Diabetes

One of the things most people do not know is that there are several different types of diabetes, and that diabetes is a disease that will stay with you for the rest of your life, there is no cure from diabetes and that means that once a person is informed that he has diabetes this condition will follow him for the rest of his or her life.

Coming to terms with the fact that one has diabetes may be psychologically difficult sometimes, especially if the person has no experience with long and difficult diseases and illnesses. The mental strain and the difficulty of grasping the new situation might sometimes cause a state of confusion and anger, denial and expressions of mood swings. While this is all normal and understandable an adult behaving in such a way may be problematic to explain to young children or even friends and colleagues.

As in all other difficult situation that ...

Turn on any TV news, or pick up any newspaper and you will see stories about America being obese and having an explosive increase in diabetes. And the sad thing is that it is true. The U.S. Surgeon General has said the number of overweight adults and children is 50% higher than it was only 10 years ago. It's truly becoming an epidemic.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that obesity also leads to other serious health problems. And one of the worst being diabetes. Due to the growing obesity problem in America, type 2 diabetes has simply exploded. While this use to be an adult onset issue it has now spread to our children. Sadly, over one third of all children born today will develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime.

Why is this happening? What is going on here? Unfortunately, the answer is quite simple, it's our eating and exercise habits. Think about how many times y...

Diabetes in your child affects the entire family. It can change your life and your child’s life for the worst. But that doesn’t mean that diabetes should prevent your child from enjoying a fulfilling life full of health, joy and happiness. Knowing what to do, doing research on the disease and working closely with your health care team will help you and your child overcome diabetes.

Diabetes in Children

Type 1 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes in children. In recent years, type 2 diabetes has also been diagnosed, probably because of the spike of unhealthy habits and obesity in more developed countries.

Causes

The cause or causes of childhood diabetes are still not known, but the factors are believed to be much the same as with adults: viruses, genetics and the environment play a role in childhood diabetes.

Symptoms are also similar to adults...

If you have diabetes or have recenty been diagnosed, you have a lot to come to terms with. Not only do you need to manage your blood sugar levels all the time, you need to be concerned about long-term complications of diabetes.

Hopefully with continued medical research, there will a cure for diabetes in your life time. But until the cure comes, you need to be aware of certain complications and what you can do to avoid them.

1. Diabetic retinopathy. This is a microvascular disease that affects the tiny blood vessels in the back of your eyes. High blood sugar over many years weaken the walls of the blood vessels and some blood and fluid leaks out. Nearly every person with type 1 diabetes will have some level of retinopathy within 20 years of their diagnosis, whereas 1/4 of those type 2 diabetes will have it within 2 years of their diagnosis. The best way to prevent di...

One of the best things you can do for your health is to know how to detect diabetes before it becomes an even bigger problem in your life by not taking care of it. Believe it or not there are quite a few people out there who don’t exactly know what diabetes is. Diabetes is a disorder characterized by hyperglycemia or elevated blood glucose (blood sugar). When the amount of sugar in our blood runs too low or too high it is quite typical for anyone to not feel very well. Diabetes is a term generally used when speaking of a person who has a blood sugar level that is consistently high. Millions of Americans have diabetes; however most of them do not realize it. In the long term diabetes can cause complications concerning the kidneys, eyes, heart, nerves and blood vessels.

There are two types of diabetes; Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 diabetes (insulin deficiency) means there is not enou...

Diabetes is now a disease that affects people not just North America wide, but worldwide. Many complications come with diabetes. Blindness, cardiovascular disease and kidney problems can all result from diabetes. Amputation of limbs may be a necessary result of diabetes is extreme cases. Studies have also linked early life depression as a contributor to adult diabetes.

Understanding why depression can lead to diabetes and other problems is important, as lifestyle changes are part of the solution in dealing with diabetes. Depression can lead to problems such as weight gain, poor eating habits, and decreased motivation for exercise. Eating healthy foods, monitoring body weight closely and getting adequate exercise are treatments for both diabetes and depression. Both may also require the use of medication in a comprehensive treatment plan.

Children and teenagers diagnosed wi...

Root vegetables and fruits are rich sources of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber. Many studies show that diabetics who do not eat fruit and root vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots or beets, are at increased risk for heart attacks and strokes. Recent studies from Oxford University in England and Arizona State University show that diabetics should eat fruits and root vegetables with other foods to slow the rise in blood sugar that can cause cell damage (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2006; Journal of the American Dietetic Association, December, 2005).

Diabetics are at high risk for heart attacks, strokes, blindness, deafness, kidney failure and damage to virtually every tissue in their bodies. These serious side effects are caused by blood sugar levels rising too high after meals. When you eat food, it passes into the stomach where...

People with diabetes 2 have beta cell dysfunction, the cells that make and release insulin, and a decreased beta cell mass due to apoptosis – death of beta cells. This has highlighted the role of incretin hormones GIP and GLP-1 in beta cell function, growth and development.

The incretins are peptide hormones secreted by specific cells located in the small intestine in response to food intake. In the pancreas, incretin hormones act to increase glucose-dependent insulin secretion from beta cells and are essential for maintaining after meal glucose control.

There are observations to be noted in people with diabetes 2 before any diagnosis of an abnormal glucose is made. The disorder begins far sooner than the abnormal glucose indicates.

• The rapid release of insulin is completely absent at the time of diagnosis of diabetes 2.
• Total beta cell function and mass i...

A recent study from Washington University in St Louis may explain why more than 75 percent of diabetics die of heart disease (Journal for the American College of Cardiology, February 7, 2006). The heart muscle of diabetics uses a much higher percentage of fat for energy than that of non-diabetics, to markedly increase risk for heart attacks.

The energy source for heart muscle is mostly sugar and fat, and to a lesser degree, protein. Muscles need far more oxygen to process fat than to process sugar. The blood supply to heart muscle comes from large arteries on the outside of the heart. Diabetics have narrowed arteries because high blood sugar levels cause plaques to form and reduce the diameter of the coronary arteries. The increased need for blood flow from burning fat and the decreased blood flow from narrowed arteries put diabetics at very high risk for heart attac...

Glyconutrients are eight immune sugars the body uses for cell to cell communication. These sugars are not used by the body as a source of energy/fuel as are other carbohydrates. Without proper cell to cell communication, the immune system cannot determine which cells to attack or which cells to leave alone, which cells are healthy or which cells are unhealthy. When the immune system attacks healthy cells, it is called AutoImmune Disorders. When the immune system fails to attack unhealthy cells, sickness and disease sets in the body. As you read this, much research is being done on glyconutrients. Science has established that glyconutrients are not a diet option but a requirement for everyone, called by many “the missing link” to good health.

Alarming evidence shows that many common diseases are caused by a single dietary deficiency missing in our diets. Among the missing i...

An exciting study from Yale shows that intense exercise is far more effective in preventing and controlling diabetes than exercising at a leisurely pace (Journal of Applied Physiology, January 2006). That means that the diabetic who exercises hard enough to sweat and raises his heart rate above 80 percent of its maximum will be far less likely to suffer heart attacks, strokes, blindness, deafness, kidney failure and all the other terrible consequences of uncontrolled diabetes.

Inactive, healthy, non-obese women over 72 years of age were started in training programs of hard (80 percent of aerobic capacity), moderate (65 percent) and easy (50 percent). All three groups did the same amount of work, burning 300 calories per session. The intense group had a great improvement in their ability to use sugar and suppress fat formation, while the low intensity group had little b...

Prologue and Rationale

When the level of blood glucose rises above normal it gives rise to a condition called diabetes. The food we eat gets converted into glucose or fat in our body to provide energy for work. The organ lying near the stomach known as pancreas secretes a hormone, insulin that helps the glucose to get stored in the body cells. When pancreas are not able to produce insulin in required amounts or is not able to use insulin the glucose is not able to get store in the cells, as a result the sugar gets stored in the blood causing diabetes. The cases of diabetes are much higher these days as compare to the past. It occurs in all age groups but the most common sufferers are obese people in middle or older age. The most commonly used screening tests are the determination of the fasting blood glucose level and the blood glucose level tested two hours after a meal. The n...

Typical signs of diabetes mellitus for example are increasing thirst and hunger. Dropping weight for no obvious reason does not always mean to be some serious health problem, but can also be a possible symptom for diabetes. Patients then seem to suffer from starvation.

This diabetes mellitus starvation actually happens on two levels. On the one hand you really run into starving for you obvious drop weight, even if you try to eat enough and provide your body with enough energy. Why you actually drop weight is due to the "starvation of your cells". What does that mean?

When suffering from diabetes mellitus, your pancreas does not produce proper amounts of insulin. Insulin is a hormone with many functions, the most important being the "key" to open the cells for glucose. Glucose on the other hand provides the cells with energy.

Without insulin the cells cannot be opened...

Recently, I've had a lot of requests for an alternative to health insurance for diabetics. The case of one gentleman, in particular, has lingered on my mind.

The man who I will refer to as "Bob" has what is called Type II, or Late Onset Diabetes. My own dad has this condition as well, so I am aware of the tremendous health struggles and monetary cost that can come as a result.

One fortunate thing for Daddy is that he was well covered with health insurance long before he became ill. Bob was not so lucky. He had no type of coverage at all when he received the surprise diagnosis of diabetes.

Do you know that once a doctor has made a chart note, or included a lab result in your chart, suggesting that your blood sugar is high (or that you are "pre-diabetic") your odds of being able to obtain a reasonably priced health insurance plan plummet?

That was the case wi...

Diabetes is prevalent than ever and 95% of cases diagnosed are type 2 diabetes. Although for some the development of diabetes is inevitable, perhaps due to hereditary and other factors, for the vast majority it can be prevented by taking some these 7 simple steps...

Before diabetes type 2 becomes fully developed you go through a stage known as pre-diabetes. This is where you start to show some of the symptoms, which if ignored, can lead to full blown diabetes.

Make these 7 action points part of your daily routine and you could stop this disease happening to you:

1) If you are overweight you risk developing diabetes. Reduce the amount of food on your plate so you gradually eat less and start to lose weight. Drink a glass of plain water or a sugar-free drink before your meal to take the edge of any hunger pains.

2) Reduce the amount of fat you are eating; gri...

The fungus that causes Athlete foot is named Trichophyton and is a skin infection.

Athlete foot is caused by the ringworm fungus ("tinea" in medical jargon). Athlete foot is also named tinea pedis. The fungus that causes Athlete foot can be found on floors and in socks and clothing.

The symptoms of Athlete foot include itching and burning feet. The skin frequently peels and, in particularly hard cases, there may be some cracking, discomfort and bleeding as well. When the feet, or other areas of the body, remain moist, warm and irritated, this fungus can flourish and infect the upper layer of the skin.

When the skin is injured by the fungus, bacteria can also invade the skin. Those bacteria can cause a bad odour. Bacterial infection of the skin and resulting inflammation is also known as cellulitis. This is especially expected to take place in the elderly, individuals...

Most of people know the benefits of vegetable consumption. Recent studies claims that this could be the secret of longevity. Then eat more vegetable, except potatoes.

The function of potatoes in a diet aiming to decrease the burden of chronic ailments has been controversial. Though potatoes have healthful contributions, they also have a high glycemic index (GI). That means they induce a strong and rapid rise of sugar level in blood. Over time, this action may damage the pancreatic cells able produce the insulin, the hormone which is needed to metabolize blood sugar.

Recent findings show that potatoes consumption is suspected to increase insulin resistance and by consequence, eating potatoes is linked with a high risk for developing type 2 diabetes. This conclusion remove potatoes from the list of most beneficial vegetables.

This association is visible...

In a health conscious world it is easier to spot symptoms of diabetes in the early stages, which is known as pre-diabetes. Discovering and taking notice of early diabetic signs gives you a fighting chance of preventing diabetes altogether. Look out for these 8 pre-diabetes symptoms...

If you have two or more of these pre-diabetes symptoms you should seriously consider getting yourself checked out:

1) If you find you are excessively thirsty, not just after extreme exercise or hot weather.

2) You seem to constantly have a dry mouth - even if you've just had a drink.

3) You find you are having to urinate frequently.

4) You have unexpected weight loss (even though you may be constantly hungry and eating well. Of course you may be eating the wrong things which would probably make your pre-diabetes symptom worse).

5) You feel lethargic; as if you've got...

The American Diabetes Association adopted the following classification in 1979.

Type –1, insulin-dependent diabetes

Type-2, non insulin-dependent diabetes

There are two other kinds of diabetes, known as gestational diabetes and secondary diabetes. There is also a special kind of diabetes in India called malnutrition related diabetes.

Type-1 Insulin-Dependant Diabetes

This is the most severe form of diabetes. It develops when pancreas makes little or no insulin. Without insulin in the blood stream, sugar does not get into the cells, and remains in the blood. People with type-1 diabetes depend on injections of insulin to regulate their smaller metabolism.

Type-2 Non Insulin Dependent Diabetes

This type of diabetes is also known as adult onset diabetes. It seldom develops before the age of 40 years, alth...

Gestational Diabetes is a temporary form of insulin resistance that usually occurs halfway through a pregnancy. It results from excessive hormone production in the body, or the inability of the pancreas make the additional insulin that is needed during pregnancy in women with no previous history of diabetes. Without enough insulin, sugar builds up in the blood to high levels. This is called hyperglycemia.

Gestational diabetes affects about four percent of all pregnant women although it is usually goes away after childbirth. Untreated gestational diabetes can lead to problems for both the mother and the child. Although insulin does not cross through the placenta to the baby, sugar and other nutrients do.

Extra blood sugar goes through the placenta, giving the baby high blood sugar level. This causes the baby’s pancreas to produce extra insulin to get rid ...