GOALS OF DIABETES CONTROL
Diabetes treatment programs are aimed at keeping the level of sugar in the blood normal. This will help prevent problems that result from uncontrolled blood sugar levels. In children, the treatment program must also provide for normal growth and development.Control requires balancing food intake, the amount of exercise, and insulin levels. Generally, food makes glucose levels rise; exercise and insulin make glucose levels fall. When the body is not producing enough effective insulin, it may have to be supplied by injections, or its production may be stimulated by oral hypoglycemic drugs.Just how tight a control is needed? Until 1993, that question was open to debate. Some diabetes specialists believed it wasn’t realistic to expect the average person with diabetes to be able to keep to the kind of strict routine necessary to keep the blood sugar level normal at all times. They thought that fluctuations were not too significant—as long as they didn’t reach the range that might result in ketoacidosis or a hypoglycemic reaction—and all the extra tests and injections that might be necessary to maintain tight control would not be worth the effort. But the report on the ten-year Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) changed the diabetes picture dramatically.*28\268\2*
