Diabetes is a chronic pathology that not only changes the lives of the person to whom it is diagnosed, but also a turnaround for that of their loved ones: family, couple, parents or friends.
An environment, that of the person with diabetes, which is known as "type 3".After years of work with patients and family, it has been proven that it is that the "type 3" also adapts to this reality, learn to live with diabetes and know the characteristics of this pathology, since it will depend on powerSupport and understand what happens to your relative.
They also suffer the consequences of pathology and their possible complications, despite not suffering from it, as the study “Attitudes, desires and needs of people with diabetes (Dawn2)” points out, which reflects that 63% of family membersof people with diabetes claim to be afraid and anxiety of a severe worsening of the pathology of their loved one.In addition, among the issues that most concern are hypoglycemia: 66% of respondents confess to fear that their relatives suffer a night hypoglycemia for not having been able to offer the maximum necessary attention.
In this sense, the key ideas to be able to live with diabetes are in formation, dialogue and attitude.The family's attitude depends largely on what in turn has the person who has diabetes, and hence the importance of being positive.Ideally, the people in the environment support your partner or person loved on a day -to -day basis.Let them ask about diabetes in general and, thus, know how to help, how to facilitate their day to day, etc.In addition, it is also a way of learning and sharing with the pathology itself.
For the president of the Federation of Spanish Diabetics (Fede), D. Andoni Lorenzo Garmendia, “Dialogue is the key to one can understand what happens to the person with diabetes.Experience tells us that when one of the spouses has this pathology or when a child debuts, coexistence and day -to -dayOnly the patient suffers, but also his environment. ”
The couple, the partner, the family of a person with diabetes must be the "perfect collaborator" to help in the management of pathology and life in common.For this, it is important that you take into account a series of recommendations: to offer help, but without overwhelming: you should not constantly ask about the pathology, and it is not advisable to carry a rigorous control of what the person with diabetes eats;Adopt healthy habits for the whole family: especially regarding food and physical activity practice;Training: It is important to learn everything necessary about diabetes.Knowledge is crucial, for example, in the specific case that the relative has severe hypoglycemia.