Diabetes is a disease in which the body is unable to properly use the sugar called glucose to fuel our bodies for energy and growth the body needs. Virtually all of the food we consume is broken down into glucose sugar that enters into the bloodstream. The pancreas produces insulin which takes the glucose from the bloodstream into body cells, where it is then used for body fuel. If the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulins or the cells don’t use insulin properly, the glucose builds up in the bloodstream while the cells that fuel the body are starved of energy. Overtime, if not treated diabetes can lead to serious health complications such as risk for heart disease, kidney renal disease, blindness, and nerve problems.

There are three types of diabetes. Type 1 and 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes:

Type 1 of diabetes is more serious than type 2 diabetes, in that the pancreas can no longer produce insulin, which control blood sugar (glucose) resulting in having to take insulin shots or other medication for diabetes. Sometimes referred to as juvenile diabetes, type 1 diabetes, although developing most often in children and teenagers, type 1 diabetes can occur at any age. Early diagnosis is crucial in preventing other serious complications brought about by diabetes disease and the effects of diabetes, such as heart disease, chronic kidney disease, being blind, nerve damage, and high blood pressure level. Some symptoms for diabetes are:

*Loss of weight

*Fatigue-no energy

*Excessive thirst

*Increase in appetite

*Vision eyesight blurred

*Frequent urinating

Type 2 diabetes:

Type 2 of diabetes is the more common form of diabetes and although there is no cure for type 2 diabetes it can usually be controlled by losing weight and getting rid of excess fat, exercise, and eating healthy foods. Those with type 2 diabetes are able to create insulin; however, the pancreas can’t create enough insulin for a healthy blood sugar level or a normal glucose range to enter body cells to be used for self energy. Some of the diabetes risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes are:

*Genetic ancestry: If a parent or sibling has diabetes two the risk is higher for another family member of getting the disease.

*Being overweight

*Type 2 diabetes increases with age 45 and up

*Race or ethnic background. The risk of type 2 diabetes is greater in Africans, Latin Americans, Native Americans and Asians

*Non active. Health and fitness exercise is important for keeping type 2 diabetes under control

*Elevated blood pressure

Gestational diabetes: what is gestational diabetes?

Gestational diabetes, sometimes called glucose intolerance pregnancy, affects women who have high blood glucose levels during pregnancy. Usually, for most women there are no signs of symptoms. Most women are routinely screened between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy with a gestational diabetes testing glucose screening test. Screening is usually done by what’s known as the oral glucose tolerance test. This test measures blood sugar glucose to see if the body is handling the breaking down of blood sugars. Controlling gestational diabetes consist of diet & nutrition and exercise.

With any one of these diabetes types, controlling diabetes with diet, exercise and keeping blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible is crucial for a diabetic.



Thanks to Lamar Dean for contributing this article to our Diabetes blog:

Implantable Insulin Pump

Juvenile Diabetes

For many years, Type 1 Diabetes has been referred to as Juvenile Diabetes. Most often, the people who are diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes are children and young adults. Insulin is a natural hormone found in your body that helps the body to convert sugar, starches, and other foods into the energy that is needed to sustain life. People are diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when their body fails to produce enough insulin to properly convert the intake of sugars and starches into energy.

Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease - a disease that results in the body’s failure to fight infections naturally. Autoimmune diseases cause the body to begin attacking its own cells. In Type 1 Diabetes, the cells that are attacked are the beta cells in the pancreas that produce the insulin that turns sugars and starches into the energy needed for your body to function properly.

Cause and Length of Illness

Though the cause of Type 1 Diabetes is unclear, there are several things that we do know about this disease. Type 1 Diabetes is a lifelong, yet often manageable disease. Lifestyle and genetics play a large role in the onset and diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes. It is not contagious like a cold; therefore Type 1 Diabetes cannot be passed from one person to another. Diabetes is not caused from eating sweets. One symptom of diabetes is that the body fails to produce the hormone that turns sugars and starches into energy - but consuming sugars and starches do not cause the disease.

What To Do if You Are Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes

If you are diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, the first thing that you should do is to avoid panicking. Type 1 Diabetes is a serious and lifelong illness, though in many cases it can be successfully managed with the proper care and diet. Maintaining your overall health is the first step to successfully managing diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes can sometimes lead to other, more serious health conditions - such as heart attack and stroke. While maintaining a healthy lifestyle may not prevent the onset of these other illnesses, it may increase the onset of the illnesses and can help to lessen the effects of these illnesses dramatically. Skin disorders can also be caused by diabetes; therefore, it is important to maintain a routine regimen of skin care that may help to delay or even avoid the onset of skin diseases associated with diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes could place you at a higher risk for contracting gum diseases and other mouth-related problems. It is important to maintain a proper oral hygiene regimen in order to reduce the risks of illnesses associated with the mouth. Proper eye care and early detection of problems can contribute to saving your sight. Blindness is often associated with diabetes. Nerve damage or poor blood flow associated with Type 1 Diabetes can cause a diabetic to develop many different types of foot problems. It is important that you follow some basic guidelines that will help you protect your feet and avoid the onset of foot-related problems.

Lifestyle choices can help or hinder your management of Type 1 Diabetes. It is very important that you maintain a healthy lifestyle, complete with a healthy diet, regular exercise, and proper hygiene. In that fashion, there are some things that you should completely avoid or limit.

Smoking is a habit that contributes to the deterioration of your health, especially if you have been diagnosed with a disease that already affects your health, such as Type 1 Diabetes. Smoking is definitely something that should be avoided - and is a good idea even if you have not been diagnosed with diabetes.

While alcohol consumption should be limited, it is not completely necessary to avoid all consumption of alcohol. If your diabetes is under control and if you are free of any of the health problems associated with diabetes that can be made worse by alcohol consumption, such as nerve damage or high blood pressure, it is often okay to have the occasional social drink. Stress is also something that can contribute to increasing the affects of Type 1 Diabetes. While stress cannot always be avoided, it is essential to both your physical and your mental health to learn how to handle stress in a healthy manner.



Thanks to Dr John Anne for contributing this article to our Diabetes blog:

Treatment For Type 2 Diabetes

The Diabetes is one of the deadliest diseases in world, one in four people in America have this disease. The diabetes diseases touches everybody, kids, young and old. It is important for everyone to learn “What is Diabetes?”. The real cause behind this diseases is when body is unable to utilize or accumulate glucose. The Glucose is a form of Sugar. The level of glucose when goes high in bloodstream, it causes blood glucose to rise in individuals body. The Diabetes diseases can be categorized into three stages. The three stages of diabetes are “Pre Diabetes”, “Type 1 Diabetes” and “Type 2 Diabetes”. The diabetes has touched every one, from kids, adults to old people.



How does Glucose affects body?



It is a disorder in the body that affects the way body utilizes the food for energy. All food contains sugar, the digested food in body is broken into sugar known as Glucose. The glucose is used to produces energy. The individual glucose keeps circulating in blood and enters into body cells, Once inside the cell the glucose is used as fuel to develop energy. The Insulin is a hormone, which body uses to push Glucose into body cells, if this process stops working then the blood sugar level rises in body.

What is Pre-Diabetes?

- This is first stage to being diagnosed as Diabetes, under “Pre-diabetes” category either there is shortage of insulin required for pushing Glucose into body cells or body has become resistant to insulin. The people who get diagnosed with “Pre-Diabetes” are in risk of getting Diabetes and need precautions and changes in life style to ensure they don’t get diagnosed with diseases. Another pointer is your blood sugar numbers, if your blood sugar readings are above normal and not enough to be classified as diabetes.

The “Pre-Diabetes is also known as “Impaired Fasting Glucose” or “Impaired Glucose Tolerance”. The good news is that early sign gives you God sent opportunity to prevent your condition changing from pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes. There is no medication required in “Pre-Diabetes” condition, with control over food habits, changes in lifestyle and an active workout will help you to keep out of diabetes danger.

What is Type 1 Diabetes? - Juvenile-Onset or Insulin-Dependent

In Type 1 Diabetes, a persons body can’t produce any insulin. This type of diabetes usually occurs in early age but can happen any time is life period.

The research is still going on diabetes type one, how it happens. As of now the reasons are that body has little or not enough insulin to use Glucose to make energy.

What is Type 2 Diabetes? - Formerly called adult-onset or non insulin-dependent

In Type 2 Diabetes a persons body has become resistant to insulin. This type of diabetes happens after 35-40 years of age. This form of diabetes is 90 percent common in people.

The reasons for “Type 2 Diabetes” can be genetic reasons, or overweight.

 

It is a duty of every person to keep his or her health in good condition, by keeping health in check not only we help our families, communities but also contribute to nations health.

For more information cheak at ….. Diabetes Facts and Information

 



Thanks to SANJAY KAK for contributing this article to our Diabetes blog:

Hyperglycemia Signs

Diabetes is a metabolic disease that is caused when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to naturally turn sugars ingested into your body into energy. There are three major types of diabetes.

Type-1 Diabetes

This type of diabetes is an autoimmune disease – which is a result of the body’s failure to fight infection. As a result, the body begins to attack its own cells – in this case the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. The body destroys the beta cells and no insulin is produced. People with type-1 diabetes have to take insulin shots daily in order to live.

The causes of type-1 diabetes are not known, however autoimmune, genetic, and environmental factors are believed to play a role in the onset of type-1 diabetes. This type of diabetes can affect people of any age, but most often is found in children and young adults. Symptoms of type-1 diabetes include increased thirst and urination, constant hunger, blurred vision, unexplained weight loss, and fatigue. An early diagnosis of type-1 diabetes is very important. Without daily injections of insulin, a person with this type of diabetes is at a high risk of lapsing into a diabetic coma, a life-threatening condition.

Type-2 Diabetes

This type of diabetes is the most common type. Type-2 diabetes usually affects adults who are obese, have a family history of diabetes, or have a previous history of gestational diabetes. Type-2 diabetes is not caused by the body’s inability to produce insulin, but rather by the body’s inability to use the insulin it creates effectively. This causes the blood to have higher levels of sugars than normal.

The symptoms of type-2 diabetes include frequent thirst and urination, nausea, unexplained weight loss, frequent infections, wounds and sores heal slowly, and fatigue.

This type of diabetes can often be prevented or controlled with certain lifestyle changes, including a healthy diet and regular exercise. Some patients need to take medications and many use natural treatments to effectively control the symptoms of type-2 diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes

This type of diabetes occurs in pregnant women and is caused by an intolerance to carbohydrates, which causes blood sugar levels to increase. It is very important for a woman who has gestational diabetes to control the disease in order to prevent the baby from being affected at birth. If the blood sugar levels in the pregnant woman are not under control, there is a risk of the baby going into insulin shock at birth.

Gestational diabetes risk factors include a family history of diabetes, increased maternal age, and obesity. While the symptoms of gestational diabetes usually disappear after the birth, there are significant risks to both the mother and child. The mother is at a higher risk of developing type-2 diabetes at a later time and the child is at a higher risk of being obese or developing diabetes later in life.

Preventing the Onset of Diabetes

Many times, diabetes can be prevented or the onset can be delayed.

All three types of diabetes can be controlled effectively by changes in your lifestyle. A healthy diet is the most important change – eating healthy foods on a normal schedule allows your body to perform the tasks necessary to sustain life. A healthy diet should consist of plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, fiber, and Omega-3 fatty acids. Once a person has been diagnosed with any type of diabetes, the intake of carbohydrates should be monitored and the intake of sugars should be greatly reduced.

Regular exercise is also important for your overall health. Keeping your body in good working order by keeping muscles toned and blood flowing correctly also helps your body to perform its normal tasks. It is important for early diagnosis and effective treatment of diabetes in order to avoid more serious illness and diseases that can be associated with diabetes such as heart disease and stroke. Diabetics are at a higher risk of developing many other diseases and illnesses, but the most important thing to remember is that if you work with your body, your body will work for you.



Thanks to Dr John Anne for contributing this article to our Diabetes blog:

Adult Onset Diabetes

Can you answer Chelsie P’s question about Diabetes?:

I am 14 and I am training to be able to run all the way across the continental US in hopes to set a record and at the same time be able to raise much needed money for the research and hope for a cure for type 1 diabetes, which I have and is on the rise, rapidly. I don’t know where to begin to get this cause started and actually make it worth something. I am hoping for huge contributions to this cause. How should I begin?

Treatment For Type 1 Diabetes