Aunt Wang, 52, used to be a typical “good student” among diabetics. When she was diagnosed with diabetes five years ago, she began taking blood-sugar medications as prescribed and kept her blood sugar levels fairly stable. At the time, she was comfortably dependent on medication and felt she had the upper hand in her battle with diabetes.
However, as time went on, Aunt Wang heard some claims about the side effects of the drugs, especially the damage that long-term medication can cause to the kidneys. This led her to worry about the long-term effects of the drug on her body, especially the potential damage to her kidneys. So she made a bold decision: She turned to exercise, especially walking, to control her blood sugar.
Wang started walking four kilometers a day and continued to take blood sugar medication. Fortunately, after several months of persistence, Aunt Wang’s blood sugar has been effectively controlled, her weight has decreased slightly, and her mental state is better than before. She gradually let go of her drug worries and even decided to increase her exercise to eight kilometers a day.
However, something sad happened. At the same time of stopping the drug, she ignored the correctness and science of the drug substitutes and began to reject the drug. Just when she was full of confidence, Aunt Wang’s left toe appeared a small cut.
A small wound that you don’t care about, actually causes diabetic foot!I thought it was just a small matter, but after a period of time, the wound became more and more serious, red, swollen, suppurative, and even ulcerated. Aunt Wang finally realized the seriousness of the situation and rushed to the hospital. Tests by doctors revealed problems with the blood supply around the wound and even severe ulcers and abscesses.
Upon further examination, the doctor found that her glycated hemoglobin was too high and her fasting blood sugar was above 14mmol/L, indicating that her blood sugar control was not ideal. Because the blood sugar has not been effectively controlled for a long time, the blood is thick and the blood vessels become stiff, resulting in insufficient blood supply to the lower limbs and difficult wound healing. Eventually, doctors decided to amputate her leg to prevent the infection from spreading.
Aunt Wang’s case is a typical example. Although she assisted in lowering blood sugar through walking exercise, due to poor blood sugar control, her blood vessels and nerves had already developed lesions, leading to wound deterioration and eventually diabetic foot. It can be seen that walking is only a means to assist hypoglycemia, and it cannot completely replace drug treatment, let alone ignore the importance of blood sugar management.
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