August 3, 2023 – If you could have just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the flood of data can quickly grow to be overwhelming. Diabetes is a chronic disease and is commonly self-managed, so naturally questions arise over time.
How are you able to take advantage of communication along with your doctor during a 15- to 30-minute office visit?
WebMD asked three diabetes experts for advice. In the next Q&A, they discuss best prepare for a physician's visit, advocate for yourself, and what other resources to show to if you happen to need further help.
Do your homework, take advantage of every minute and ask questions: These are the primary three of six suggestions from Dr. Elizabeth Holt, director of worldwide medical, clinical and safety affairs at LifeScan Inc., a diabetes device and app company. Interrupt your doctor when essential, be 100% honest and utilize your entire diabetes team: These are the extra strategies really helpful by Holt, who has 28 years of experience as an endocrinologist.
“If you don't ask the necessary questions, it doesn't help you or your healthcare providers,” Holt said. “If you don't really understand it, you're not going to get the most out of your appointment.”
Read on for more expert suggestions.
Q: What advice are you able to give people to assist them get answers to their questions on diabetes from their doctor?
Get: It's essential to return prepared in your appointments. Educate yourself about diabetes prematurely so you could have the essential information. More importantly, use the limited time you could have to deal with your individual needs and the way you possibly can higher manage your diabetes.
Akshay B. Jain, MD, CClinical Lecturer, Department of Endocrinology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada: When I see a patient, I've checked out their lab results and I take into account what I'm going to discuss, but that will not align with the patient's priorities. Doctors see their patients every few months, so it's really essential that patients be their very own strongest advocates, asking questions and talking about their problems at every visit.
Anne Peters, MD, Director, Clinical Diabetes Programs, University of Southern California, Los Angeles: I at all times start with the query “How are you?” because I need to learn more in regards to the person before learning about their health condition. It's really helpful when people write down their questions beforehand in order that they can have a look at them on their phone or give them to me.
I like to recommend that patients say, “I have a few questions. Can I ask them now or should I wait?” Because the toughest thing for me is when patients are too shy and ask me their questions when the visit is already over, or at the very least in my eyes, over.
Q: What happens if a patient is available in with an inventory of more questions than could be answered during one office visit?
Get: The most significant thing is to discover the 2 or three most significant inquiries to ensure that you answer those first. You can at all times schedule a follow-up appointment or ask other members of your health management team – a nurse, diabetes educator or dietitian.
Jain: A listing could be good and bad. A listing helps people remember what they wish to discuss. However, an extended list may not result in an excellent doctor-patient interaction. So say, “These are my top priorities.”
Peters: If a patient has questions, they can provide them to me prematurely or send them to me. Then I can undergo them and kind the questions. I'd say, “That's a good question, but you need to ask your primary care doctor.” Or, “Let's focus on diabetes this visit, and the next visit will cover everything else on the list.” Sometimes I ask them to decide on the three most pressing things they wish to discuss.
Q: Does the increasing number of individuals diagnosed with diabetes impact the period of time spent interacting between patients and doctors?
Get: Doctors need to see more patients but don't have more time. Time is such a helpful resource. Do what you possibly can to coach yourself about your health care prematurely and understand your diagnosis.
Jain: When diabetes is diagnosed, it is commonly not an isolated case. Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that's related to other diseases corresponding to obesity, chubby or hypertension. All of those diseases are on the forefront of doctor's visits today and their treatment takes time.
Peters: Since time is proscribed, I like to recommend that folks take a diabetes education class, talk over with a diabetes educator, or meet with the dietitian. In a really perfect world, such resources could be available to all diabetics. Often I get questions on food or carbohydrates. I prefer to take the query and say, “That's a great question. I'm glad you're thinking about it, but let's talk to the dietitian.”
Q: If you do your research beforehand, there may be Dr. Google, artificial intelligence and loads of other information online. How do you realize you might be getting reputable information?
Get: A vital way is to ask your doctor or healthcare team which web sites they recommend. place to start out could be the American Diabetes Association. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinology has also Patient information.
Jain: There is loads of information on the market, and it might probably be difficult to separate the rubbish from the reliable sources, so go to trusted sites just like the Mayo Clinic website for patient education. When you google questions, be cautious in regards to the answers. Often the data is just not applicable to each diabetic.
Peters: I feel like loads of people who find themselves doing extremely well or not doing well post on the web. So you may not find the typical diabetic, but the intense ones. If someone asks me, I tell them which web sites I like to recommend, just like the ADA, the Foundation for Juvenile Diabetes Researchor the CDC website at Basics of diabetes.
Q: There are loads of junk mail ads on the web and on TV. Do they assist answer questions or raise awareness?
Get: I feel that's a possibility. It helps you think that of essential inquiries to ask your doctor. If you see A1c on the TV screen and also you don't know what your A1c is or what A1c means, that's actually a stepping stone.
Jain: It definitely creates awareness. If something appears incessantly on television or other media, patients usually tend to ask about it.
Peters: It's helpful. It starts a conversation. I don't think it teaches people anything, but I feel it helps them in order that they know and may ask about different options.
Q: Certain diabetes drugs corresponding to the GLP-1 agonists Ozempic, Rybelsus, Trulicity and others are getting lots more attention at once. Is this also helping to lift awareness?
Get: If talking about these medications takes the discussion to the next level, then I'm all for it. These are essential treatment options which can be now available. It's also really essential to lift awareness about diabetes and take away the stigma. It helps people be more open about their diagnosis and more willing to take their medications and monitor their blood sugar in public.
Jain: It's a double-edged sword. When people hear about these drugs, they've already made up their minds. They hear about individuals who have experienced really good weight changes or improvements of their health, and so they robotically assume that is the suitable drug for them. Or vice versa: They might read this one report about one person having this terrible side effect, and so they robotically assume this happens to every body who takes the drug. It's essential to seek advice from your doctor what's best for you.
Peters: Sometimes the promoting makes it appear to be you need to “just take this and you'll be fine,” but that's not true. The GLP-1 receptor agonist class has been in the marketplace since exenatide was approved in 2005. So we on this field are very used to taking these drugs and so they result in weight reduction, and the newer drugs result in much more weight reduction. But I need to ensure that everyone realizes that every one drugs have unintended effects – and it's at all times a risk versus profit.
Q: Is there the rest I didn't ask about that you think that could be helpful to patients?
Get: I feel it's essential for patients to know that they have to be empowered to administer their diabetes. Don't be afraid to ask questions to know your diabetes, all of the aspects that affect it and manage it. You have to have the option to measure the impact by monitoring your blood sugar so you possibly can higher manage your diabetes.
Jain: A chronic disease like diabetes requires loads of care and continuous monitoring. It is basically essential that there may be open, unbiased communication between patient and doctor.
Peters: Ask your doctor to perform a diabetes test. The ADA lowered the Screening age up to 35 years in 2022 and recommend that every one adults who're chubby or obese and have at the very least one risk factor for type 2 diabetes get their blood sugar tested. To truly advocate for themselves, people have to know their fasting blood sugar. If they've prediabetes, they will work on prevention. And in the event that they have diabetes, they should manage it in order that they stay healthy. In the top, they could be high quality. My patients generally do very well and that's partly because they ask the questions.