Understanding Diabetes and How to Manage It
By: Deedra Wilson
Updated: May 18, 2012
Doctors at UAMS say they are making great strides in treating and caring for patients with diabetes. .
There are two kinds of diabetes.
Type One is a lifelong condition in which a person's pancreas stops producing insulin.
Type Two is a metabolic issue.
While there is no cure there are things you can do to control diabetes, which can be a deadly condition.
Last night police say a 29 year old man in the Hillcrest area crashed his car and died from a diabetic attack.
We wanted to take a closer look at how some people are affected by diabetes and their everyday fears and concerns.
One parent we spoke to says she worries about her child not waking up in the morning.
Jared Halbert has battled diabetes since he was 9.
"What scared us to death when he went off to school our biggest fear since his diagnosis was whether or not he would live through the night."
Karen Halbert's son is a student at the University of Arkansas and lives with Type One Diabetes.
Hearing about the 29 year old dying from a diabetic attack while driving in the Hillcrest area... saddens and worries halbert... because she never knows when her son's blood sugar will drop without warning.
"Every time he calls and says I'm going here I"m on my way home my first statement to him is sweety do you have skittles or something in the car to eat."
Chief Resident at UAMS Family Medicine Residency Program, Dr. Appathurai Balurugan, says being proactive is key.
"Eat right, physical activity, those are the two key things. and follow advice given by physicians.
Halbert says what people must understand,
"Insulin is not a cure. Insulin is simply a way to try and keep them alive. Until we can find a cure."
Halbert is very active in raising money for the juvenile diabetes research foundation.
She bikes with Team Arkansas, they are headed to Lake Tahoe for the Ride to Cure Diabetes, call the Arkansas Chapter of the JDRF.
Last year Team Arkansas rode in the JDRF Death Valley.
The ride was a 105 miles in Death Valley, California.
Team Arkansas raised $65,000.00 for the Greater Arkansas Chapter of JDRF.
They will bike 72 miles in Lake Tahoe.
So far they've raised $42,000.00.
