he's a little worried now.

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you.

You didn't say what makes you suspect that your brother has diabetes, but some common signs are increased thirst and urination, as well as fatigue. Some other signs can be irritibility, confusion, acting "drunk" (slurred speech, dizziness, etc.).

Before even discussing treatment, he needs to find out if he is, in fact, diabetic. There are so many different medications for diabetes now, including insulin, that it's not a short learning curve! In fact, even insulin has many different delivery systems now, from syringe injections to pen-like injections to insulin pumps to, hopefully soon, nasal sprays. And there are probably close 50 oral medications on the market. A few diabetics can even manage with just diet and exercise. A lot depends on what type of diabetes you;re dealing with, as Type I diabetics always require insulin, while Type II diabetics may use insulin, oral medications, diet and exercise, or a combination of all three.

Your brother needs to get his blood glucose tested. A glucose tolerance test used to be the gold standard for diagnosing diabetes, but many doctors don't use them anymore as they can cause serious problems in a person who is diabetic, especially a Type I diabetic. Now they usually diagnose by one or two fasting blood glucose tests (no food for 8 hours before test.) If the result is over 125, then you are considered diabetic. To determine if you're a Type I diabetic, there's a blood test that shows whether or not your body is producing any insulin at all. I think it's called a C-peptide test.

Getting a diagnosis quickly is important because studies have shown that the better controlled the diabetes is, the fewer complications result.

Please urge your brother to see a doctor as soon as possible. Most people are very scared at the thought of having diabetes, but I can tell you from experience that treating it properly is a heck of a lot less scary than dealing with the consequences of untreated diabetes.

A good web site is The American Diabetes Association's site at www.diabetes.org. (http://www.diabetes.org.)

Post back and let us know how you and your brother are doing.