Diabetes Treatment

Living with Diabetes

admin — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 05:12:18 +0000

Everyone looks for Diabetes Treatment Options. However learning to live with is the best treatment.

It is possible to manage your diabetes in order to reduce your chances of having a heart attack or stroke and living a longer healthier life.

It is very important to change your lifestyle.

Obtain and maintain a healthy weight by choosing foods wisely and eating healthy.
Plan meals to include a variety of foods, eating less trans fat and eating more fiber, fruits and vegetables
Limit salt
Perform regular physical activity
Maintain healthy cholesterol levels
Keep blood glucose levels as recommended by your doctor
Take medications as directed by your doctor
Have blood pressure, blood cholesterol and triglyceride tests regularly
Limit alcohol as it can affect blood glucose levels and can also cause weight gain

Tips for healthy eating:

Eating at regular times helps to control glucose levels. Eat three meals per day no more than six hours apart. Choose healthy snacks.
The more sugar you eat, the higher your blood glucose. Limit sugars, sweets, regular pop, desserts, candies, jams, honey and refined foods.
Artificial sweeteners can be used in place of sugar when following recipes.
High fat foods may cause weight gain. Healthy weight helps control blood glucose levels which helps to keep the heart healthy. Limit the amount of fried foods, chips and pastries.
Foods high in fiber may help you feel full and help to lower blood glucose and cholesterol levels. Eat more foods with high fiber content like whole grains, breads, cereals, dried beans, peas, lentils, brown rice, fruits and vegetables.
Drink more water if you are thirsty.

Physical Activity:

Everyone needs to be active and healthy; however, physical activity for a diabetic can help:

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To improve blood glucose control
Reduce risk of heart disease
Control weight

All it takes is 10 minutes of activity

Walk the dog
Get off the bus a stop early
Park your car a little further from the door
Rake, shovel, mow or vacuum
Take two brisk walks a day
Perform resistance exercises such as lifting weights or ride a bike three times a week.

Foot Care

Foot care is very important for the diabetic – contact your doctor immediately whenever foot ulceration occurs. Early medical attention is important. Ask for a referral to a Certified Podiatrist to have your shoes, socks and feet evaluated.

Do not use worn out shoes or socks which can cause problems (such as corns, ulcers and calluses).

Read more at Suite101: Living with Diabetes: It is very important to change your lifestyle. http://chronicillness.suite101.com/article.cfm/living_with_diabetes#ixzz0wSZctLyA

The Causes of Diabetes – Type 1/2

admin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 11:09:19 +0000

Type 1 diabetes usually develops due to an autoimmune disorder. This is when the body’s immune system behaves inappropriately and starts seeing one of its own tissues as foreign. In the case of type 1 diabetes, the islet cells of the pancreas that produce insulin are seen as the “enemy” by mistake. The body then creates antibodies to fight the “foreign” tissue and destroys the islet cells’ ability to produce insulin. The lack of sufficient insulin thereby results in diabetes. It is unknown why this autoimmune diabetes develops. Most often it is a genetic tendency. Sometimes it follows a viral infection such as mumps, rubella, cytomegalovirus, measles, influenza, encephalitis, polio, or Epstein-Barr virus. Certain people are more genetically prone to this happening although why this occurs is not know. Thus, two people may be infected with the same virus and only one of them who is genetically prone will go on to develop diabetes. Other less common (very rare) causes of type 1 diabetes include injury to the pancreas from toxins, trauma, or after the surgical removal of the majority (or all) of the pancreas.

The major cause of type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance. Normally, the insulin secreted from the pancreas is taken by the fat and muscle cells to produce energy. But in a diabetic person this does not happen, and in turn the insulin levels in the body as well as the sugar levels in the blood keep on increasing. People who are overweight have a higher risk of this as excess fat usually interferes with the body’s ability to use insulin.

If someone in your family, especially a close relative like parents or siblings, has type 2 diabetes, your chances of getting the disease are relatively high.

Some other factors that may enhance the diabetic condition in the body are:

Increased hepatic glucose production in the body at odd times
Impaired function of the beta cells present in the pancreas
Cancer patients who have received Hematopoeitic Cell Transplantation
Age more than 45 years
Ethnicity: Studies have shown that African–American, Native-American and Hispanic-American communities show a higher number of diabetes cases than other ethnic communities
High blood pressure
History of gestational diabetes
Low physical activity
Obesity
Triglyceride cholesterol level of more than 250mg/Dl
Previous diagnosis of impaired glucose tolerance

Symptoms of Diabetes – Type 1 & 2

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 03:04:50 +0000

Type 1 diabetes usually presents suddenly with diabetes symptoms hard to detect. The condition can present with varied symptoms and a high index of suspicion must be maintained. The diagnosis is easy if one thinks about the disease. The symptoms of diabetes type 1 may include:

• high sugar levels in the blood

• high levels of sugar in the urine

• extreme thirst

• frequent urination

• extreme hunger

• loss of weight

• blurred vision

• nausea and vomiting

• abdominal pain

• weakness and fatigue

• irritability and mood changes

Usually people with type 2 diabetes will not be aware of it for almost 4-5 years, as the symptoms are generally not very obvious. But some of the diabetes symptoms to look out for include:

Increased thirst
Frequent urination
Fatigue
Sudden loss of weight
Increased hunger
Infection taking greater time to heal
Blurred vision
Erectile dysfunction

Diabetes Treatment Guide

admin — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

The first time you learn that you are stricken with diabetes can be traumatizing if you are uninformed. However, diabetes is very treatable. What’s more, as soon as you start telling people you have diabetes, you’ll be surprised to discover how many people you know have it, too, and they are leading normal, productive lives. There’s also a enormous amount of scientific research on diabetes, and this means you’ll continue to see new treatments in the years ahead.
The main goal of treating diabetes are keeping your blood glucose under control and preventing the development of long-term complications. How you’ll try to achieve these goals depends on your age, weight, current diet and exercise habits, work schedule, prior health problems, and whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
You’ll need a personalized treatment plan that takes all of these factors into consideration, and you’ll need the patience and determination to follow through with that plan every day. For most people with diabetes, this means carefully monitoring blood glucose levels, limiting certain foods, losing weight, exercising, and taking oral or injected medication.