by: Robert Thatcher
An individual may get diabetes when the pancreas can no longer secrete the needed hormones that produce insulin. The insulin maintains the glucose in the blood to be normal. Low insulin means that the level of glucose, which is sugar in the blood, may get high and may lead to diabetes.
The autoimmune reaction is a type 1 diabetes where the cells in the pancreas organ that produces the needed insulin are destroyed. This results to the total loss of insulin in the hormones. This happens because the body has its own hormones that protects and destroys its own pancreas cells.
Although there is no scientific proof why this occurrence in the pancreas happens, some studies have some theories that may possibly be related in this kind of reaction. Some say that this happens when there is exposure of a newly born to a cow’s milk, the infection from viruses and bacteria, and the exposure from food-borne chemical toxins. There is not enough evidence yet to prove some theories that may trigger the cause of diabetes.
The type 2 diabetes is said to progress when there is lack of insulin that is needed to maintain the blood sugar in the body. Another reason is believed to be that the needed insulin not be effective effective to control the blood sugar because of abnormalities in composition. The last reason is said to be that the receptors in cells no longer respond and fail to stimulate the organ that produces the needed insulin.
An individual is likely developing the type 2 diabetes when a person is overweight or obese. The increase of age of an individual is also considered a factor in acquiring this type of diabetes. Some few cases that may lead in this type of diabetes may include when a woman is having her pregnancy, or when a person have some intakes of medicines and drugs. In addition, any sickness or infectious decease that can alter the pancreas production of insulin.
There are some basic treatments for diabetes. These ways can serve an individual its important role in treating diabetes. Here are some ways on how a person can treat diabetes problems.
1. An individual must work thoroughly in obtaining his ideal body weight. Every individual must have a regular exercise and physical endurance tests. People who suffer from diabetes are recommended to be physically fit if possible. Exercises for the lungs and heart may help the person lessen the sugar that causes diabetes.
2. An individual must follow a diabetic diet program. Not being on the proper diet can be a great factor in acquiring type 2 diabetes. It is recommended that a person must lose weight if he is an overweight person. It is advisable that a person must be conscious of the food that he takes. Eat foods that do not have sugar content.
3. The option of the individual to have medication and seek the help of a doctor. Every diabetes patients that have type1 and type 2 diabetes can take insulin daily to sustain the insulin production of the pancreas. There is also the new insulin pump that continuously provides the much-needed insulin. There are also new medications that treat diabetes like the synthetic human insulin, Sulfonylurea drugs, Biguanides, Thiazolidinediones, Meglitinides, Alpha-glucosidase, and other drug combinations.
Diabetes can be prevented with the proper awareness and information regarding this illness. What is important is that a person must have a healthy diet and regular exercise to have a healthy body. Responsibility and discipline is needed to help oneself in overcoming this disease.
About The Author
Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides diabetes resources on http://www.your-diabetes-resource.info.
Showing posts with label prevention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prevention. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Heart Disease Prevention - The Diabetes-Heart Disease Connection
by: Diana Benzaia
If you saw a tiger, you’d run for your life. But what if you didn’t see it? For those of you with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, heart disease is that unseen tiger. You’re two to four times more likely to develop a heart condition than people without diabetes? Even more shocking, those individuals are more likely to die from heart disease or other cardiovascular ills than from the complications of diabetes itself. Yet surveys show that 68 percent of Americans with diabetes are unaware of their increased cardiovascular risk.
If you have diabetes, now is the time to take steps to protect your heart.
“High blood glucose alters cell metabolism,” says Richard Kahn, Ph.D., chief scientific and medical officer of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). When the function of platelet cells changes, the likelihood of blood clots increases and the risk of heart attack rises. Cells that line the artery walls are also affected; the ability of blood vessels to dilate is impaired, which can lead to high blood pressure.
One pivotal phenomenon underlying these changes is inflammation, already known to promote heart disease. Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville, for example, found high blood glucose linked to chronic inflammation in the blood vessel walls of mice.
Prevention Works
The first step to protecting your heart? Control your glucose. In the groundbreaking Diabetes Control and Complications Trial to determine the effects of glucose on complications, type 1 patients underwent intensive glucose control. A later study found these participants were 57 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease over the next 16 years.
Although the findings haven’t been confirmed in those with type 2, high blood glucose levels have been proven to increase the risk of heart disease in both kinds of diabetes. Says David Nathan, M.D., professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-chair of the type 1 study, “The major difference is that people with type 2 are generally older, heavier and more likely to have hypertension and abnormal cholesterol levels, all of which puts them at much higher risk for heart disease.” For them, prevention is even more urgent.
Keep your heart healthy by following the ABCs of diabetes prevention: Aim for A1C levels below 7 percent, blood pressure below 130/80 mm Hg and LDL cholesterol below 100 mg/dl.
“Everyone with diabetes should know their numbers and goals, and get checked regularly,” says John Buse, M.D., lead author of the ADA and American Heart Association’s new joint statement on preventing cardiovascular diseases in people with diabetes. Start with a healthy lifestyle:
* Nutrition
Eat less fatty red meat, cheese, butter, processed foods and fast food; instead, choose more beans, vegetables, fruits and whole grains, along with lean meats and poultry, seafood, low-fat dairy and nuts. If you’re overweight, cut some 250 to 500 calories a day until you’ve lost about 7 percent of your weight. “To do this right, ask your doctor to refer you to a registered dietitian,” Dr. Buse says.
* Exercise
Each week, be sure to do a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity—swimming, biking, walking briskly. Exercise at least every other day.
Even if your doctor prescribes medication, don’t give up on diet and exercise: A healthy lifestyle not only has broad positive effects on blood glucose levels, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, says Dr. Buse, but also helps you fight depression, function at your best and maintain your energy.
Sources: "Journal of the American College of Cardiology," November 20, 2002; "Journal of the American Medical Association," November 27, 2002, and January 21, 2004; "Arthritis and Rheumatism," 2005 supplement, Abstract 149; "New England Journal of Medicine," December 22, 2005.
If you have diabetes, you can stem your risk for heart disease by controlling your glucose levels and adopting a healthy lifestyle——and enjoy the years ahead in better health.
Writer: Diana Benzaia
©MDminute: Diabetes Issue 1, 2007
About The Author
Diana Benzaia
Get a FREE 2-year subscription to the award-winning health magazine, REMEDY--http://www.healthisnow.com Sign up today! Also, check out http://www.HealthyUpdates.com --a health education website produced by MediZine, LLC.
If you saw a tiger, you’d run for your life. But what if you didn’t see it? For those of you with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, heart disease is that unseen tiger. You’re two to four times more likely to develop a heart condition than people without diabetes? Even more shocking, those individuals are more likely to die from heart disease or other cardiovascular ills than from the complications of diabetes itself. Yet surveys show that 68 percent of Americans with diabetes are unaware of their increased cardiovascular risk.
If you have diabetes, now is the time to take steps to protect your heart.
“High blood glucose alters cell metabolism,” says Richard Kahn, Ph.D., chief scientific and medical officer of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). When the function of platelet cells changes, the likelihood of blood clots increases and the risk of heart attack rises. Cells that line the artery walls are also affected; the ability of blood vessels to dilate is impaired, which can lead to high blood pressure.
One pivotal phenomenon underlying these changes is inflammation, already known to promote heart disease. Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville, for example, found high blood glucose linked to chronic inflammation in the blood vessel walls of mice.
Prevention Works
The first step to protecting your heart? Control your glucose. In the groundbreaking Diabetes Control and Complications Trial to determine the effects of glucose on complications, type 1 patients underwent intensive glucose control. A later study found these participants were 57 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease over the next 16 years.
Although the findings haven’t been confirmed in those with type 2, high blood glucose levels have been proven to increase the risk of heart disease in both kinds of diabetes. Says David Nathan, M.D., professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-chair of the type 1 study, “The major difference is that people with type 2 are generally older, heavier and more likely to have hypertension and abnormal cholesterol levels, all of which puts them at much higher risk for heart disease.” For them, prevention is even more urgent.
Keep your heart healthy by following the ABCs of diabetes prevention: Aim for A1C levels below 7 percent, blood pressure below 130/80 mm Hg and LDL cholesterol below 100 mg/dl.
“Everyone with diabetes should know their numbers and goals, and get checked regularly,” says John Buse, M.D., lead author of the ADA and American Heart Association’s new joint statement on preventing cardiovascular diseases in people with diabetes. Start with a healthy lifestyle:
* Nutrition
Eat less fatty red meat, cheese, butter, processed foods and fast food; instead, choose more beans, vegetables, fruits and whole grains, along with lean meats and poultry, seafood, low-fat dairy and nuts. If you’re overweight, cut some 250 to 500 calories a day until you’ve lost about 7 percent of your weight. “To do this right, ask your doctor to refer you to a registered dietitian,” Dr. Buse says.
* Exercise
Each week, be sure to do a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity—swimming, biking, walking briskly. Exercise at least every other day.
Even if your doctor prescribes medication, don’t give up on diet and exercise: A healthy lifestyle not only has broad positive effects on blood glucose levels, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, says Dr. Buse, but also helps you fight depression, function at your best and maintain your energy.
Sources: "Journal of the American College of Cardiology," November 20, 2002; "Journal of the American Medical Association," November 27, 2002, and January 21, 2004; "Arthritis and Rheumatism," 2005 supplement, Abstract 149; "New England Journal of Medicine," December 22, 2005.
If you have diabetes, you can stem your risk for heart disease by controlling your glucose levels and adopting a healthy lifestyle——and enjoy the years ahead in better health.
Writer: Diana Benzaia
©MDminute: Diabetes Issue 1, 2007
About The Author
Diana Benzaia
Get a FREE 2-year subscription to the award-winning health magazine, REMEDY--http://www.healthisnow.com Sign up today! Also, check out http://www.HealthyUpdates.com --a health education website produced by MediZine, LLC.
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