Rehabilitation for diabetes

Exercise, nutrition, and blood sugar control are the focus of diabetes rehabilitation. 

Rehabilitation is a great way for people with diabetes to improve their health.

 

In Austria, the pension insurance institution or the health insurance company takes care of the approval of diabetes rehabilitation. A stay in a rehabilitation clinic focuses on a healthy diet, sufficient exercise, and correct blood sugar control.

 

Life companion diabetes: when does rehabilitation make sense?

Around 600,000 people in Austria suffer from type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Chronic metabolic disease, also known as "diabetes", can result in serious complications such as a heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, or amputations. With the right treatment and a lifestyle adapted to the disease, diabetes patients can lead a normal life without major impairments.

 As part of diabetes rehabilitation, those affected can learn how to deal with the disease and actively reduce the risk of secondary diseases in order to keep their everyday life healthy even after their stay at the spa.

Rehabilitation is particularly useful when the patient is affected by the symptoms of diabetes, such as circulatory problems, impaired vision, or poor wound healing, and their quality of life is severely restricted as a result. Rehabilitation is also worthwhile if the patient finds it difficult to apply the doctor's recommendations and instructions in everyday life. This is easier to do during a spa stay, as there is comprehensive care and guidance.

 

How do I get diabetes rehab?

In the first step towards rehabilitation, your treating doctor must fill out an application for a cure for a diabetes rehabilitation clinic, which you can then send to the PVA or the health insurance company or be there in person. You will then receive a letter from the responsible office, which contains the chief physician's approval or rejection of the stay at the spa. A third possible answer may be that the letter asks you for an assessment by a specialist.

If he agrees to a cure, nothing stands in the way of the stay. However, this often delays the process by a few weeks. With the successful approval of the PVA or the health insurance company, the letter from the respective clinic will soon arrive, where your start date is noted.

This appointment can be postponed if you are unable to attend, for example for professional reasons. In the case of great urgency, you will be assigned a rehab place more quickly. In principle, a permit is valid for 6 months. A rehabilitation stay lasts 3 weeks.

 

What requirements do I have to meet for diabetes rehabilitation?

Whether a cure is approved or not depends, among other things, on the so-called HbA1c value (hemoglobin A1C). If this is below 7%, the application for a diabetes rehabilitation stay is usually rejected. However, this differs from case to case, since not only the HbA1c is decisive for the need for rehabilitation, but also other indications, such as existing additional diseases.

 

A rehabilitation stay is approved for the following illnesses:

1. Diabetes mellitus type 1 or type 2a (without obesity) and 2b (with obesity) with/without complications (only affects patients without insulin pump supply)

2. Diabetes mellitus as a result of other causes (e.g. diseases of the pancreas, medication, etc.)

3. Metabolic syndrome

4. Obesity (BMI from 30 to 39) with at least one additional risk factor

5. Morbid obesity (BMI 40 or above)

Which institutions are there in Austria that offer diabetes rehabilitation?

Facilities that accept patients for diabetes rehabilitation include:

 

1. Lebens.Resort Ottenschlag (Lower Austria)

2. Rehabilitation center Aflenz (Styria)

3. Alland Special Hospital (Lower Austria)

4. Rehabilitation center Engelsbad (Lower Austria)

5. Rehabilitation Center Austria (Upper Austria)

6. Rehabilitation Center Hallein (Salzburg)

Usually, you don't get to choose the location for your diabetes rehab. However, if you have a specific dream clinic, the competent authority will try to register you there.

 

How does diabetes rehabilitation work?

Rehabilitation is the right way for those affected to avoid secondary diseases and alleviate diabetes. Depending on whether you enter rehab with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, there are different focal points in therapy.

With type 1 diabetes, the main focus is on providing information that can make life easier for patients with the disease. Above all, type 2 diabetics are shown how they can reduce the symptoms of the disease and even defeat diabetes.

 

Diabetes rehab: diet and exercise

Exercise can do wonders for diabetics. Regular, moderate physical activity improves blood sugar control, and the body cells react more sensitively to insulin. Activities like swimming, aqua aerobics, and long walks are great for diabetics. These are part of the daily program in rehab. In addition, those affected learn to integrate sport and exercise into their everyday lives.

Type 2 diabetics can use it to reduce excess weight, which is often one of the reasons for the development of the disease. Rehabilitation offers a good start for a long-term change in life.

In spa clinics, diabetics are provided with low-fat food rich in vegetables. Patients should eat a balanced mixed diet and develop an awareness of what their body needs. In cooking courses, diabetics also get a feeling for the right diet by preparing the food themselves and then eating it together.

 

Diabetes rehabilitation: treatment with medicinal water

In addition to a healthy diet, drinking medicinal water has a positive effect on physical balance. In type 2 diabetes, water enriched with bicarbonate can maintain or restore the blood sugar level and thus the insulin balance.

 In poorly adjusted patients, there can be an excess of metabolic products, which in the worst case can lead to life-threatening diabetic ketoacidosis: too many ketone bodies are formed, which lowers the pH value in the blood. Healing water with radon, sulphate, or sulfur contributes to an improvement in various metabolic diseases.

Water with hydrogen carbonate is particularly good for diabetic patients. It stimulates digestion, helps the kidneys, and can lower blood lipid levels. Water from healing springs can also unfold its effect when you bathe in it. Thermal water has a number of valuable ingredients that are good for the joints, the circulatory system, and general well-being.

 

Diabetes rehab: Lectures and group discussions

Doctors, nutritionists, and therapists inform diabetes patients about ways to deal with the disease and what they can do themselves to lead a better life with diabetes or, in the case of type 2 diabetes, even cure the disease.

 In group discussions, the participants have the opportunity to exchange experiences with the disease and to support each other. Such conversations can contribute positively to motivating a change in lifestyle. With the feeling that you are not alone with your health problems and that you can exchange ideas with fellow sufferers, you also leave the diabetes rehab mentally stronger.

Individual consultations with the doctor and examinations during diabetes rehabilitation

Regular monitoring of blood sugar levels is at the heart of diabetes rehabilitation. The blood sugar level is often much higher before the stay than afterward, healthy eating and exercise quickly show their positive effects.

In addition, diabetes-related examinations, such as eye fundoscopy, foot examinations, ECG, and stress ECG are carried out in order to be able to estimate the extent and damage already caused by the disease. Personal problems and concerns can be discussed in one-on-one meetings with the treating doctor in the facility. Goals for rehabilitation can be set and previous findings can be assessed.

 

What comes after diabetes rehabilitation?

It would be ideal if you could integrate a lot of what you learned from everyday spa life into your life after your stay. A healthy and varied diet and sufficient exercise can enormously increase well-being with diabetes.

Of course, it's difficult to follow exactly what you've followed in rehab on a day-to-day basis in terms of food and activities. The stress at work brings with it less exercise and more irregular meals, the focus can no longer be placed solely on the illness, as was the case in the health clinic.

Most rehab participants go home with a new blood sugar control. Due to the possible changes in diet and exercise behavior at home, the sugar adjustment during the rehab is no longer sufficient. It is therefore particularly important to have your blood sugar checked by the doctor treating you within 2-3 weeks of the treatment so as not to take any unnecessary risks.