It used to be said that having diabetes aged people an additional 20
years.
Today, thanks to better tools for managing diabetes and
preventing and treating its complications, people with diabetes have the
opportunity to live longer than ever before.
It used to be said that having diabetes aged people an additional 20
years. Today, thanks to better tools
for managing diabetes and
preventing and treating its complications, people with diabetes have the
opportunity to live longer than ever before.
Tight control
means getting as close to a normal (nondiabetic) blood
sugar level as you safely can.
Ideally, this means levels between 70 mg/dl (3.8 mmol/l)
and 130 mg/dl before meals (7.2 mmol/L),
and less than 180 (10mmol/L) two hours after starting a
meal, with a glycated hemoglobin (A1C) level
less than 7 percent. The target number for glycated
hemoglobin will vary depending on the type of test your
doctor's laboratory uses.
In real life, you should set your goals with your
doctor. Keeping a normal level all the time is not
practical.
And it's not needed to get results.
Every bit you
lower your blood sugar level helps to prevent
complications.
Living with tight control
To get tight control, you must do the following:
Pay more
attention to your diet and exercise.
Measure
your blood sugar levels more often.
If you take insulin, change how much you use and
your injection schedule.
Tightly controlling your blood sugar
levels soon after being diagnosed with Type
two Diabetes can lead to
lower risks of
diabetes complications—including heart
disease and death—years later.
Blood Sugar Control - Mechanisms - How it Works--And How It Stops
Working To understand what happens as your blood sugar deteriorates from normal
to pre-diabetes, and finally,
to full-fledged
diabetes you need to first
understand how blood sugar control works in a normal body.
Let's look at
that now.
Blood Sugar
Blood Sugar Control- Normal Person The key to understanding blood sugar control is to understand the role
played by special cells called Beta-Cells.
These tiny
cells are
scattered through an organ called the
pancreas which is
located just under your stomach.
The job of the beta cell
is to produce
insulin, store it, and release it into the blood stream at appropriate
times.
A new target for
treatment? Recent research suggests that the
benefits of statins may not be entirely due
to their effect on LDL levels.
Statin
therapy is
most effective, it seems, when
levels of a particular marker of
inflammation are higher.
C-reactive protein (CRP) is a sign of
inflammation, and it appears to play a role
in heart disease.
It is thought that statins
have anti-inflammatory properties, offering
protection particularly to the
blood vessel
walls that are damaged by inflammation in
the development of atherosclerosis.
C Reactive Protein
C- Reactive protein levels A research team using data from the PROVE IT–TIMI 22 study found that
not only did those who
reached LDL levels below
70 mg/dl have fewer
cardiovascular events, but that those who
had CRP levels below 2 mg/l
(milligrams per liter) also had
fewer cardiovascular events, and
to the
same degree of difference. What’s more, the association of lower CRP
values and
fewer events was detected regardless of the person’s LDL
level. Lowering CRP values with statins, therefore, was
independently
associated with decreased risk.
What should a person do to decrease there chances of developing Type two
Diabetes?
Click here
Landry.com
by Greg
Landry, M.S
A:
Maintain a reasonable weight, lose weight if you are overweight, and get
moving - have regular physical activity, and make
healthy food choices
(which helps with
weight loss and maintenance).
White Flour Carbs Sugary carbs, especially table sugar (sucrose),
used to be seen as causing adverse health
effects for
diabetics and people with
symptoms
of impaired glucose tolerance or insulin
insensitivity.
Although a high sugar diet can
cause problems for these groups,
most
nutritionists now view refined white flour foods
(most of which have a high GI-value)
as causing
more glycemic
health problems, such as insulin
resistance, and digestive disorders.
What are the early signs and symptoms of juvenile
diabetes? Juvenile diabetes is having a sudden
onset.
The cause of
juvenile diabetes is destruction
of insulin producing beta cells of the pancreas.
Insulin is a hormone produced by the
pancreas which
changes the glucose in the energy needed by the
body.
The most common in children is type 1 diabetes
mellitus.
Do People with Type 2 Always Deteriorate? Why doctors believe this
toxic myth.
The single most dangerous idea you are likely to encounter
as you begin your struggle to live a healthy life
with diabetes is the
belief
that science has proven, beyond a doubt, that no matter what you
do, your
Type two Diabetes will get worse.
Whether you are newly diagnosed or simply in need of more
information about diabetes, this website –
created by UCSF's
Diabetes
Teaching Center – can help. Diabetes management is
a lifestyle,
and while we understand it is not a lifestyle
that you would have
chosen, it is one that you can
master to
stay healthy.
Choosing a
healthy lifestyle can help you improve your
health and reduce your risk of heart disease and
diabetes.
Healthy lifestyles include eating a healthy
diet, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising
regularly, quitting
smoking (or not starting),
and minimizing stress. (Note: Specific guidance
for maintaining a healthy lifestyle
may change
over time as new scientific recommendations
become available.) Learn more about each of the
factors that affect your lifestyle.
Excess body fat leads to health
problems such as Type two Diabetes, high
blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Health professionals use a
measurement called body mass index (BMI)
to classify an adult's weight as
healthy,
overweight, or obese.
BMI
describes body weight relative to height
and is correlated with total body fat
content in most adults.
Having excess abdominal body fat is
also a health risk. Men with a waist of
more than 40 inches around
and women
with a waist
of 35 inches or
more are at
risk for health problems.
More than 60 percent of U.S. adults
are either overweight or obese,
according to the Centers for
Disease
Control and
Prevention (CDC). While the
number of overweight people has been
slowly climbing
since the 1980s, the
number of obese adults has nearly
doubled since then.
Excess weight and physical inactivity
account for more than 300,000 premature
deaths each year in the
United States,
second only to deaths
related to
smoking, says the CDC. People who are
overweight or obese are
more likely to
develop heart disease, stroke,
high
blood pressure,
diabetes, gallbladder
disease and
joint pain caused by excess
uric acid (gout). Excess weight can also
cause interrupted
breathing during sleep
(sleep apnea) and wearing away of the
joints (osteoarthritis).
To lose weight, you must eat less and
move more. Your body needs to burn more
calories than you take in.
Exercise improves heart function, lowers blood pressure and blood
cholesterol, helps manage diabetes, and
helps
control weight.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute (NHLBI) at NIH recommends that
adults get at least 30 minutes of
moderate physical activity on
most days
of the week.
Talk to your doctor about what forms
of exercise are best for you.
For more information about exercise
and physical fitness, see:
Choosing a
healthy lifestyle can help you improve your
health and reduce your risk of heart disease and
diabetes.
Minimize Stress The link between stress and coronary
heart disease is not entirely clear.
However, people who have too much stress
or who have
unhealthy responses to
stress may be at greater risk of having
coronary heart disease.
Facts about stress and coronary heart
disease:
Stress speeds up
the heart rate.
People with heart
disease are more likely to have a
heart attack during times of stress.
People sometimes
respond to stress with unhealthy
habits such as smoking or eating
salty or high-fat foods.
-Glycaemic control review - Assessment of co-morbidity - Review of all medications - Attention to modifiable cardiovascular
risk factors - Management of long term complications - Management plan for next 12 months - Arrange review date
Tightly controlling your
blood sugar levels soon after being diagnosed
with Type two Diabetes can lead to
lower risks of
diabetes complications—
including heart disease and death—years
later.
Tightly controlling your
blood sugar levels soon after being diagnosed
with Type two Diabetes can lead to
lower risks of
diabetes complications—
including heart disease and death—years
later.
Website
Education- NDEP Control diabetes by controlling glucose, blood pressure,
and cholesterol
Nearly 65 percent of people
with diabetes will die from a heart attack or
stroke; because of a lack of available
information,
two out of three people
with
diabetes are unaware of their heightened risk.
In order for those with
diabetes to stay heart healthy, having the most
up-to-date information is crucial.
Now, there's
a place
where people can go
for the latest
resources that can help them control their
diabetes,
as well as monitor their blood
pressure and cholesterol levels.
When those with diabetes take
steps to also ensure good cardiovascular health,
they can live long, healthy lives.
The National Diabetes
Education Program is a federally funded program
sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human
Services' National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and includes over 200
partners at the federal, state, and local levels,
working
together to reduce the
morbidity and mortality associated with diabetes.
Nearly 65 percent of people
with diabetes will die from a heart attack or
stroke; because of a lack of
available
information,
two out of three people with
diabetes are unaware of their heightened risk.
In order for those with
diabetes to stay heart healthy, having the most
up-to-date information is
crucial. Now, there's
a place
where people can go for the latest
resources that can help them control their
diabetes, as well as monitor their blood
pressure and cholesterol levels.
When those with diabetes take
steps to also ensure good cardiovascular health,
they can live long, healthy lives.
The National Diabetes
Education Program is a federally funded program
sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human
Services'
National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and
includes over 200 partners at the federal, state,
and local
levels, working
together to reduce the
morbidity and mortality associated with diabetes.
Diabetics are almost all nutritionally
depleted because vitamins and minerals are lost in their urine,
because they
generally have medical conditions which increase
requirements, because their
bodies burns more essential fatty
acids for energy, and because
diabetics' diets
are often
themselves
deficient. The optimum levels of some protective
vitamins cannot be achieved with food alone.
Supplements can
dramatically lessen the risk of heart disease and stroke in
diabetics, and correction
of deficiencies can, along with
exercise, lessen the
severity of the condition.
Group with Fasting
blood sugar of 110-124 mg/dl or 6.1-6.9
mmol/L had the same cardiovascular
and metabolic syndrome incidence as
people with diabetes in the following study:
To learn more about the
diabetic food pyramid visit
http://www.diabetes-diabetic-diet-plans.com
,
a popular website devoted to
help
people with diabetes live a healthier
life. The website provides tips
on
diabetic food, cooking and diet
plans, as well as
information several
complications
associated with the
disease.
Graftjacket. This treatment helps our body to repair the wound
quickly by providing immediate
coverage to the wound and a way to
rebuild the area of
missing tissue
Type two Diabetes can sometimes be turned around with
weight loss, a healthy diet and exercise.
If your
doctor feels that is the case,
then positive
lifestyle changes that help you lose the excess
weight, |
and regular daily exercise may be enough.
With medication or not,
diabetes still requires a
healthy diet and physical activity for optimum
health.
Medications are usually prescribed in addition to
lifestyle changes. The medications work in
different
ways but their effect is to lower
blood sugar and
help the body's own insulin become
more effective.
If oral medications are not enough, insulin
injections may be used to
help gain control of
glucose levels.
David Kinshuck, Pat Lamb, Urmilla Griffiths (Pat & Urmila: diabetes
specialist nurses, Good Hope Hospital)
Embrace your diabetes
Learning how to control Type two Diabetes...take control
What is happening in Type two Diabetes
First, there is a shortage of insulin
Second, there is insulin resistance.
Third, there are genes
These factors combine to cause Type two
Diabetes
Pattern of progression
At the beginning of
Type two Diabetes a healthy diet may
be sufficient to lower the sugar and keep |
the HbA1c below 7%
Later, metformin is needed.
Later still, add Exanatide if overweight or other drug.
Later still insulin may be required
Testing you sugar/glucose level
See
testing.
If you 'embrace' your diabetes, you will gradually learn to control it
and achieve an
HbA1c of 7% or below.
But to
do this, you need to check to see your
fasting
blood sugar levels are
72-126 mg/dl (4 - 7 mmol/l) (when you
wake up)
test your
blood sugar levels before meals between
72-126 mg/dl (4 - 7 mmol/l)
remember, you still need tablets if you are ill; if you
are being sick or cannot swallow the tablets,
|let your
doctor
or nurse know.
occasionally test after meals (preferred levels less
than 180 mg/dl (10 mmol/l)
To achieve very good control (HbA1c 6.5-7.0%) you need a
fasting pre-breakfast glucose
less than 99 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/l), pre-meal levels at other
times less than 108 mg/dl (6.0 mmol/l) and
after-meal levels
(2 hours after a meal) less than 141 mg/dl (8.0 mmol/l).
These levels cannot be achieved in all patients..but if
you are well and are prepared to stick to a healthy
diet and
exercise your medication should be adjusted to achieve these
levels, even if that
means starting insulin.
Did you know that 2 out of 3 people with diabetes die from heart disease
and stroke?
For Health Professionals In this section, you'll find a lot of information, including the
2006 Clinical Practice Recommendations
related to diabetes,
heart
disease and stroke; the Link Library; and
Diabetes & Cardiovascular
Disease
Review, the American Diabetes Association/American College
of Cardiology newsletter featuring information
on treatment guidelines,
research advances, and patient education tools.
In addition, check out
the Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Toolkit (available in both
English & Spanish),
which contains
reproducible patient education
handouts to use in your practice.
Because this is a gene, the heart attack risk associated with it runs in
families, so if you have a
family
history of heart attack,
this is all the more reason to
work as hard as possible to lower your
blood sugar to the safe zone
using safe techniques:
a lower
carbohydrate diet and the diabetes drug that has been proven to be
cardioprotective:
Metformin.
To understand what happens as your blood sugar deteriorates from normal
to pre-diabetes,
and finally, to full-fledged diabetes
you need to first
understand how blood sugar control works in a normal body.
It's proven: Diabetes can be reversed. According to a
groundbreaking new study completed
by researchers at UCLA and
other
California universities, changes in diet and moderate exercise
actually
reverse diabetes in at least 50% of patients
in only three weeks!
In only three weeks time, the amount of cholesterol and free radicals in
the test subjects' blood was lower
and their nitric oxide levels were
higher,
which are all factors in stopping diabetes before it takes its
toll on limbs and life.
When there's too much
insulin, blood sugar levels begin to fall (hypoglycemia),
triggering a
feeling of
hunger and the constant
need to eat, which also causes weight
gain and fat storage.
The whole idea in
treating diabetes is to bring blood sugar levels back to normal quickly.
This must be done immediately after
eating and then gradually continue
for several hours, as
food is being digested. In non-diabetic
individuals, this process occurs very
smoothly because the body
constantly adjusts its secretion of insulin depending on the levels of
blood sugar.
Conceptually, identifying the metabolic
syndrome (or insulin resistance) identifies risk
for
cardiovascular disease (CVD) or diabetes.
This article explains how, historically,
insulin resistance brought together facets
of the
metabolic syndrome and the pathogenesis of diabetes and
atheroma (thicklening of arteries in CVD) but has
since been clinically “overtaken” by central obesity,
now accepted as the core component of the
metabolic
syndrome.
The metabolic syndrome encompasses a wide
range of metabolic disturbances
in glucose, insulin and
lipid metabolism, and is associated with
central
abdominal obesity.
Although low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol remains the lipid
value
commonly used to assess cardiovascular risk,
apolipoprotein (apo)
B may better reflect lipid risk.
Six categories of evidence support this
conclusion: small,
dense LDL particles,
as measured by apo B, are more
commonly present in persons with coronary artery disease (CAD)
than an
increased LDL cholesterol level; increased very-low-density lipoprotein
(VLDL)
secretion by the liver results in increased small, dense LDL
particles; small, dense LDL
particles are more atherogenic than normal
LDL particles;
apo B more accurately identifies
CAD risk than do LDL
cholesterol levels; apo B assays do not require fasting and
have been
well standardized for use in routine laboratories; and the level of
apo
B continues to predict CAD risk during statin treatment.
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has
identified an increased risk of
ulcers and
amputations in the following groups of
people with diabetes:
Those who have had diabetes for ten
years or longer
Men
People whose
blood sugar control
is less than optimal
People who already have other
diabetes complications, such as
cardiovascular (heart)
disease,
retinopathy (eye disease),
or
nephropathy (kidney disease)
People with a history of smoking,
because smoking is associated with early
development of vascular (blood vessel)
complications in diabetes.
Taking Steps Toward Healthy Feet
Here are some of the most important steps you can take now to prevent
diabetes-related foot complications:
There are many ways to reduce risks to
feet problems
Read More..........
One way is to ......
Control blood fats. High blood
levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
cholesterol
(the so-called bad
cholesterol) and the fats
called
triglycerides can contribute to
atherosclerosis
(hardening of the
arteries) and heart disease. Atherosclerosis
is also a
contributor to the development of
peripheral arterial disease, which itself
increases
risk for foot complications by
interfering
with the healing of wounds.
Peripheral arterial
disease can be
symptomless or it can manifest itself in a
number of ways
including coolness of the
fingers or toes, loss of hair on the hands
or feet, or
intermittent claudication (pain in the
legs or buttocks that starts with activity
and subsides with rest).
People with diabetes tend to have LDL
levels similar to those of people who don’t
have diabetes,
but diabetes often causes
decreased levels of high-density lipoprotein
(HDL) cholesterol
(the so-called good
cholesterol) and increased levels of
triglycerides.
Depending on your
levels and symptoms, your health-care team
may recommend
dietary changes, including
lowering your intake of saturated and
trans fats, exercise, and
medicines.
Read More..........
Other ways to reduce risk
Read More..........
LDL
Small sized particles (Apo B)
Dr Agatston, a cardiologist, and author of the "The South Beach
Diet" says in his book
that "it is the small dense LDL
that does the more damage,
i.e. apolipoproteins.
Discussion here that .........post-meal blood sugars of 140 mg/dl (7.8
mmol/L) and higher,
as well as fasting blood sugars over 100 mg/dl (5.6 mmol/L) may cause permanent organ damage,
as well as contributing to the
progression of diabetes.
Read More..........
Blood Sugars
Fasting
Avoiding organ damage
Max Fasting blood sugars
should be 5.6
: to avoid organ damage Discussion here that .........post-meal blood sugars of 140 mg/dl (7.8
mmol/L) and higher,
as well as fasting blood sugars
over 100 mg/dl (5.6
mmol/L) may cause permanent organ damage,
as well as contributing to the
progression of diabetes.
As blood sugar levels rise
unabated, the body converts these sugars into fatty compounds
called
triglycerides.
Triglycerides slow the
blood flow in the smaller arteries and arterioles by
making the blood
thicker and stickier. As the oxygen-carrying blood
fails to reach
various parts of the body in time, the damage begins to mount.
The areas
supplied by the smallest blood vessels
begin to suffer first. The vision
deteriorates.
Strokes occur. Kidneys begin to fail. Cardiovascular
disease becomes evident.
Numbness, tingling and pain begins to occur in
the lower extremities followed by the necessary
amputation of the toes,
feet or lower limbs. Read More....
As blood sugar levels rise
unabated, the body converts these sugars into fatty compounds
called
triglycerides.
Triglycerides
slow the
blood flow in the smaller arteries and arterioles
by making the blood
thicker and stickier. As the oxygen-carrying
blood fails to reach
various parts of the body in time, the damage begins to mount.
The areas
supplied by the smallest blood vessels begin to suffer first. The vision
deteriorates.
Strokes occur. Kidneys begin to fail. Cardiovascular
disease
becomes evident.
Numbness, tingling and pain begins to occur in
the lower extremities followed by the necessary amputation
of the toes,
feet or lower limbs.
To understand what happens as your blood sugar deteriorates from normal
to
pre-diabetes, and finally, to full-fledged
diabetes you need to first
understand
how blood sugar control works in a normal body. Read
More....
The tutorials listed are interactive health
education resources from the Patient Education Institute.
Using animated
graphics
each tutorial explains a procedure or condition in easy-to-read
language.
You can also listen to the tutorial.
Tightly controlling your blood sugar
levels soon after being diagnosed with Type
2
diabetes can lead to lower risks of
diabetes complications—including heart
disease and death—years later.
Natural Medicine For Diabetes - Natural Diabetes
Medicine Tips
If you suffer from Diabetes and you would like to try out natural
treatments for the condition,
then luckily you have quite a few options to choose from.
Visit his Diabetes Blog to discover more about the
list of foods for diabetic to eat ,
symptoms of diabetes and
natural medicine for diabetes
For nearly 3000 years oriental cultures
have harnessed the natural power of the earth to live
healthier,
happier, more youthful lives.
Now you can too! Read more...
By
Dr Michael Hutch PhD
