Diabetic Eye Disease is a Leading Cause of Blindness

April 12, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Uncategorized 

Our eyes should be two of our most prized possessions! That’s why it is shocking to discover that vision care is often overlooked by people. Diabetic eye disease is on the rise. In fact, there has been an increase in eye disease due to diabetes by as much as 89% in the last ten years.

Unfortunately, a good number of people are not aware of the fact that eye problems caused by diabetes often have no visual signs or symptoms. Adding to this unfortunate lack of knowledge is a lack of understanding by many diabetics that an annual comprehensive eye exam is of the utmost importance.

Retina eye exams

A retina eye exam involves a dilation of the eye. Regular retina eye exams are extremely important. Early detection of a progressive eye disease should be the goal. Especially since many of these progressive eye diseases begin without any kind of a warning.

Once you have been diagnosed with diabetes, the chances over time of damage to your eyes increases. Certain eye diseases can then begin to develop.

Common Diabetic Eye Disease

Diabetic retinopathy is a progressive damage to the blood vessels at the back of the eye. Diabetic macular edema can follow. This eye disease happens when damaged blood vessels begin to leak fluid which in turn causes swelling. A patient may experience a blurring of their vision, double vision or other eye disturbances.

An alarming 26 million Americans have diabetes. Many of these diagnosed patients will go on to develop DME. Over 50% will not even be aware that they have the disease. African-Americans and Hispanics are a high risk group. Diabetic eye disease is now a leading cause of blindness.

All people with diabetes, type l and type ll, are at risk for developing vision problems. that’s why an annual eye exam is imperative. Your doctor can begin treatment sooner rather than later, reducing the chance of blindness by as much as 95 percent.

Is Diabetes linked to Unhealthy Cholesterol Levels?

April 3, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes - Did You Know?, Diabetes Control, Diabetes Prevention 

According to the findings of the latest analysis of diabetes, close to 60 percent of the people suffering from diabetes have failed to meet their cholesterol targets even though majority of them have their cholesterol levels being looked into by medical experts at least once every year. As much as a large percentage of people with diabetes are being checked by medical experts, a fairly large number of people are still not able to meet their cholesterol targets. From this, it has become very clear that these medical checkups are not leading to any improved outcomes for majority of the population.

Cholesterol Abnormalities ties to Diabetes
Cholesterol simply refers to a soft waxy substance commonly found in the blood stream and in the body cells. Although it is considered to be important for the overall health of the body, not all cholesterol is good/equal. There is cholesterol that is beneficial to the body and that which causes harm to the body [hence should always be kept at minimum levels]. Cholesterol is linked to diabetes in the sense that people with diabetes are more prone to be affected by the unhealthy cholesterol [bad cholesterol], which is known to be one of the main causes of cardiovascular disease.

Note: choosing to control the cholesterol levels in your body helps you significantly reduce your vulnerability to cardiovascular diseases as well as premature death.

Influence of diabetes to cholesterol
Diabetes has a tendency of lowering the levels of good cholesterol levels while at the same time raising the levels of bad cholesterol and triglyceride. These two collectively increase the risks of heart disease and stroke [a common condition referred to as diabetic dyslipidemia].

This diabetic condition “dyslipidemia” simply means that the lipid profile of your body is headed in the wrong direction. In short, it is simply a combination that ends up putting patients at high risks of suffering from premature coronary heart diseases and atherosclerosis [a condition in which the heart ends up being clogged by fat and other irrelevant substances]. Studies have also proven that there is a link to insulin resistance [a precursor to the common type 2 diabetes as well as diabetic dyslipidemia, blood vessel disease and atherosclerosis etc]. Bad thing is that all the above mentioned conditions are likely to develop way before diabetes itself is diagnosed.

Bottom line
Healthcare professionals and their patients are warned not to be too callous about the cholesterol check [which is amongst the health care essentials] carried out on an annual basis for everyone suffering from diabetes.Good news is, the one year anniversary since the launch of the health care essentials is being used to familiarize people with the dangers of overworking themselves. It has also helped make people emphasize more on the health problems that they identify, especially those related to poor cholesterol control which should promptly be acted upon.

Generally, both people with diabetes and health care professionals should work together to make sure that the annual health check leads to a meaningful action aimed at helping optimize cholesterol levels in the body.

Children Avoiding Germs on Higher Risk of Getting diabetes

March 27, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes - Did You Know?, Diabetes in Children 

It’s a popular quote that too much of everything is bad!!!! But these days it’s all about the excessive doing, especially in case of children……. Excessive junk food eating, excessive television and excessive modernization!!! Children in yester years would play in the dirt and mud and come home drenched in absolute filth. But these days, neither the children have time for this nor do the parents like them playing in the dirt or doing something that disgusts them. But all being too clean and tidy can result in health risk especially the one related to the immune system.Yup, who would have thought keeping children clean at all times might be bad though, right? Believe it or not, it is.

Why should Children be exposed to germs?
Studies prove that if in young age children are not exposed to germs, their immune system doesn’t develop.We are well aware of the fact that a child’s brain needs stimulation in order for it to send and receive signals and to develop correctly. In the same manner, it is necessary that the immune system is exposed to dust, dirt, pollen, molds or allergens to help it in learning how to tackle the invaders which in turn results in a stronger immunity. If the immune system doesn’t go through this process, it later back fires with diseases and illnesses. Moreover, if you take antibiotics or medicines to curb this problem; it might actually aggravate it. With every course of antibiotics you take, your immunity keeps dripping down. Moreover, antibiotics, anti bacterial soaps and vaccinations restrain development of healthy immune system.

Why healthy immune system is necessary?
It is observed that children, who get chicken pox or measles once, then have immunity towards these diseases for their lifetime. On the other hand, who do not contract these diseases and yet receive vaccinations for the same, have to take booster shots to be continuously immune to these diseases. In the similar manner, children are also prone to diabetes. A study showed that vulnerability to Type 1 diabetes is likely when a child is refrained from the exposure of microbes and parasites. Also, a research is already in progress to prove that a reduction in a person’s immunity can be instrumental in elevation and development of Type 1 diabetes and many other autoimmune illnesses.

What to do for Healthy Immune Functionality?
There are certain practices which would help in developing and supporting a healthy immune system. This can be done with the help of a diet which includes vegetables, fruits, omega- 3 fatty acids and fermented foods. But it is necessary to restrain from a diet high in carbohydrate, sugar and artificial additives.

A strong immune system, early on, can aid in prevention of diseases and illnesses initiated through exposure to dust, allergens, germs and the like. It is believed that letting the children get dirty in their younger years can help them to stay healthy in the long term as the exposure to the germs,at least to some extent, is beneficial to the immune system.

Ways to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

March 20, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Prevention 

Type 2 Diabetes is a serious condition – one that is capable of wreaking havoc on your health and lifestyle. Therefore, when you hear that it can be prevented, you take this news as the proverbial silver lining.

Medical experts across the country are united in their opinion that nine out of ten cases of diabetes can be prevented by adopting healthy lifestyle habits; a fact that is borne out by recent studies done on this subject.

For instance, it has been observed that women who were categorized as “low risk” were 90% less likely to have diabetes than other women. Low risk women are those who have maintained optimum body weight (defined by a body mass index of less than 25), exercise at least 30 minutes a day, follow a healthy diet, do not smoke and limit themselves to only 2-3 alcoholic drinks per week. Also, it is no coincidence that men who were excessively overweight, did not exercise, and had a “Western” diet were at high risk of type 2 Diabetes.

What one gathers from this is that making modifications to your existing lifestyle can help you steer clear of diabetes.

So, what are these changes we are talking about? Nothing earth-shattering really, but they are crucial nonetheless. Let’s start with the first one, which would be…EXERCISE.

We all know exercise is beneficial for maintaining overall health and fitness; however, it holds special significance for prevention of type 2 Diabetes. Regular exercise helps maintain optimal muscle function that goes towards improving the body’s sensitivity to insulin. This, in turn, stabilizes your blood glucose levels. In addition, it also improves blood pressure, thereby preventing cardiovascular disease.

On a related note, it is common knowledge that excess weight or obesity can contribute towards development of type 2 Diabetes. Therefore, it stands to reason that shedding pounds and achieving normal body weight would be integral to preventing this condition.

Bear in mind that when we speak of losing weight, we are not referring to building six pack abs or sculpting a perfect body. Losing just 5-7% of your total body weight can delay the onset of type 2 Diabetes and taking just 5 kilos off your body can reduce your chances of getting diabetes by 50%. So, try and get at least half an hour of moderate exercise, five times a week, to stay one step ahead of type 2 Diabetes.

Moving on, the other thing you need to focus on is your diet, starting with reducing the amount of high-sugar foods (carbohydrates) that find their way into it. It is important to avoid simple sugars, since they can get rapidly assimilated into the bloodstream, causing a spike in the amount of insulin being produced by the body. On the other hand, complex starches prove to be a better substitute. Since they take a while to break down, the sugars get absorbed into the bloodstream gradually. This, in turn, produces less insulin.

Next in line is the kind of fat that goes into your diet. While saturated fats can bring about insulin resistance, oleic acid – a type of fat found in olive oil has the opposite effect. That’s why it’s considered to be especially beneficial for diabetics to have meals cooked in olive oil.

While there is no denying that genes play a role in the development of type 2 Diabetes, they come second to lifestyle and behavioral factors. If you can keep excess weight off, follow a healthy style, refrain from drinking and smoking excessively, and exercise regularly, you will be successful in keeping diabetes at bay.

Controlling Diabetes with Insulin: Common FAQs

February 8, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes - Did You Know?, Diabetes Control 

If you’ve recently been prescribed insulin as part of your diabetic treatment, there must be plenty of questions in your head. On the other hand, you may not even know where to begin or what to ask. Here is a handy list of questions you should quiz your physician on. It will give you a clearer picture of what to expect once your course of insulin begins.

What kind of insulin will I need to use?

There are four basic types of insulin. It’s important to ask your doctor which of them would be best suited to you, given your blood sugar level and the type of diabetes you are suffering from
1. Rapid-acting insulin: Works within a few minutes of being administered but lasts only for a couple of hours.
2. Short-acting insulin: Also known as regular acting insulin, it starts working in about half an hour and keeps you going for 3-6 hours.
3. Intermediate-acting insulin: Once administered, it starts working in 2-4 hours, but its effect lasts up to 18 hours.
4. Long-acting insulin: While it take anywhere from 6-10 hours to take effect, long-acting insulin can last an entire day.

Which delivery method is best for me?

There are four ways in which insulin can be injected into the bloodstream:
a) Syringe
b) Pen
c) Pump
d) Needle-free jet injector

Each method has its own pros and cons – for instance syringes are the most cost-effective option whereas pens are a lot easier to use, but pumps are known to deliver insulin continuously. Ask your doctor about each method in detail and find out which one is covered by your insurance. This will help you reach a final decision.

How often do I have to take an insulin shot?

Patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes may require only one shot of insulin per day, whereas those suffering from type 1 diabetes might need to administer insulin as many as three to four times a day. Ask your doctor how often you will need to take a shot and what the dosage should be like.

When & where am I supposed to take my insulin?

What time of the day a diabetic takes his insulin shot can vary depending on several factors, such as how much exercise he gets, his diet, overall health, the type of insulin he’s taking as well as the delivery system being used. Ask your doctor at what time of the day you are required to take the insulin and what you need to do in case you forget to take your shot.

Where the insulin should be injected is yet another thing to discuss with your doctor. While the most common site for the injection is the abdomen, insulin can also be injected into the thighs, arms or buttocks. The doctor should demonstrate the right way to give an injection and educate you on the importance of rotating the injection site.

What side effects should I watch out for?

The most common side effects associated with insulin are weight gain and low blood sugar. There are others as well which you must ask your brother about. In addition, you should take advice on how to tackle these side effects, if they do manifest themselves.

Once you start taking insulin shots, your life will change in many ways. Asking the right questions will prepare you for these transformations and help you approach them with an educated mind.

Can a Diabetic Have an Occasional Drink?

January 17, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Uncategorized 

Not everyone finds abstaining from alcohol to be a huge sacrifice. Yet, there are times when tipping the glass feels almost obligatory, not to mention that there is a growing amount of evidence that a glass of wine may even have health benefits. If you are diabetic, the hype around alcohol consumption may be even more confusing. Do you or don’t you have to eliminate alcohol completely from your diet? What is the rule of thumb for drinking with diabetes?

How alcohol is processed in the body gives some insight into the problems that may exist for those with diabetes. In much the same way that fat is processed, alcohol has similar results, providing almost as many calories. If you have diabetes, it can cause your blood sugar to rise. With that in mind, if you are trying to control you diabetes by monitoring calorie intake, one drink should equal about two fat exchanges.

Of course, if your blood sugar is already high, you should wait to indulge in a drink until you have it under control. Also, if you are overweight or are dealing with high blood pressure or high cholesterol, you may want to sacrifice the drink. Check with your doctor for the best advice in that case.

A few other things to remember:
• Alcohol can cause blood sugar levels to rise, but too much alcohol can have the opposite effect.
• Beer and sweet wine have more carbohydrates. They could cause blood sugar to rise.
• Alcohol is an appetite stimulant. Beware or you may find yourself also fighting the urge to consume more calories.
• Alcohol can interfere with the positive benefits of prescribed medications.

Having said all of the above, it is appropriate to add that drinking no more than two drinks a day may be tolerated by some diabetics. Make sure to eat something along with the drink. Don’t drink too quickly. Sugary drinks, like mixed drinks or sweet wines should be avoided.

More importantly, if you have been diagnosed with diabetes, it is of the utmost importance that you work with your doctor to develop a treatment and management plan for reaching your best outcomes. Diabetes should be taken seriously.

Meal Planning Strategies for Children with Diabetes

January 7, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes in Children 

Planning meals is an integral step in managing diabetes in children. The aim is to keep the blood sugar levels under control while helping them maintain active, healthy lives. The basic principles of a diabetes meal plan include eating regularly, avoiding excessive consumption of sweets, incorporating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in the diet, and balancing the consumption of carbohydrates throughout the day.

While, on the face of it, planning a meal on these lines looks fairly simple, it can actually be quite tricky. Soon enough, the kitchen becomes a science class and food turns into a complicated variable. This doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. It is quite possible to have a diabetic friendly diet without approaching a straitjacket attitude towards food.

Before we go into the specifics of the diet, let’s first understand why a diabetic meal plan is essential in the first place. Consisting of 3 main meals and up to 3 snacks a day, the aim of regularizing diet for children with diabetes is to provide the body with a consistent amount of carbohydrates every day at the same time. Therefore, once the insulin is injected into the body, it receives a steady supply of glucose, which helps maintain blood glucose balance, thereby avoiding too many highs and lows.

That said, while consistency is the key to a successful diabetes diet plan for kids, it also has to be realistic and flexible. Unless you take into account your child’s likes, dislikes, preferences, and lifestyle, meal times could end up becoming a contentious issue in the household.

Broadly speaking there are three types of meal plans that are prescribed for children with diabetes:

1. Constant Carbohydrate Meal Plan
2. Carbohydrate Counting Meal Plan
3. Exchange Meal Plan

In the first, the child has a fixed amount of carbohydrates in every meal or snack. These meals are followed by insulin or other diabetes medicines, which are consumed in exact doses at the same time of the day. You could use the food labels as a guide to determine how much carbohydrate your kid is having.

The second diet plan – the carbohydrate counting diet plan – is more suitable for kids who have been advised to take a shot of insulin with each meal. Parents have to monitor how many grams of carbs their child is having per meal and match the insulin dosage to that. Once again, the best way to calculate the amount of carbs being consumed is to consult the food labels.

Finally, we come to the exchange meal plan, which, instead of relying on carbs alone, includes unsaturated fats, lean proteins and fiber as well in the child’s diet as well. All foods are divided into six categories – fruit, milk, fat, starch, meat, and vegetable. The child can have a fixed number of servings from each category, which is fixed on his daily calorie requirements. While this diet allows you to exchange one food for another within the category itself, substituting foods from one category to another isn’t possible.

At the end of the day, a diabetic meal plan isn’t only about balancing your kid’s blood sugar levels. It also has to be easy to incorporate into your daily life. More importantly, it should be able to cater to your child’s appetite while also indulging his likes and dislikes. If your diabetic meal plan can do that you can say your troubles have paid off.

Insulin Resistance: The Precursor to Diabetes

November 29, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Prediabetes 

For most people, diabetes is a condition that is caused when the body fails to produce enough insulin to metabolize the sugar in the body, causing a spike in blood sugar levels. However, very few know that insulin resistance lies at the root of most Type 2 diabetes cases.

Insulin resistance arises when although the body produces adequate amounts of insulin, it is unable to use it effectively. In order to understand this condition and its connection to pre-diabetes, let’s look at how the food is metabolized by the body.

The food we ingest is broken down by the digestive system into glucose which is delivered throughout the body via the bloodstream. The glucose in the blood is better known as blood glucose or blood sugar. In order to take in this blood glucose, the cells need the insulin produced by the pancreas.

In people who are insulin resistant, the body does not respond to the insulin properly, because of which cells are unable to receive the glucose. As a result, the pancreas produces extra insulin to cope with the increased blood sugar levels of the body. However, over time, the pancreas is unable to keep up with the demands and eventually breaks down. As excess glucose starts building up in the bloodstream, the patient develops pre-diabetes.

Pre-diabetes is a condition where the blood sugar levels are on the higher side, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Pre-diabetes, also known as impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or impaired fasting glucose (IFG), affects nearly 79 million people in the U.S.

People with pre-diabetes are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. In fact, studies indicate that an overwhelming number of pre-diabetic patients end up with type 2 diabetes within 10 years.

In addition to insulin resistance, there are other conditions that increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes as well as cardiovascular disease. These include high blood pressure, extra weight around the waist, and high levels of triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood.

The exact cause of insulin resistance is unknown. However, scientists have narrowed it down to a specific gene that makes some people more susceptible to this condition. Other factors that can lead to insulin resistance are lack of physical activity, obesity, high stress levels, steroid medications, and history of polycystic ovary syndrome.

There are various ways in which pre-diabetes can be detected. Doctors use a fasting blood glucose panel to check for sugar levels and signs of insulin resistance. There is also a blood test that can gauge how much insulin is being produced by the body. It is known as C-peptide. If the test reveals elevated amounts of C-peptide, it is indicative of the fact that the pancreas is producing a lot of insulin.

If you are losing hope right about now, it’s important to remember that insulin resistance and pre-diabetes can be reversed. To begin with, losing weight would help immensely. Less fat translates into fewer hormones that are responsible for causing insulin resistance. In addition, when you take part in physical activities, it increases not just the number of insulin receptors in the body but also makes them work more effectively.

Things you did not know about Diabetes

November 14, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes - Did You Know?, It's Complicated, Living with Diabetes 

For most people diabetes takes a stronghold in their minds as the condition that forbids them from ever having sweets. While that is partly true in most cases, there’s a lot more to diabetes than the inability to munch on your favorite foods. In fact, there’s a lot about this disease that people don’t really know about.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that is typified by having higher than normal amounts of blood sugar levels. This happens for one of two reasons – either the pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin to metabolize the sugar or the body fails to use the insulin that is being produced.

Diabetes can be broadly classified into two main categories:

Type 1, which usually develops early on in life (childhood or adolescence) and requires patients to survive on insulin injections as part of their treatment. The symptoms of this condition are frequent urination, continual thirst, extreme fatigue, weight loss, and severe hunger pangs. Owing to the ambiguous nature of these symptoms, type 1 diabetes usually goes unnoticed for a very long time.

Type 2 is more common among adults and is usually caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, obesity, lack of exercise, and poor diet. 90% of all diabetes cases fall under this category and treatment for this condition combines insulin injections, lifestyle changes, weight loss, and oral medication such as generic Actos 45mg.

Whether it is type 1 or type 2, people with diabetes are more susceptible towards long-term complications, such as heart disease, eye problems, strokes, foot problems, and kidney disease. For this reason, it is imperative that those suffering from diabetes keep a vigilant eye on their blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.

According to a report published by the World Health Organization, diabetes is becoming one of the most common afflictions of modern times. In fact, it would not be stretching the truth to say that the world is standing on the brink of a widespread epidemic of diabetes, especially the kind that is caused by physical inactivity and obesity.

In 2005, more than 1 million people died of death. However, this figure is misleading for the simple reason that while people live with diabetes their whole life, their deaths are often recorded as kidney failure or heart attack. As you can imagine, if those fatalities are also taken into account, the actual picture is a lot grimmer. Even more disturbing is the prediction that deaths caused by diabetes are only projected to go up by more than 50% over the next decade or so. In upper-middle income countries, this percentage is as high as 80%.

A yet another new (and worrying) trend has been noticed recently. Type 2 diabetes – a condition that was more prevalent among adults – is being reported among children and adolescents as well. A rare phenomenon by all accounts, it accounts for more than 50% of the newly diagnosed cases in some countries. This indirectly indicates towards an increasingly unhealthy lifestyle and obesity among our younger members of the population.

Even as health bodies and governments across the world are looking for a solution to this problem, there is no denying that the key lies in educating and spreading awareness about this condition. That, and a healthier lifestyle, could free us from the complications associated with type 2 diabetes at least.

Diabetes Diet Plan: What to Eat and Not to Eat

October 25, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes - Did You Know?, Diabetes and Diet, Diabetes Control 

Protein vs. carbs

Protein vs. carbs

When someone is diagnosed with diabetes or told that he is at risk, the first thought that is bound to run through his mind is “I will no longer be able to eat normally.” The common notion is that sugars must be avoided at all costs and desserts must be given up completely. Your previous diet gets replaced by a strict, merciless regimen and your whole life is spent keeping a sharp eye on what you put into your body.

While it is true that diet modification is required to prevent or control diabetes, the notion that this medical condition will cripple your entire life is nothing more than a misconception. And, this article aims at busting some of the more common myths surrounding this topic. So, let’s get started, shall we?

Carbohydrates are An Absolute No-no!

The average diabetic believes that carbohydrates should be stricken completely off the list. However, few people know that carbohydrates, or “carbs” as they are popularly referred to, are integral to a healthy diet for diabetic patients.

Apart from being the primary source of energy, carbs contain essential nutrients, such as minerals, vitamins, and fiber. For this reason, instead of abstaining from them altogether, a better thing to do would be to choose healthier carbs, such as the ones you find in whole foods and high fiber fruit and vegetables.

Diet for Diabetics should be High in Proteins

Since most diabetic patients cut down on carbohydrates, they turn to proteins as a source of energy. However, this can be counter-productive for them. Studies show that having a protein-rich diet can cause insulin resistance, a factor that could aggravate the condition further. For this reason, a healthy diet, especially for people with diabetes, should derive only 15-20% of its calories from proteins, and no more.

Your Favorite Foods are Completely off the List

Abstinence seems to be the defining characteristic of a diet for people with diabetes. The general idea is that anything you may have loved eating becomes the forbidden fruit and gets crossed off your diet chart. This isn’t necessarily so.

While you are not allowed to give in to your indulgences, there is no reason really why you should give up having what you like as long as it is in moderation. For instance, you could reduce the portion of your favorite dessert or use it as a reward for following your meal plan regularly.

Life for people with diabetes is not easy. Constant vigilance is required to keep their sugar levels in check. That said, it’s important to investigate the scientific validity of dietary ideas that one comes across these days. And the best way to do that is to consult a trusted medical practitioner or a qualified nutritionist.

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