Using Telemedicine for Diabetes Management

According to the National Diabetes Statistics Report for 2020, released by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), around 34.2 million people in the United States are affected by Diabetes. This means around 10.5% of the population are affected by the disease. However, only 10.2% of the population has been diagnosed, meaning that there are some people who are affected but are not aware. Your loved ones, your friends, or even you could have diabetes but would not be aware of this life-changing fact. 

Therefore, in order to tackle this disease you need to know what to do in the case of a diagnosis. One such tool that will prove to be incredibly useful for you is Telemedicine. This is the increased use of technology and information in the health industry.

Diabetes and You

So what exactly happens in the case of a diabetes diagnoses and when should you get yourself tested? 

There are a few indicators for diabetes which doctors use to assess the health risk of a patient. One indicator is whether there are high blood sugar levels in your urine. This might mean that you either have type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes means that your pancreas is unable to produce insulin or produces very little insulin. Type 2 diabetes means that your body is unable to normally respond to insulin. 

What is insulin?

Insulin is the hormone that your pancreas is tasked to create to break down the chemical composition of sugar/glucose in your body. It is responsible for your body’s metabolic composition and helps your muscles, liver, and fat absorb carbohydrates from the blood. 

Insulin is very important for your body and this is why diabetic patients carry insulin pumps around with them so that their bodies can function properly.

There are a few tests that can be carried out to check whether a patient suspected of diabetes has the disease or not. One such test is the glucose fasting test. In this test, the patient can only consume water for 8 hours. Most people prefer to get this test done in the morning, this way they will not have to fast during the day, and thus not feel exhausted throughout the day. Blood is then taken from the patient and tested for the amount of sugar levels present. The result of this test will help determine whether the patient is suffering from diabetes or not.

Diabetes and Telemedicine

Telemedicine has made headways in the world of medicine in the past few years. Therefore, it is no shock that this process has made the diagnoses of diabetes easier too. There are many advantages of using telemedicine for diabetes. One such advantage is the amount of efficiency that has increased as a result of this communication process. Doctors can provide consultations to patients who live half way across the world from them. They can assess the patient, listen to what ails them, prescribe them with tests, and then assess those tests to reach a hypothesis as to what their issue is. 

Patients can even use telemedicine and telehealth portals to connect with doctors and book appointments without needing to unnecessarily travel or make time from their busy lives. They can even book tests and labs from their homes and even request a lab team to come to their homes if they are unable to travel to a hospital lab or clinic. Patients who are travelling or visiting states and cities they are unfamiliar with will benefit immensely from telemedicine. Assume that a patient of yours, who has lived in New York for thier entire life now has to shift to Chicago because of some work commitments. They  are unfamiliar with the city and do not know anyone there. Suddenly they feel exhausted and drowsy, they do not know which hospital has the best doctors, because you haven’t even familiarised yourself with the neighbourhood. Telemedicine websites and mobile applications will help benefit them as a patient. they  will be able to stay connected with you, their doctor back in New York. And you as a Doctor will be able to stay connected with your patients all over the world. 

Conclusion

This way the impact of your practice will not only benefit those in your locality but also those who would generally not have the time or the resources to get in touch with you. This way, the missing percentage of patients who remain undiagnosed. The 7 million or so patients in the US alone do not have to worry or be confused as to why they feel so exhausted, as to why they’re feeling a loss of energy, as to why it takes so much time for their wounds to heal. They would finally be able to get the information that they deserve to know in order to live a life that has a much higher standard of living. And Telemedicine