August 3, 2023 – If you could have just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the flood of data can quickly turn into overwhelming. Diabetes is a chronic disease and is usually self-managed, so naturally questions arise over time.
How are you able to take advantage of communication together 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 health care provider's visit, advocate for yourself, and what other resources to show to in case you 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 vital, be 100% honest and utilize your entire diabetes team: These are the extra strategies beneficial 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 to your appointments. Educate yourself about diabetes prematurely so you could have the fundamental information. More importantly, use the limited time you could have to deal with your individual needs and the way you may 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 note of what I'm going to speak about, but that won’t 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 would like 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 so 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 not less than in my eyes, over.
Q: What happens if a patient is available in with a listing of more questions than might be answered during one office visit?
Get: The most significant thing is to discover the 2 or three most significant inquiries to be certain 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 might be good and bad. A listing helps people remember what they need to speak about. However, an extended list may not result in a superb doctor-patient interaction. So say, “These are my top priorities.”
Peters: If a patient has questions, they may give them to me prematurely or send them to me. Then I can undergo them and type 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 need 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 should see more patients but don't have more time. Time is such a invaluable resource. Do what you may to teach yourself about your health care prematurely and understand your diagnosis.
Jain: When diabetes is diagnosed, it is usually not an isolated case. Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that’s related to other diseases resembling 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, seek advice from a diabetes educator, or meet with the dietitian. In a really perfect world, such resources can be available to all diabetics. Often I get questions on food or carbohydrates. I wish 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 lots of other information online. How do you’re getting reputable information?
Get: A vital way is to ask your doctor or healthcare team which web sites they recommend. An excellent place to start out can be the American Diabetes Association. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinology also has Patient information.
Jain: There is lots of information on the market, and it will 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 lots of people who find themselves doing extremely well or not doing well post on the web. So you would possibly not find the common diabetic, but the acute 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 lots of direct-to-consumer online and TV advertisements. Does this help answer questions or raise awareness?
Get: I believe that's a possibility. It helps you’re thinking 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 definitely a stepping stone.
Jain: It definitely creates awareness. If something appears continuously 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 believe it helps them so that they know and might ask about different options.
Q: Certain diabetes drugs resembling the GLP-1 agonists Ozempic, Rybelsus, Trulicity and others are getting lots more attention without delay. Is this also helping to boost 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 might be now available. It's also really essential to boost 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 routinely assume that is the appropriate drug for them. Or vice versa: They might read this one report about one person having this terrible side effect, and so they routinely assume this happens to every one who takes the drug. It's essential to confer with your doctor what's best for you.
Peters: Sometimes the promoting makes it appear to be they're saying, “Just take this and everything will be perfect,” but that's not true. The GLP-1 receptor agonist class has been available on the market 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 would like to be certain everyone realizes that each 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’re thinking that could be helpful to patients?
Get: I believe 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 give you the option to measure the impact by monitoring your blood sugar so you may higher manage your diabetes.
Jain: A chronic disease like diabetes requires lots 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 each one adults who’re chubby or obese and have not less than 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’ll work on prevention. And in the event that they have diabetes, they should manage it so that they stay healthy. In the tip, they’ll do rather well. My patients generally do rather well and that's partly because they ask the questions.