Diabetes and Your Heart

Diabetes is one condition that must be treated as soon as it is diagnosed, even though in its early stages it doesn't hurt, or cause inconvenience, or create any worrisome symptoms. But ignoring it is a mistake, because the blood sugar imbalance we diabetics live with can cause a variety of complications, even leading to other serious health conditions. One major cause for concern is adverse effects on our hearts. Our unstable blood sugar levels can cause poor circulation—a big step on the road to heart problems. Here are some things to watch for. Hypertension Diabetes often goes hand-in-hand with high blood pressure, or hypertension. In fact, your doctor will tell you that diabetics must work to get their blood pressure down even lower than other people. While a systolic pressure (the top number) of 140 might be acceptable for the general population, we diabetics should aim for 130 or lower. It's all part of the battle against possible heart disease. Blood fats Cholesterol and tryglycerides, or blood fats, also need to be kept lower in diabetics. Lots of fruits and vegetables, fewer packaged or fried foods are your best bets for dietary blood fat control. Throw out that frying pan! Blood sugar Blood sugar levels need monitoring too, as consistently high levels damage blood vessels and can lead to cardiovascular difficulties. Weight level And of course you know it's important to maintain a healthy weight. Why is that particularly important for us diabetics? First, if you are overweight your heart muscle needs to work harder to pump blood through your system. This weakens your blood vessels, which are then more susceptible to damage from fluctuating blood sugar levels. It's a vicious cycle you don't want to create. Your heart is the main engine of your whole body, so you need to do everything possible to keep it in good shape. For the sake of a healthy heart, take control of your diabetes.

Diabetes and Your Feet

We diabetics have to take special care of our feet, or we can find them troubled in two ways: reduced blood circulation and nerve damage. Here's what to look for and some prevention ideas. Symptom: If your feet are constantly cold, your legs are sore when you walk, or your feet hurt in bed at night, you may be suffering from poor blood circulation. This, in turn, can slow down the process of healing when you have cuts or other damage to your feet. Prevention: Staying physically active is one way to help improve your circulation. You also need to control your blood fat and sugar levels, as well as your blood pressure. And of course, don't smoke. Symptom: If your feet are numb, you have a burning sensation on the soles of your feet or pins and needles in your feet, you have signs of possible nerve damage. Foot nerves are the longest in our bodies and are therefore susceptible to damage by diabetes. If these nerves are damaged, the feelings are lessened, so we could have the cuts or blisters that can lead to ulcers, and we wouldn't even know about it. Prevention: Check your feet regularly to be sure there are no signs of injury. If you develop corns or calluses, have them treated immediately by a podiatrist. Wash and dry carefully between your toes, and keep your nails trimmed and smooth. Everyone likes to have their feet pampered, but for us diabetics it not only feels good, it also prevents serious health problems in the future. So book that foot massage now!

Diabetes and Your Eyes

Diabetes can play havoc with your eyes, and sometimes there are no early sumptoms. So you may have no idea anything is wrong until your eyesight is in danger. Here are the main eye problems that can be caused, or made worse, by diabetes. Cataracts These are often described as a clouding of the lens of the eye. They are treatable by surgery in most cases. Glaucoma Our eyes are largely made up of fluid, and when the pressure of that fluid builds up too much inside the eye, you have glaucoma. Left untreated, it can damage the optic nerves, and even lead to blindness. Diabetic retinopathy Lining the back of our eyes is light-sensitive tissue known as the retina. The retina contains very small blood vessels that can be damaged by diabetic retinopathy. Sometimes there are symptoms such as blurred vision, but often you won't even know anything is wrong until the condition is well advanced. In the worse case, it leads to blindness. Early detection is the key to battling all of these conditions, and the best diagnostic tool available is the dilated eye examination. This is a test in which special eye drops temporarily enlarge your pupils, allowing the doctor to see the back of your eyes. This test (which is painless) can detect cataracts, glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy in their early, treatable stages. Eyesight is precious, so if you have diabetes do yourself a favor and make an appointment for your dilated eye examination. And then do it again every year from now on.

Diabetes and Insulin

Diabetes and Insulin

Diabetes is a condition in which the body either does not manufacture sufficient amounts of insulin or does not properly use insulin.  Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that is necessary for the transport of sugar from the blood stream into the cells for use as energy.  Type 2 diabetes results when our bodies become insensitive to insulin and cause our blood sugar go out of balance.  For this reason, we want to do everything we can to remain insulin sensitive.  When we are insulin sensitive, our bodies do a much better job of moving glucose from the blood and into cells. 

Various herbs, foods, vitamins, and minerals have been shown to promote insulin sensitivity and help maintain proper blood sugar levels.  Vanadyl sulfate increases the body's insulin sensitivity.  Gymnema sylvestre is a well known herb helpful in blood sugar control by controlling sugar cravings and nourishing the pancreas. 

Exercise also increases insulin sensitivity. People involved in athletics are known to require less insulin.  Besides improving insulin sensitivity, exercise helps us to control our weight and reduce body fat.  Weight control is a very important aspect in maintaining insulin sensitivity. 

Diabetes: Latino Kids May Develop Type 2 Diabetes Due To A High-sugar Diet

Diet is a quite important matter for diabetic people. Everything they eat may have a consequence positive or not in their disease evolution. According to researchers from Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, overweight Latino children show signs of beta cell decline, a precursor of type 2 diabetes because they are consuming lots of sugar especially in sugary drinks.

Nowadays, statistics show that nearly one out of four Latino children in the United States is overweight, and the problem appears to be worse over the future. Obesity rates are increasing along with the incidence of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes within overweight teens. Under a researchers' report published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, high sugar consumption during childhood may play an important role in the development of diabetes in this population.

Diabetes: Hypoglycemia Doesn't Impaired Cognition In Children with Type 1 Diabetes

Under results of a new study, hypoglycemia, which is a drop in levels of blood sugar, and is severe enough to cause seizures or coma in young children with type 1 diabetes (those who develop the disease very early in life) does not appear to result in impairments in mental ability or behavior.

According to experts and scientific evidence, the hippocampus (a region of the brain) is particularly sensitive to prolonged episodes of severe hypoglycemia. And experts stated that “young children with type 1 diabetes are at greatest risk of severe hypoglycemic events, and this has focused concern on the potential for hypoglycemic insult to impact on central nervous system development”.

After compare 41 type 1 diabetic adolescents and children -who had a history of hypoglycemia with coma or seizure- to 43 similar diabetic subjects but without a history of severe hypoglycemic events, findings demonstrate that a subgroup of patients who had early first seizure showed more episodes of hypoglycemic seizure or coma in comparison to those who experienced a seizure at an older age.

Diabetes: Health 'Coaches' Will Help To Combat Rising Diabetes Cases

Pennsylvania has a moderate rate of increase in diabetes hospitalizations, accounting less than 1 per cent over the last two years, however, diabetes is a serious problem in this region. An amount of 8 per cent of adults of this state is affected by diabetes, which is 1 per cent above the 7 per cent people affected throughout the country. Moreover patients from various counties in Western Pennsylvania have high rates of end-stage kidney disease, one complication of diabetes.

The above mentioned situation alongwith the continuos growing rate in diabetes hospitalizations which increased 9 per cent in the past five years to 23,725 during 2004, make them create a new health program to reduce health care costs through a initiative of health coaches.

According to a study from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, hospitalizations generated more than $673 million in hospital charges last year alone, although 40 per cent of these are paid by health plans.

Diabetes: Diabetics Should Not Have A High Carb Diet Due To Blood Pressure

New studies evaluating the effects of high-carbohydrate and high- monounsaturated fat diets indicate that patients with type 2 diabetes suffered of modestly raises blood pressure after being exposed to 14 weeks of a high-carbohydrate diet compared to a diet high in monounsaturated fat.

One diet consisted in a high-carbohydrate diet consisting of 55 per cent of calories as carbohydrate, 30 percent as fat, and 10 percent as monounsaturated fat. The other diet consisted in a high-monounsaturated fat diet deriving 40 percent of calories from carbohydrate, 45 percent from fat, and 25 percent from monounsaturated fat.

The research compared the effect of two same-calorie diets among 42 patients with type 2 diabetes, who consumed each diet for 6 weeks, with about 1 week between the two periods. These patients were invited to continue the second diet for 8 weeks more. Eightof them continued on the high-monounsaturated fat diet and 13 continued on the high-carbohydrate diet.

Diabetes: Diabetic Foot Ulcers May be Cure by A Vitamin A Compound

A compound of vitamin A called topical Retin-A also known as tretinoin, mainly used to treat acne problems, enhances the healing of foot ulcers in patients with diabetes, according to a report of the Archives of Dermatology. 

Though previous studies showed that topical Retin-A was a bit helpful in enhancing wound healing in patients with diabetes and some results were discussed by different scientifics, a group of researchers tried to know if tretinoin really helped or not to these patients. 

The research was carried out with 24 volunteers who had diabetic foot ulcers but who showed no evidence of infection or circulation problems in their extremities. Some patients were assigned to 4 weeks of daily treatment with topical 0.05 per cent tretinoin solution meanwhile the control group was assigned to a treatment with a saline solution. Both groups were assessed every 2 weeks. 

The 22 volunteers who completed the study were affected by a total of 24 foot ulcers. 18 per cent of patients in the control group (2 of the 11 ulcers) and 46 per cent of patients in the treated group (6 of the 13 ulcers) achieved a complete healing at the end of 16 weeks. There was no statistical significance of adverse events, though some patients experienced mild pain at the ulcer site. 

Diabetes: Breast-feeding May Help Babies and Women Against Diabetes

Babies and women may be protected against developing diabetes disease through breast feeding, according to new research. This current study states that the longer women nursed, the lower their risks of developing diabetes.

Diabetes as a medical disorder characterized by varying or persistent elevated blood sugar levels, especially due to eating, is a serious disease which symptoms are very similar for all types of diabetes.

Breast feeding is when a woman feeds a baby or a young child with milk produced from her breasts. The best thing for feeding a baby is breast milk, as experts say, if the mother does not have transmissible infections. 

Diabetes: Alzheimer's and Diabetes Could Be Linked Diseases I

According to a new study, diabetes and Alzheimer's diseases are more related than everybody thought. Some researchers believe that Alzheimer's could be a form of diabetes, because findings show that insulin production in the brain declines as Alzheimer's disease advances.

Through a series of experiments, a group of researchers discovered that the brain produces insulin and that this substance produced by brains of patients with Alzheimer's illness tends to fall below normal levels.

For the neuropathologist at Rhode Island Hospital and professor of pathology at Brown University Medical School, Suzanne M. de la Monte, “insulin disappears early and dramatically in Alzheimer's disease and many of the unexplained features of Alzheimer's, such as cell death and tangles in the brain, appear to be linked to abnormalities in insulin signaling. This demonstrates that the disease is most likely a neuroendocrine disorder, or another type of diabetes”.

Cycling Legend Greg LeMond Champions The Fight Against Diabetes

In 1986, Greg LeMond became the first American to win the largest single annual sporting event in the world, the Tour de France. LeMond went on to taste victory again in the 1989 Tour de France, and again one month later in the 1989 World Championships. Then, as a final coup before retiring from competitive cycling, LeMond won another historic Tour de France for the third time in 1990.

LeMond's legend has always been measured by his unrivaled levels of courage and tenacity and now, 20 years after the date of his first Tour de France triumph, he has taken on an equally courageous challenge-to find a cure for diabetes.

Greg LeMond joins the American Diabetes Association (ADA) as the Honorary Chairperson for Tour de Cure, the Association's premiere annual cycling event, which raises money for diabetes research, information, advocacy and public awareness efforts. Tour de Cure takes place nationwide and is a ride-not a race-that encourages people to dust off their bicycles and join thousands of other riders who are pedaling for a cure.

Cure new diabetes pain type herbal natural treatment

INTRODUCTION
Ya you might have come across this diabetes pain and you don’t know the reason. For this you might have visited some of the doctors for which they might have given you n number of medications. These medications might have not cured your diabetes pain. For this reason you began to surf at net to find a solution of this so to come out of it with a natural treatment. You might be realizing now the true health problems of the people with this diabetes. Although you have told that no one knows why you now have it. Do you believe that there are answers out there and it just doesn't make sense that doctors won't tell you? This is a good decision.
You might go on searching it and reading number of web pages about diabetes pain treatment. You will realize that the people are just selling products that mask the problem and require you to buy their product. You can't afford that, and even if you can, it still doesn't tell you WHY you got it.

Could You Have Diabetes-And Not Know it?

Take this test to see if you are at risk for having diabetes. Diabetes is more common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. If you are a member of one of these ethnic groups, you need to pay special attention to this test. Write in the points next to each statement that is true for you. If a statement is not true, put a zero. Then add your total score.

Could You Have Diabetes And Not Even Know It?

Almost one third of all people with diabetes don't know they have it. The symptoms seem so harmless, like symptoms of just getting older. This article goes into the different types of diabetes and some of the common symptoms of each to help you understand diabetes a little better. In this article we'll go over the three main types of diabetes. They are Type 1, Type 2, Gestational diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes This type of diabetes has also been called insulin-dependent and immune-mediated diabetes. It occurs when your body can't produce insulin. The immune system attacks insulin producing cells in the pancreas. This type of diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, and was previously known as juvenile diabetes. Type 1 diabetes increases the risk of other serious complications such as heart disease, nerve damage, blindness, and kidney damage. Some of the symptoms include increased thirst, increased urination, weight loss even with increased appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, and absence of menstruation Type 2 Diabetes Type 2 diabetes is the most common type that fails to be diagnosed. It progress slowly and causes symptoms such as skin infections, poor healing, kidney problems, and vision problems. It is ordinary that neither these complications nor the diabetes is diagnosed after years of mild symptoms. The problem is usually that people have no severe symptoms and do not seek medical care at all. They just think of the symptoms as simply getting older. For this reason it is important to get regularly tested for diabetes in the most common age group (over 40's). 

Controlling diabetes with natural health products

What do you mean by diabetes

Diabetes occurred due certain metabolic disorder and mal functioning of the pancreas, which leads towards excessive urination, thirst, weakness and restlessness. The Diabetes can be divided into two categories Diabetes mellitus and Diabetes insipidus.

Diabetes mellitus (type one):

In diabetes mellitus body unable to make insulin. Insulin helps the body to convert the sugar from the body into energy source. The patient is insulin dependent. Type one diabetes is very prevalent among young children, young and adults.

Diabetes insipdus (type two)

Diabetes insipdus results due to insulin defective in insulin production and tissues resist to insulin production.  In type-2 diabetes, daily supplement of insulin is not necessary. The patent is insulin non-dependent. Controlling diet and doing moderate physical exercises can control type two diabetes.

Controlling Blood Sugar In Type 2 Diabetes Without The Use Of Drugs

I was told in rapid succession that I was suffering from intermittent claudication (that’s blocked arteries in the legs), high blood pressure, Diabetes Type 2. and that I was overweight.

Not a lot of pleasure there! The intermittent claudication made it increasingly difficult to do much, so that in effect I had become a prisoner to my house and garden. Exercise was out of the question, my legs simply couldn’t cope, but it was hoped that angioplasty to each leg would cure the problem. It didn’t.

My high blood pressure, I was assured, could be treated by a cocktail of drugs and by weight loss. The cocktail of four different drugs worked, but I could not seem to lose weight.

So I was given a choice: the blood sugar levels could be controlled either by drugs or by diet. Since I was already taking four different drugs for blood pressure, I thought it best to try diet control. I was also hopeful that this might help me to lose weight. But where to start? My diabetic nurse provided me with a blood sugar monitor and said I should aim to stay under 9 as my reading. My Doctor said to stay under 7. Now she has reduced this to under 5. My current long-term reading is 5.3. A big drop from the high readings I used to produce.

Common Knowledge About Gestational Diabetes

I did not become familiar with gestational diabetes until recently when my sister-in-law and my best friend were both diagnosed with it within a week. Many women I know, myself included, have made it through pregnancies without having any serious problems like gestational diabetes.

Basically, gestational diabetes is a disease that can come on during pregnancy but that usually disappears once the baby has been born. In some women, pregnancy results in their blood sugar levels getting out of balance. A pregnant woman might realize that she is having blood sugar problems on her own or it might take a doctor to determine that her levels are not normal. Regardless of how it is discovered, gestational diabetes is a serious issue that needs to be handled with caution and care throughout a woman's pregnancy and after.

When my sister-in-law and my closest friend were struggling with feeling abnormally up and down during their pregnancies, their doctor took blood tests and determined that their blood sugar levels were being affected by their pregnancies and their food choices. They were both diagnosed simply by having this blood work done. At first they were hesitant and scared because gestational diabetes sounded huge and they didn't know how relatively simple the treatment process could be.

Common Knowledge About Gestational Diabetes

I did not become familiar with gestational diabetes until recently when my sister-in-law and my best friend were both diagnosed with it within a week. Many women I know, myself included, have made it through pregnancies without having any serious problems like gestational diabetes.

Basically, gestational diabetes is a disease that can come on during pregnancy but that usually disappears once the baby has been born. In some women, pregnancy results in their blood sugar levels getting out of balance. A pregnant woman might realize that she is having blood sugar problems on her own or it might take a doctor to determine that her levels are not normal. Regardless of how it is discovered, gestational diabetes is a serious issue that needs to be handled with caution and care throughout a woman's pregnancy and after.

When my sister-in-law and my closest friend were struggling with feeling abnormally up and down during their pregnancies, their doctor took blood tests and determined that their blood sugar levels were being affected by their pregnancies and their food choices. They were both diagnosed simply by having this blood work done. At first they were hesitant and scared because gestational diabetes sounded huge and they didn't know how relatively simple the treatment process could be.

Causes of diabetes

Certain factors that contribute to the development of diabetes are

Heredity

Heredity is a major factor. That diabetes can be inherited has been known for centuries. However, the pattern of inheritance is not fully understood. Statistic indicates that those with a family history of the disease have a higher risk of developing diabetes than those without such a background. The risk factor is 25 to 33 percent more.

One reason why diabetes, especially type-2 diabetes runs in the family is because of the diabetes gene. But even it is caused by genetic factors beyond your control; there is no reason to suffer from it. Diabetes mellitus cannot be cured in full sense of the term, but it can be effectively controlled so that you would not know the difference.

Carbohydrates, High Blood Sugars, Diabetes - know the connection?

There is a strong connection between carbohydrates, high blood sugars and diabetes. Carbohydrates give your body the energy, or fuel, it needs to function properly.

There are two types of carbohydrates; simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are in foods such as fruit sugar, corn or grape sugar and table sugar. They are single-sugar molecules. Complex carbohydrates are the foods that contain three or more linked sugars. So carbohydrates create blood sugars and that's where the problems start for diabetics.  Understanding more about the connection helps to control your diabetes...


A Personal Experience

I am a diabetic type 2 and, at the moment, I control my blood sugars through tablets and diet.  Blood glucose control is extremely important for any diabetic - it is the only way of minimising future health complications; heart disease; neuropathy resulting in amputations; kidney disease and early death.

Are The Foods We Eat, Always Safe?

Reference Webster's New World College Dictionary:
Food:    1. any substance taken into and assimilated by a plant or animal to keep it alive and     enable it to grow and repair tissue; nourishment; nutriment.
    2. Anything that nourishes or stimulates; whatever helps something to keep active,     grow, etc.

But does it enable to grow and repair tissue, or give proper nourishment and stimulants to our mind and body? There was a time when this question could be answered with an astounding yes. But this certainly isn't true anymore!

As a good example, in 1880 it was evident in the general population, that there were around 2.8 cases per 100,000 people who were diabetics. Then this rose to around 29.7 cases per 100,000 people in 1949. But then, in that same year, 1949, the manor in which they started keeping statistics was changed, to where the 29.7 cases were now 16.4 cases per 100,000 people. The consequence coming out of this change was to obscure what was actually the incredible rise in diabetic cases over this same period. Of course during that time period there was no distinction between Type I, and Type II diabetes it was known simply as diabetes.