Ilchi Lee Healing Society Blog

With the exception of Gestational diabetes which usually rectifies itself when the affected pregnant mother gives birth, type 1 and type 2 diabetes are chronic and no cure is as yet known. This leaves patients only with the option of managing their conditions properly. Most doctors agree that the best way to manage diabetes is self management. This means that each patient must be the expert of their own condition and manage it well.

Like for all other chronic conditions, the use of drugs is usually the last option and doctors will always make efforts to put off this for as long as possible. The reason for this is that drugs are chemicals and their usage put a strain on the liver and kidneys. When this strain is over a prolonged period as in the case of chronic conditions, the likelihood of these vital organs failing is high. Many diabetes patients are put on drugs not because their condition warrants this but because as many doctors would agree, they have failed to adhere to their initially prescribed therapies. The most common areas where the patients fail is dietary requirements and physical exercises.

For patients wanting to avoid this pitfall in order to live longer and healthier lifestyles, the need for identifying what works cannot be over emphasized. The most ideal way to go is to train the mind and body to support your efforts to manage the condition. The mind can be trained through meditation and other exercises. This has the benefits of helping an individual come to better terms with self. This process is key because it helps increase self worth and motivation to stay health. It also helps the mind develop better control of the body both in terms of resisting temptations to go outside prescribed diets and deal with laziness to exercises.

Physical exercise on the other hand has several benefits: It helps the increase the rate of movement of glucose in the cells thereby reducing blood sugar; it reduces body weight; improves blood circulation; it reduces stress. All these are known goals of diabetes treatment. When an individual learns to manage their condition in this way, there is not need for any use of drugs. Besides managing diabetes, patients who use the mind-body therapies also avoid many side effects of diabetes drugs. These include diarrhoea, crumps, pain, headaches, anaemia and high blood cholesterol. Of course there is also the benefit of avoiding the cost of medication.

It is possible to get a one-stop “shop” that focuses on both the mind and body exercise. This is found in yoga sessions. A good example of this is Dahn Yoga which combines mental meditation and stretching and body posturing exercises. If there is a Dahn Yoga Centre in your area, you also stand to benefit from group support.