Every day, in the United States, more than 2000 new cases of diabetes are diagnosed. Type II diabetes, the most prevalent form of diabetes worldwide, often shows few or even no symptoms!
After eating, food is broken down into what is known as glucose, a sugar carried by the blood to cells throughout the body. Using a hormone known as insulin, made in the pancreas, cells process glucose into energy.
Because cells in the muscles, liver, and fat do not use insulin properly in the body of a person with type II diabetes, they have problems converting food into energy. Eventually, the pancreas cannot make enough insulin for the body’s needs. The amount of glucose in the body increases, and the cells are starved of energy.
This starvation of the cells, paired with the high blood glucose level can damage nerves and blood vessels. This leads to complications such as kidney disease, nerve problems, blindness, and heart ailments.
There are a lot of factors that can help to attribute to diabetes cases - lifestyle, environment, heredity - and those who are at risk should be screened regularly to prevent diabetes. Those that are already diagnosed with diabetes should aim to keep their glucose level under control.
But how do you know if you have type II diabetes? After all, it has few symptoms, often no symptoms in some patients. However, if you notice an increased thirst or hunger, a change in weight, or blurred vision, getting tested for type II diabetes is necessary, as only your doctor will be able to help you find the treatment steps necessary to being able to manage your life with diabetes.
Simple changes such as eating right, managing your weight, and keeping your blood sugar level under control may be enough. However, you doctor may prescribe diabetes-regulating medications to assist you in controlling your type II diabetes.
Diabetes is a serious ailment with extreme consequences if it isn’t treated properly. But if you follow your doctor’s advice and maintain both your lifestyle and blood sugar levels, you can help to prevent the more serious consequences from occurring.
This article is for information purposes only and is not meant to treat, diagnose or prevent any ailment or disease. See your physician for proper diagnosis and treatment.
The incidence of diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in the western world. Perhaps it is time to take stock of our lifestyle and to understand the dangers this disease presents.
Put simply, diabetes is the inability of the body to process sugars and starches properly. When we eat or drink our pancreas produces a hormone called insulin. Without sufficient insulin, body cells are unable to use glucose properly and blood levels of glucose rise, producing hyperglycemia, the major symptom of diabetes.
Excess levels of glucose and ketones (chemicals produced by the liver from fatty acids) can result in weakness, dizziness, and unconsciousness. Too little glucose (hypoglycemia) can produce similar symptoms. Both conditions are temporary and reversible.
Symptoms are thirst (polydipsia), increased urination, (polyuria), weight loss, constipation, tiredness, lack of energy, tingling or pins and needles in the hands or feet, blurred vision and increased infections.
There are three main types of diabetes:
1. Type 1 diabetes – no insulin is produced. Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus affects 10% of diabetics. Generally develops in children and young adults and affects more males than females. Sometimes called juvenile-onset diabetes, it occurs when a person’s body cannot make the hormone insulin. Without insulin, the body cannot use the carbohydrates and sugars in food properly.
2. Type 2 diabetes - insulin is produced but the body becomes resistant to it. Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus affects people who are more than 40 years old and overweight or obese. Sometimes called mild diabetes but it is just as serious as type 1 diabetes. The symptoms are similar to type 1 but may build up slowly. Diabetes specialists are very concerned at the rise in type 2 diabetes in young people. They are linking it to the big increase in the number of teenagers and young adults who are overweight or obese.
3. Gestational diabetes Diabetes that occurs during pregnancy is called gestational diabetes. If it happens during the first 12 weeks, it is probably likely that the woman had diabetes before she became pregnant. If it happens later in the pregnancy, it is more likely that her body cannot produce enough insulin for herself and the baby. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after the baby is born. But women who have had gestational diabetes are three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes at some time of their life than those who have not had diabetes during pregnancy.
Uncontrolled diabetes and prolonged high blood sugar levels can, in later life, cause problems to many organs including the kidneys, eyes, nerves and the heart. High on the critical list for diabetics is the risk of serious eye disease and loss of vision.
Eye care professionals are predicting a devastating increase in vision loss as the diabetic epidemic grows alarmingly. Over 70% of our sensory information comes through our eyes.
High blood sugar can gradually damage the blood vessels at the back of the eye in the retina. This causes a problem called diabetic retinopathy and the longer you have diabetes the more likely you are to have retinopathy. More than 70% of diabetics develop some changes in their eyes within 15 years of diagnosis.
Non-proliferative retinopathy is the common mild form where small retinal blood vessels break and leak.
Proliferative retinopathy is more serious. New blood vessels grow abnormally within the retina. If these vessels scar or bleed they can lead to potentially serious vision loss including blindness.
Common circulatory complications include high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, reduced circulation to the limbs, kidney problems, and damage to the retina of the eye, sometimes causing blindness. People with diabetes are vulnerable to circulatory problems, which can narrow the coronary arteries, causing angina and increasing the risk of a heart attack.
Nerve-related complications include numbness, pain, and impotence. Damages to nerves and small blood vessels can cause numbness and lack of sensitivity to pain. As a result, you may be unaware of minor injuries, which then become infected. Uncontrolled diabetes can cause itching in the genital area. In men damage to the blood vessels supplying the penis can lead to impotence.
People with diabetes also have a reduced ability to fight infection, and they heal less quickly than do other people. People with high blood glucose levels are prone to cystitis, bladder and kidney infections, and diabetes can result in damage to small blood vessels.
Some of the steps a person with diabetes can take are:
1. Stabilize and control your blood sugar with diet.. A diet that controls weight establishes regular eating patterns, and helps control glucose concentrations in the blood.
2. Have a yearly diabetic eye examination.
3. Undertake regular exercise.
4. Limit alcohol intake, regulate consumption of carbohydrates, and eat plenty of fibre rich foods.
By following the above guidelines, a person with diabetes can expect to live a relatively normal and productive life. Your health care specialist will be your best ally and should be consulted whenever you have any concerns about your diabetes or your treatment.
A healthy diet and regular exercise program not only will improve your appearance, but it also can improve your health and decrease your risk of developing certain diseases. Recent studies by Harvard researchers have concluded that moderate exercise and a healthy diet can prevent most cases of type 2 diabetes - the most common form of diabetes. The study overwhelmingly indicated that by making the appropriate lifestyle changes, diabetes can be prevented over 90% of the time. The study also concluded that lifestyle changes significantly reduced the risk of getting the disease by 58% among people who already showed signs of developing diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes accounts for over 90% of all diabetes cases. It occurs when your body can not properly utilize insulin in getting nutrients to your cells. This results in high levels of sugar in your blood. The number of cases of diabetes has been growing rapidly. Studies indicate that over 16 million Americans have some form of diabetes! Type 2 diabetes used to be considered a disease of the old, but not anymore. It is becoming much more prevalent in younger people and has recently been showing an alarming increase among young people.
Diabetes is a disease where your underlying genetic background is critical. If you have these genes and are at risk of developing diabetes, your lifestyle decisions very well may determine whether these genes become active or remain dormant.
What is most interesting is that Harvard researchers determined that 91% of cases among the people they studied could have been prevented by watching their weight, eating a healthy diet, moderate exercise, and not drinking and smoking. Being overweight is the number one reason people contract diabetes - 61% of all cases are attributed to obesity and weight problems.
Some other interesting facts: Overweight women cut their risk by 24% simply by walking regularly. There is a direct correlation between the amount of exercise and instances of diabetes. The more exercise, the less instances. Those who did 7 or more hours a week of exercise had a 29% lower risk than those who did not exercise or exercised less than 30 minutes per week. Eating a diet that is high in fiber, low in fat and low in partially hydrogenated oils (french fries, commercial baked goods) also significantly decreases your risk. If you already do not do so, become a label reader!
Pepper may not just be for seasoning. Capsaicin is a protein compound found in pepper and peppers significantly lowers blood sugar levels and increases insulin levels. Researchers have not concluded if the pepper compound acts by increasing the release of insulin, or by slowing it’s breakdown. Large doses of aspirin also lower your blood sugar and is an effective treatment of diabetes, but researchers warn that that the large doses required have detrimental side effects (intestinal bleeding, dizziness, nausea) that outweigh the benefits.
There are many diseases and illnesses you have no control over, but type 2 diabetes is highly preventable by watching your weight, exercising, eating a healthy diet, and not smoking or drinking.
