The onset of diabetes is recognized when a patient has an overly high blood sugar level. This means that his or her body does not produce enough insulin to maintain a healthy amount of sugar in the blood. The cells in the pancreas of a person with diabetes gradually wear out and their capacity to produce insulin gradually and continuously falls. Eventually he or she will not have enough insulin to maintain normal blood sugar and the sugar will start to rise. Doctors and patients have many resources available to help people with diabetes maintain healthy sugar levels. The most powerful tool is a combination of diet and exercise. It requires education, motivation, and teamwork on the part of the doctor and patient.

When a person without diabetes exercises and loses weight, his or her body requires less insulin to maintain sugar levels. This holds true for people with diabetes as well: while they have a decreased capacity to produce insulin, they may frequently be able to use diet and exercise to reduce their requirements for it and their sugars will come back down to normal. By maintaining a healthy lifestyle, they will decrease the amount of insulin their bodies need to maintain normal blood sugars. If they can lower their insulin requirement sufficiently, their limited capacity to produce insulin may be sufficient to maintain normal sugar levels. This is analogous to a person who experiences a pay cut, and compensates by cutting down on expenses (for example, purchasing fewer luxuries and taking fewer vacations) but can still pay for his necessities without borrowing any money.

Unfortunately, diabetes is a progressive disease. This means that as time goes on, a person with diabetes will have less and less capacity to produce insulin naturally. Even with the adoption of a healthy lifestyle, a diabetic’s sugar levels will likely start to elevate again after a time. Just as there is a limit to how much you can cut down on expenses and still have the bare necessities of living, diet and exercise alone cannot work indefinitely for every person with diabetes. If a patient has been eating and exercising appropriately but experiences a rise in sugar levels, his or her doctor may next offer medications that lower his or her body’s need for insulin. Patients must still maintain the healthy living habits that they have previously implemented in order to keep insulin requirements as low as possible.

While a combination of diet, exercise, and medications may work for a long time in many patients, it may not work indefinitely for every person with diabetes. When the patient is doing a great job with diet and exercise and is appropriately taking medications but the blood sugar levels continue to rise, an insulin regimen will be an appropriate next step. While it seems to be a very logical solution-taking insulin because the body cannot produce it naturally-patients and their physicians will resist using it because it requires injections, may lead to hypoglycemia (low sugars), and some people think it causes weight gain. (For more information about the relationships between insulin and hypoglycemia/weight gain, please see my other articles on these topics.)

Many patients would prefer having sugar levels higher than those recommended by the American Diabetes Association and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists if the elevated levels do not cause overt symptoms and it means they can avoid self-injecting. However, mild elevations in blood sugar levels may increase the risk of visual impairment, kidney damage, heart attacks, strokes, and foot complications that may lead to amputations. Individuals with slightly elevated levels also face a much higher risk of sugar level spikes during unrelated illness. The patient and the doctor must work together to balance the inconvenience and risk of using insulin against the threat of these complications, and develop a system that is appropriate for the individual.

Many people with diabetes are able to follow the diet and exercise recommendations prescribed by their physician; however, others have difficulty following through with making and keeping healthy lifestyle habits. Because these patients are unable or unwilling to adopt the diet and exercise plan recommended by their doctor, they are depriving themselves of the first and most powerful tool to treat their diabetes. In order to help them with the diet portion of their regimen, my daughter Tova Searleman and I have established a website to provide a free 24/7 resource to help patients acquire appropriate cooking skills and gain practical information about this disease. People with diabetes will be able to use the site to learn basic information about diabetes, be informed about the latest developments in diabetes care and research, learn how to shop for nutritious foods, read nutrition labels, and watch videos in which Tova provides step-by-step demonstrations on how to prepare delicious meals that are appropriate for people with diabetes and their families. Please visit our site, and let us know how we can further serve you.

Heart and blood vessel disease is frequently a problem for anyone with Type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure (B/P) can be the result. According to the American Diabetes Association, as many as two-thirds of diabetics have high blood pressure. Researchers at the University of Vigo in Spain set out to determine whether the traditional method of taking all medications in the morning were necessarily the way to get the best possible results. Their work was published in the June 2011 issue of the journal Diabetes Care.

Four hundred forty-eight people with high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes were included in the study. Some were assigned to continue taking all their anti-hypertensive drugs in the morning while the rest were assigned to take one or more of their anti-hypertensive drugs at bedtime. Blood pressure was measured at the start of the study and at intervals for about 5 years. At the end of the study the group taking one or more blood pressure drugs at bedtime had fewer cases of heart attacks, death due to heart attacks, and strokes. They also had better controlled B/P both at night and during the day. It was therefore concluded taking at least one anti-hypertensive medication at night rather than during the day, improved blood pressure control and reduced the risk of heart attacks and strokes in Type 2 diabetics.

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The American Diabetes Association and the National Institute of Health recommend a blood pressure of below 130/80 to prevent strokes, eye disease, heart disease and kidney disease in diabetics. The top number, the systolic, is the force of the blood against the walls of the arteries when the heart is beating. The bottom number, the diastolic, is the force of the blood against the arterial walls between heartbeats. Both are measured in millimeters of mercury.

Medications for lowering blood pressure include:

angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors,
angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB’s),
diuretics,
beta blockers, and
calcium channel blockers.

A hormone called angiotensin is a hormone that narrows the blood vessels, causing your B/P to increase. ACE inhibitors prevent the hormone from being manufactured by the body. ARB’s keep angiotensin from doing its job of narrowing blood vessels. Diuretics cause the kidneys to put more water into the urine, causing blood pressure to drop because the blood vessels have less fluid to carry. Beta blockers cause the heart to beat less forcefully and more slowly. Calcium channel blockers keep calcium away from the heart and blood vessels, allowing them to relax.

If you are on more than one type of anti-hypertensive drug and your blood pressure is above 130/80, check with your doctor as to whether you should take one or more of your medications at bedtime.

Diabetes can have an impact on your ability to drive safely in several ways. It puts you at risk of low blood sugar or hypoglycemia, which affects your concentration and may impair your judgement and even lead to loss of consciousness. Or, your eyesight can be affected often due to high blood sugar levels distorting your lens, or because of damage to the retina, or cataracts.

Many diabetics though can drive safely and regularly. However, a small portion of the diabetic population may have an impairment in their driving ability because of their low or high blood sugar level and the presence of diabetes complications.

According to the John Hopkins POC-IT: Point of Care Information Technology Center, 0.4 to 3 percent of life-threatening motor vehicle accidents are caused directly by medical problems and complications. The most common condition responsible for motor vehicle accidents is epilepsy. The next most common cause of accidents is insulin-treated diabetes, which comprises 18 percent of cases. Acute myocardial infarction is present in 8 percent of cases.

In the United States, people with Type 1 diabetes have a 31 percent risk of being admitted to hospital due to accidents triggered by hypoglycemia. In Type 2 diabetes only 8 percent end up having this problem. In a survey conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it was mentioned diabetic drivers have 1.44 times more “at-fault accidents” compared to drivers without this health problem. You see, cognitive dysfunction associated with acute and chronic alterations in blood sugar levels usually alters the ability of a driver with diabetes.

What causes the increased risk for accidents when diabetics are at the wheel?

Diabetics with unstable blood sugar levels have increased metabolic demands on their body, this leads to:

an increased heart rate,
greater epinephrine release, and
more autonomic symptoms,

making them more prone to road accidents.

Points to consider while driving:

always be aware of your blood sugar level. In most cases, mild hypoglycemia may go undetected. Check your blood sugar level before you drive and every 2 hours when on a long trip. Your driving ability will be impaired if your blood sugar goes below 72mg/dL (4mmol/L).

keep glucose tables or a rapid acting glucose drink in the glove box of your car.

if symptoms of hypoglycemia occur, pull over and stop driving. Don’t resume driving until your blood sugar is over 99mg/dL (5.5mmol/L). Your thinking and judgement may take up to an hour to return to normal.

alcohol in the previous 12 hours increases the risk of hypoglycemia.

the risk of hypoglycemia is increased after playing sport.

try to avoid driving if you have made major changes to your insulin regime.

Motor vehicle accidents directly caused by diabetes is relatively rare, says John Hopkins POC-IT: Point of Care Information Technology Center. However, blood sugar level awareness is still necessary to avoid possible accidents from occurring. The more cautious you become in monitoring your blood sugar level and by being aware about the possible symptoms of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia, the safer it will be for you.

Around the world today, the threat of diabetes and obesity is very worrying. What is the solution on the threat that this alarming? and is there any proven treatment for diabetes in the market today?

Whether you believe it or not, the number of diabetics in the world is increasing every year. According to the International Diabetes Federation statistics, people with diabetes worldwide is currently about 285 million people. And this number is increasing. The figure is expected to hit the 438 million people in 2030 to clarify.

In Malaysia, it is a sudden increase in diabetes, from 1.4 million in 2006 to 1.8 million in 2010 and that number will increase to 2.5 million people by 2030.

Most patients with type 2 diabetes due to failure of the pancreas to produce sufficient insulin, while type 1 diabetes patient’s pancreas is not working directly. Patients with type 2 diabetes often have blood lipid levels and cholesterol levels and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

This is the underlying cause of many deaths of type 2 diabetes. There are two types of risk factors of type 2 diabetes, it is risk factors remain and may change.

Risk factors remained, the genetic factors, age and ethnicity, while risk factors may change, involves weight loss and physical activity. In Malaysia, the most ethnic with diabetes were Indians followed by Malays and Chinese.

Other factors that cause diabetes are weight loss and physical activity. If a person’s weight is growing up obese, the higher the risk of diabetes and a person who is disabled also face the same risk.

The impact of diabetes on a patient is very large and offered many complications. It is the sixth disease that causes death and at the same time reduce the life expectancy of five Hing sufferer to 10 years.

Diabetics are also at risk of cardiovascular disease between two and four times in addition to experience nerve damage, amputation, blindness and kidney failure.

Looking at the number of people living with diabetes today and the expected future, a warning is very worrying and needs attention. Once we assume that the disease involves only the rich only, but now the scenarios has changed since it also occurs in people who live outside the city.

Within a decade, more rural communities suffering from diabetes. The increase in the number of diabetes patients are associated with obesity, so it is called diabesiti.

Most patients cannot control blood glucose levels as normal extent of this disease causes blood glucose levels rise. Although the treatment of existing diabetes, over 60 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes do not achieve good blood glucose control.

Some treatments for diabetes cause a person to experience weight gain and is often associated with the risk of hypoglycemia. It is a condition of the blood glucose level is below normal levels can cause serious signs of coma.

Therefore it is important for us to control our diet and take foods and fruits as recommended by nutritionists as well as adopt a healthy lifestyle to avoid the diabetes.