Saturday 29 November 2014
Toxic Chemicals and Diabetes
Toxic Chemicals and Diabetes
Diabetes epidemics have followed the standard American diet across the world. The starches, sugars, and saturated fats in mass-produced foods would seem to be the cause. But maybe not. There are other nasty things in those packages.
Last week I attended the American Public Health Association (APHA)conference in San Francisco, and learned some things you might want to know. The most striking was the effect of environmental chemicals in the development of diabetes.
In my book, Diabetes: Sugar-Coated Crisis, I correctly called diabetes an environmental illness. But I mostly meant an environment of high stress, junk food, and few opportunities to move our bodies. I mentioned air and water pollution, but didn’t stress them.
Since then, much new research shows that environmental chemicals have a great deal to do with both diabetes and obesity. I learned much of this news from Sarah Howard, MS, National Coordinator of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment’s (CHE) working group on diabetes and obesity. Here is her Web site on diabetes.
This week we’ll look at chemicals and Type 2. Next week, I’ll write about Type 1.
Categories of pollutants that have been associated with Type 2 diabetes include the following:
• Persistent organic pollutants (POPs): A 2006 study found that US adults with the highest exposure to six kinds of POPs had 37.7 times the risk of diabetes of people with the lowest levels of exposure. You read that right, 37.7 times more diabetes! The POPs included dioxins, DDE, oxychlordane, and trans-nonachlor. The last two are breakdown products of the pesticide chlordane.
Virtually everyone in the modern world is contaminated with POPs. They were sprayed on most commercially grown foods in America and have many industrial uses. But the more you can avoid them, the better. You can find them lurking in animal fats. POPs and arsenic are the chemicals most strongly linked with diabetes by existing evidence.
According to a 2006 article in Diabetes Care, obesity did not increasethe risk of Type 2 diabetes in obese people with very low levels of POPs in their bodies. An editorial by a Spanish doctor in The Lancetin 2006 stated, “This finding would imply that virtually all the risk of diabetes conferred by obesity is attributable to persistent organic pollutants, and that obesity is only a vehicle for such chemicals. This possibility is shocking.”
POPs may do damage by disrupting hormone function or altering gene expression (function.)
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Tuesday 25 November 2014
10 Diabetes Myths
10 Diabetes Myths
We correct common misunderstandings about the disease
Is it really true that eating sugar causes diabetes? And who says you can't eat sugar if you already have the disease? Read on to see those and other myths debunked.
1. Myth: You have to be overweight to develop diabetes; thin people don't get the disease.
Fact: There's no doubt that obesity is a major contributor to type 2 diabetes. Genetics also plays a role. But blood sugar can creep up with age, even in skinny people. Our experts recommend that people ages 45 and older have their blood sugar checked every three years. Start earlier if you are overweight and experience symptoms. It's also a good idea if you have one or more additional risk factors, including being sedentary; being of non-Caucasian ancestry; having a family history of diabetes or a personal history of gestational diabetes, heart disease, or polycystic ovary syndrome; or having high blood pressure, cholesterol, or triglyceride levels.
2. Myth: You can get diabetes from eating too much sugar.
Fact: While continually overdosing on sweets can help trigger diabetes in someone with prediabetes or another predisposition, it is not a direct cause of it (although the sweet stuff can make you pack on pounds, a major risk factor). People with type 2 diabetes gradually develop resistance to insulin, the hormone responsible for helping to convert blood sugar into energy, and diabetes develops when the pancreas can no longer keep up with the increased demand. In the less common type 1 form, the body's immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
Fact: Not necessarily. Slightly elevated blood sugar usually doesn't trigger symptoms. And even in people with moderately elevated blood sugar, the symptoms may be so mild at first that they are easily overlooked. With high blood sugar levels, some of the more common symptoms include fatigue, increased hunger or thirst, weight loss, sores that don't heal, and more frequent urination, especially at night.
4. Myth: People with diabetes have to follow a special diet.
Fact: A healthy diet for a person with diabetes is typically identical to a healthy diet for anyone else. It should include a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, low-fat dairy products, and moderate amounts of healthier fats such as those found in olive and canola oil. And yes, people with diabetes can still enjoy sweets as long as they work them into their meal plan carefully.
5. Myth: People with diabetes should limit their physical activity.
Fact: Quite the opposite. Exercise not only helps control blood sugar but also weight and blood pressure, and will improve cholesterol levels. Physical activity also reduces the risk of common diabetes complications, such as heart disease and nerve damage.
But workouts can sometimes lower blood sugar too much, causing hypoglycemia, especially in people who take insulin or certain long-acting oral medications. To help prevent it, don't work out on an empty stomach, stay hydrated, and talk with your doctor about checking your blood sugar before and after exercise. It's also a good idea to have a snack on hand to bring your blood sugar back up if you start to feel shaky, weak, or light-headed.
6. Myth: Everyone with diabetes needs insulin injections to control the disease.
Fact: People with type 1 disease typically need daily insulin injections because their body produces little or none of the hormone. But many people with type 2 disease can take pills to help keep their blood sugar in check.
7. Myth: Everyone with diabetes should routinely monitor blood sugar at home.
Fact: Not necessarily. People who don't use insulin and who have good control of their blood sugar may need to check it at home only occasionally, if at all. (Of course, they should still have it checked at regular doctor visits.) But those who use insulin need to keep close tabs on blood sugar so they can adjust their doses if necessary and guard against dangerous drops in blood sugar levels. In addition, those who are newly diagnosed may want to monitor blood sugar patterns more closely at first to see how they fluctuate with meals, exercise, stress, and medications.
8. Myth: Type 1 diabetes is a more serious disease than the type 2 form.
Fact: Left uncontrolled, both types of diabetes can lead to serious complications, including heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease, nerve damage, gum infections, and amputation.
Fact: With regular checkups and good blood sugar control, serious complications occur less frequently.
10. Myth: Once you have type 2 diabetes you have it for the rest of your life.
Fact: Most of the people who took our nationally representative survey of 1,000 adults echoed this gloomy view. In truth, while type 1 diabetes is currently not curable, the type 2 form of the disease, which is far more common and often rooted in lifestyle factors such as inactivity and obesity, can usually be improved by adopting healthier habits.
Labels: Articles
Saturday 22 November 2014
What is Diabetes Mellitus (DM)
What is Diabetes Mellitus (DM)
Diabetes Mellitus (DM) which is also known as diabetes or blood sugar disease is a group of chronic disease characterized by elevated levels of sugar in the blood as a result of the disruption in the body's metabolic system, in which the pancreas is unable to produce insulin the body needs.
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas which is responsible for controlling the amount / level of blood sugar and insulin is needed to change (process) of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into energy the human body. The hormone insulin serves to lower blood sugar levels.
Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes Mellitus
Early signs can be seen that a person suffering from diabetes or diabetes that can be seen directly from the effects of an increase in blood sugar levels, which increase blood sugar levels reach a value of 160-180 mg / dL and urine (urine) diabetic containing sugar (glucose ), so that the urine often dilebung or surrounded by ants.
People with diabetes generally show signs and symptoms below, although not all experienced by patients:
- The amount of urine released more (polyuria)
- Often or quickly feeling thirsty / thirst (polydipsia)
- Excessive hunger or eat a lot (Polyphagia)
- Increased urinary frequency / urinary continue (glycosuria)
- Losing weight is not clear why
- Tingling / numbness in the nerve endings in the hands & amp foot ditelapak
- Tired and weak all the time
- Experiencing myopic vision suddenly
- If cuts / scratches (skin infection) slow healing
- Susceptible to infection, especially in the skin.
Another case in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2, usually they do not experience the symptoms above. In fact, they may not know has suffered from diabetes.
1. Diabetes mellitus type 1
Type 1 diabetes is insulin-dependent diabetes where the body lacks insulin, known as Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM). This is due to the loss of insulin-producing beta cells in the islands of Langerhans of the pancreas. Type 1 diabetes is usually found in infants, children and adolescents.
Until now, Diabetes Mellitus Type 1 can only be treated by administration of insulin therapy performed continuously sustainable. Family history, diet and environmental factors affect the care of people with type 1 diabetes diebetes In patients with type 1, shall be controlling and monitoring their blood sugar levels, preferably using a blood sugar test. Especially in children or infants in which they are very prone to dehydration, vomiting and often prone to various diseases.
Type 2 diabetes is where the hormone insulin in the body can not function properly, known as Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM). This is because the various possibilities such as defects in insulin production, insulin resistance or reduced sensitivity (response) and sell the body tissues to insulin which is characterized by increased levels of insulin in the blood.
However, sugar of course there was an increase after eating and decreased at a time when the morning waking. Someone said to hyperglycemia when blood sugar levels well above normal values, while hypoglycemia is a condition where a person is impaired blood sugar below normal.
Diabetes Diagnosis can be confirmed if the results of the fasting blood sugar reaches the level of 126 mg / dl or even more, and checking blood sugar 2 hours after fasting (at least 8 hours) reach the level of 180 mg / dl. While blood sugar checks are done randomly (when) can help diagnose diabetes when blood sugar levels reach levels between 140 mg / dL and 200 mg / dL, even more so when he is above 200 mg / dl.
Many blood glucose test tool traded today and can be purchased in many places selling medical devices or Accu-Chek pharmacies like, BCJ Group, Accurate, OneTouch UltraEasy machine. For patients diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus, it's good for them if they can afford to buy it.
Patients with type 1 diabetes insulin therapy generally undergo treatment (Lantus / Levemir, Humalog, Novolog or Apidra) is continuous, but that he should perform the control diet (diet).
In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, treatment and handling management focused on lifestyle and physical activity. Controlling blood sugar levels is becoming key to treatment programs, namely by reducing weight, diet, and exercise.
Of all drug therapies Madis for diabetics, it can not be denied, costly and the outcome uncertain.
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