Step 5: Your management program

The goal of diabetes treatment is to maintain blood glucose at normal or near normal levels. This helps prevent long-term complications such as heart disease, kidney disease, and eye problems.

In addition, medical emergencies (Step 10) can occur if blood glucose gets too high or too low. But when you have a solid management plan in place and you are disciplined about following it, you can avoid serious situations.

You and your doctor should work together to determine a specific daily management program. Here are the basic components:

• Insulin
• Meal plan
• Blood glucose monitoring
• Exercise

We will go into each of these components in the next few steps.

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