Blood Pressure, Diabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome

This week I am again writing about blood pressure, diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. Each week I see patients who have recently been examined by their primary doctors and are told that have findings of high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar or both. They are ill advised to return for followup in 8 weeks for a second test.

I am not suggesting that it is wrong to followup when you have such findings. It is however foolish to make no management recommendations and expect a different outcome on a subsequent visit. Often on the next visit medication will be prescribed as now there is a trend and not just a single visit finding which may have been just coincidence. It is necessary to show a trend vs. a single visit reading to prescribe drug therapies unless hypertension is severe.

Type 2 Diabetes - Is Your Waist Measurement The Reason You Have High Blood Sugar?

It is a well-documented fact most people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes are either overweight or obese.

    in children, 95 percent are overweight or obese,
    in adults over 85 percent.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately one-third of adults in the United States, and 17.1 percent of children and adolescents in the United States, are obese.

What is the clinical version of what it means to be obese? As stated by the CDC, overweight and obesity are labels given when the range of weight for a given height is over and above what has been determined to be healthy.

Type 2 Diabetes - The Importance Of Being Prepared With a Diabetic ID

Not everyone who has diabetes, especially Type 2 diabetes, is aware of it. Even though a diabetic who has been diagnosed has been informed, not everyone has. If you are diabetic, your friends and family might know, but what about the rest of society? How will they know you need assistance to re-establish ideal blood sugars? A form of medical identification would do the trick.

Make sure you have regular identification, medical cards, and medical ID before leaving home. This will do the talking for you if you are in an unplanned emergency and cannot speak for yourself.

Some people with Type 2 diabetes especially, refuse to carry a form of medical ID. It could be because they do not want to draw attention to the fact they have the disease. Some people are embarrassed by it, although they should not be.

Type 1 Diabetes - Understand the Basics

This type of Diabetes was most widely known as juvenile diabetes as is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. Unlike other forms of diabetes, such as Type 2 diabetes where the body does not produce enough insulin, Type 1 diabetes is a result of the body producing no insulin. As a result the daily impacts and potential complications from this type of diabetes are much more serious and those diagnosed with this form of diabetes need to be vigilant in their monitoring and management.

First Some Type 1 Diabetes Statics....

Before we get into the weeds on the specifics regarding this type of diabetes let's revel some statics on the frequency of Type 1 versus other forms of diabetes. If you are concerned that your child is a candidate for this form of diabetes then these stats will help you rationalize the basis for your determination. 

Know Your Diabetes Risk or Be One of the Six Million Who Don't

The American Diabetes Association says 6 million adults have type 2 diabetes and don't know it.

In the simplest terms, type 2 diabetes is a disease caused by too much sugar in your blood. The main cause is resistance of your muscle, liver and fat cells to the hormone insulin.

If your blood is tested for glucose and insulin levels and they are higher than normal, you are prediabetic. If the levels are a lot higher, you are a type 2 diabetic.

Type 1 diabetes comes from your own immune system attacking the beta cells in your pancreas. In infants and small children this happens quickly. But in a teenager or adult it can take years to lose all of your insulin-making beta cells.

Reasons Why Your Hands and Feet Tingle When You Have Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a disease that is associated with metabolic disorders in the body, causing an increased level of blood glucose in the body. Diabetes is identified as a lack of insulin in the body, or as a resistance of body cells towards insulin. There are some parts of the body which do not require insulin for the transportation of glucose in the body. These are brain, nerve fibers, kidney, and retina. As the levels of glucose in the blood reaches alarming levels, these cells can function normally for some time as glucose still reaches them. With prolonged high blood glucose level, a toxic amount of glucose starts accumulating in these cells and gives rise to various long term diabetic complications. These complications are broadly classified as;

· Diabetic nephropathy

· Diabetic neuropathy

Living With Diabetes - How to Know If You Have Diabetes

If you have diabetes, then you need a thorough understanding of the disease to be able to live with it. For most of the people, Diabetes goes unrecognized as its early symptoms seem harmless. By the time your Type I Diabetes is diagnosed, you may have been living with insulin deficiency for some time and it may have already done a certain level of harm to you. People diagnosed with Type II Diabetes may not observe any symptoms at all!

If your Diabetes can be diagnosed in time, then there is no reason why (even the research asserts that) why the risks of developing diabetic complications cannot be minimized.

Basically, Type I Diabetes is an insulin deficiency which gives rise to high blood glucose levels in the body. Similarly, Type II Diabetes is due to low levels of insulin or a resistance of body cells to insulin which causes an increase in blood sugar. 

Type 2 Diabetes - Exercise As Part of Diabetes Management

Exercise is one of the most important parts of a diabetic's lifestyle. There are three effective pillars in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes...

    diet,
    exercise, and
    medication.

And exercise is one of the main drivers.

People with Type 2 diabetes are no different to non-diabetics when it comes to excuses why they can't find time to exercise. While fitting exercise into a diabetic lifestyle might be difficult, it isn't impossible. You just have to be creative.

Type 2 Diabetes - Does This Diabetic Medication Help With Psoriasis As Well As Lower Blood Sugar?

Psoriasis is a skin condition seen more in diabetics than in non-diabetics. Controlling it can mean a lifetime of frustration. According to an article published in the journal Diabetes and Metabolism in January 2012, the diabetes drug exenatide (Byetta) could become one more addition to the armamentarium of drugs used to treat psoriasis.

A 61-year-old man with a body mass index of 25.5 and Type 2 diabetes treated with metformin and sulphonylureas for diabetes and steroids for psoriasis, had exenatide, or Byetta, added to his diabetic regimen. His weight and HbA1c levels went down and, unexpectedly, his psoriasis also improved dramatically.

One year later his psoriasis was still under control. When he stopped taking exenatide he gained weight, showed an increase in his HbA1c percentage, and had a psoriatic flare-up. After beginning exenatide or Byetta again, he once more found the psoriasis quickly improved.