Diabetic Lifestyle May Be Healthier All Around

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - When it comes to diabetes, don't believe any claims about miracle cures. There are none.

Obviously in serious cases medications are necessary and we have drugs including insulin to help control diabetes, but lifestyle is crucial as well.

In some way, living a lifestyle that leads to the control of diabetes can be better than living a careless life and not having the condition. Here's why I say this. When a person makes lifestyle changes for diabetes and does it faithfully, they actually eat much better and start to exercise. In addition, by regularly measuring the blood sugar, they actually achieve what we call tight control, essentially reducing that risk of heart and kidney disease.

The person who goes on living without these changes in place continues to increase their risk of other health problems. I'm not saying that anyone wants to be diagnosed with a chronic condition, but an aggressive plan of attack means you can live a normal, healthy life.

Reported By Dr. Brian McDonough, KYW Newsradio Medical Editor