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 - 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 2 Diabetes - Does Lack of Exercise Affect Your Body?

A sedentary lifestyle has long been linked with an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Genetic inheritance causes Type 2 diabetes. However, factors such as obesity, lack of exercise, and sometimes the stress of surgery, interacts with your genetic risk to trigger this disease.

Not taking part in exercise or physical activity contributes to a lower quality of life and makes it more difficult for you to control both your weight and blood sugar. It is one factor that you can change immediately.

Researchers at the Centre for Exercise at the University of Bristol in the UK looked at sedentary time and periods of physical activity in relation to health factors in people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 Diabetes - Protecting Your Skin Is Vital

People diagnosed with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes often see an assortment of skin problems associated with their disease. But just because skin issues are prevalent with diabetes, it does not necessarily mean you will definitely acquire them. In fact, there is much a diabetic can do to lessen the possibility of developing even one of these skin conditions.

But please be aware... healthy skin patches itself up rather quickly. If you notice a cut, sore, wound or blister that does not begin to heal after a couple of days treatment, please consult your pharmacist or doctor.

By far, the easiest and best advice that can be given for overall skin care is to keep your blood sugar levels within normal levels or the levels agreed to with your doctor. Yes, elevated blood sugar can negatively impact your skin!

Glucose Metabolism, Leukemia and Diabetes

Let us examine the relationship between the sugar load in the human body and Leukemia and Diabetes. Different sugars, both the good sugars and harmful sugars affect blood chemistry that can mobilize a cascade of problems or benefits in human health.

The sugars we eat and the nutrients we get help determine our health. Why are the highest incidences of cancer in western nations? The lowest recorded incidences of cancer according to WHO appears to be in the developing countries of Northern Africa, Southern and Eastern Asia.

Some people eat very poorly and then consume what may in reality be a type of antidote that keeps the bad stuff from doing as much harm. Studies provide data supporting the French Paradox which indicates that proanthocyanidins and other flavonoids in red wines prevents cardiovascular diseases and diabetes although they have high-fat diets.

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.

What To Do When Your Blood Sugar Is Too Low

Hypoglycemia or more commonly known as low blood sugar, is a common and dangerous problems faced by diabetics. The good news is that the symptoms revert back to normal once the blood sugar level is normalized.

A few facts

· A blood glucose level which falls below 65-70 mg/dl is considered as low blood sugar or hypoglycemia.

· 10 gm of glucose will raise the blood glucose level of an adult by 35 mg/dl and in children 1.5 gm glucose/10Kg body weight will approximately raise the blood glucose level by 35mg /dl.

· Glucose raises the blood glucose level within 15 minutes and the sugar level continues to rise for another 45-60 minutes.

Eating White Rice Ups Your Chance Of Diabetes

For those who enjoy white rice as a regular part of your diet... take note. A recent international analysis finds those who consume white rice regularly have a much higher chance of diabetes.

Researchers examined the results of four earlier studies carried out in the U.S., Australia, Japan and China. None of the 350,000 subjects participating in these projects were diagnosed with diabetes at the beginning of studies that lasted from between 4 to 22 years.

The team saw a strong link between regularly consuming white rice and the onset of type 2 diabetes, the link being greater in women compared to men.

Need Help Managing Your Newly Diagnosed Diabetes? Ask For a Certified Diabetes Educator

Let's say I go to the bank to withdraw one hundred dollars. The teller asks me if I want five twenties, three twenties and four tens or a fifty, a twenty, two tens and two fives?

I always politely tell them it doesn't matter, because five twenties is the same as ten tens, they both add up to one hundred dollars.

Some companies are not concerned as to what time you arrive at work or what time you leave, just as long as you get your forty hours in. The end result is the same.

When I was much younger, I remember hearing my dad say, " Six of one or a half dozen of the other." I heard that so many times, but never could figure out what it meant. Eventually I got it but I wasn't so young anymore.

Managing Diabetes Through Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic care is generally known for helping people who suffer from neck and back pain. Studies are increasingly showing that chiropractic care is also helping those suffering from a multitude of diseases. One such disease is diabetes and more people are becoming convinced of the benefits of seeing a chiropractor.

Diabetes is the fifth deadliest disease in the U.S. and it is a growing epidemic across the world. Approximately 8.3% of the population in the United States has been diagnosed with the disease and the number continues to grow.

With these numbers expected to rise, it's time for doctors and patients alike to take a serious look at alternate methods of treatment. Recent studies are showing that there is a connection between the spinal column and nervous system and blood sugar. These studies have demonstrated that chiropractic care given to patients with diabetes reported that the glucose levels in their blood and urine adjusted to normal levels.

The Relationship of Obesity and Diabetes

Most of us have been warned about being obese. Scientific research shows that obesity is a significant factor in the development of hypertension, heart diseases, diabetes and other degenerative diseases. Worldwide, obesity rates are escalating and a concomitant and alarming surge in diabetes. The relationship of diabetes and obesity is obvious. But for some time science cannot pinpoint the direct relationship between obesity and diabetes.

Statistics

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that the obesity epidemic is the biggest challenge in the 21st century. Speaking during the just concluded Weight of the Nation Conference 2012, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius gave a summary of the obesity epidemic in the USA.

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.

Diabetes Has Reached Epidemic Proportions

The fastest growing disease in the world today is not an infectious disease. Three million people die a year from this disease and 6 million people a year get this disease for the first time. It has increased in the last twenty years by 767% and continues to rise.

Diabetes Mellitus is without a doubt the fastest growing disease in the world and it can be stopped but not by some fancy vaccination yet. Half of all the people in the world who have diabetes don't even know it. When left untreated, the effects of this disease include blindness, amputated limbs, and heart disease.

Experts say that it is because of over-eating and incorrect carbohydrate consumption which usually causes type II diabetes. But they also say that it is because of inactivity as people generally are leading more sedentary lifestyles.

Is Diabetes Really Something That Can Be Cured?

Diabetes is something that can be treated with therapeutic nutrition and that the chances of getting cured from this disease are directly proportional to the strict regime which should be followed.

For example changing only one of your meals is not going to help the overall production of the amount of insulin needed over a 24 hour period.

Vitamin supplementation is something that can and must be added in order to get the results that you seek when looking to making a change to the way that your body deals with its diabetes.

It is certainly advisable to notify your doctor about the specific changes that you are going to change. This is more important if you are on insulin as just taking an extra 500mg of Vitamin C can have a big difference to the way that your body deals with the little bit of insulin that it may currently produce.