The winter climate is cold, and people with diabetes may find their blood sugar control is poor during this season, and the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents also increases. Early morning is a dangerous time, so people with diabetes need to pay special attention to the following 6 things to ensure a safe winter.
1. Don't oversleep. In the cold winter, people with diabetes might linger in their warm beds and not want to get up. However, doing so can easily lead to missing or forgetting medication time for those who inject insulin or take oral hypoglycemic drugs, causing blood sugar fluctuations. At the same time, regardless of the type of hypoglycemic plan, the effectiveness of the hypoglycemic drug used the day before is not enough to continue to control blood sugar after the normal morning medication time has passed.
2. Move slowly. In winter, blood pressure is lower during sleep and rises rapidly after waking up. If you get up too quickly, combined with the cold stimulation, it can easily lead to insufficient blood supply to the brain and cause dizziness. People with diabetes, especially the elderly, should get up slowly. It's best to warm up clothes in the quilt before putting them on to avoid stimulating the body with cold. In addition, exercise should also be done gradually.
3. Drink a glass of warm water early in the morning. After getting up, people with diabetes should drink a glass of warm water. Because after a night's sleep, the body loses moisture, the blood becomes concentrated and viscous, which can easily lead to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents. Drinking a glass of warm water can help reduce this risk. In addition, the weather is dry in winter, and to prevent dry and itchy skin, people with diabetes must ensure adequate daily water intake and not drink less water because of the trouble of running to the toilet.
4. Measure fasting blood sugar. Every year when a cold wave hits, people with diabetes, especially the elderly, will have adverse physiological reactions. The cold can stimulate the sympathetic nerves, causing them to become excited, which increases the secretion of catecholamine substances in the body and easily leads to high blood sugar. Even if the condition is stable, people with diabetes should monitor their blood sugar at least once a week, especially fasting blood sugar. The best time for measurement is between 6:30 AM and 8:00 AM in the morning. You should not eat or drink a large amount of water before measuring. Achieving the target fasting blood sugar is the foundation of diabetes control. If fasting blood sugar rises, you should ask a doctor to help analyze the reasons.
5. Be alert to the "dawn phenomenon". If fasting blood sugar rises in people with diabetes, three possible reasons need to be considered: one is insufficient medication dosage, leading to inadequate blood sugar control; the other is the "Somogyi reaction," which is rebound hyperglycemia after nocturnal hypoglycemia. Because of the long nights and short days in winter, people with diabetes should be more alert to the occurrence of nocturnal hypoglycemia and can monitor blood sugar at 3 AM to determine if there is nocturnal hypoglycemia.
6. Pay attention to the temperature of washing water. People with diabetes should use warm water for gargling in winter to reduce stimulation to the mouth. The water temperature for washing the face, bathing, or soaking feet should be between 37-40°C. Before using hot water, be sure to have a family member help test the water temperature to prevent scalds. In addition, the bathing time should also be controlled and should not exceed half an hour. Excessive washing can affect the protective effect of normal sebum on the skin, making the skin too dry and worsening the symptoms.