November is National Diabetes Month. Diabetes mellitus, as it’s officially known, actually manifests itself in a few ways. One of these manners is known as Type 2 Diabetes.
Of the estimated 23.6 million people in the US (7.8%) who have been diagnosed with diabetes, approximately 17.9 million (90%) are cases of type 2 diabetes. What was once referred to as ‘adult onset diabetes,’ is now being increasingly observed in children. Much of this has been attributed to rising obesity rates of children and sedentary lifestyles.
Symptoms include: chronic fatigue, weakness and malaise, excessive urination and thirst, blurred vision, unexplainable weight loss and lethargy.
Three factors which significantly raise the risk of getting type 2 diabetes, or making it worse, are obesity, hypertension, or elevated cholesterol. This means that having a diet that includes a lot of fatty and sugary foods, or having a very sedentary lifestyle can heighten your risk of acquiring this particular type of diabetes. In fact, over half of type 2 patients are obese when they are diagnosed.
Type 2 differs from type 1 in that there is a problem with the body cells response to insulin, rather than the production of insulin. Initially, type 2 diabetes can be treated by changing the patient’s diet and exercise habits. Diet is controlled to limit glucose intake, which is not necessarily related to sugar.
If you are concerned you might have diabetes mellitus, contact your personal health care practitioner immediately. If you have been diagnosed, check out the diabetes section in our catalog for products that can help you maintain your diabetes.
Tag Archives: diabetes
Six Picks: The Top 6 Things You Need to Know About Diabetes
1. Know the symptoms. Thirst, frequent urination, blurry vision, constant tiredness, unexplained
weight loss and irritability are possible indicators of the onset of diabetes. Make sure to pay
attention and talk to your doctor if any of these symptoms persist.
2. The sooner you detect it, the better. The longer your body is exposed to uncontrolled blood sugar
levels, the greater the health problems can become. If you’re over the age of 45, it’s recommended
to have a fasting blood glucose test every three years.
3. Proper diet can save lives. With diabetes, it’s supremely important to keep your blood glucose
levels the closest to normal as possible. Proper meals can help maintain these levels and keep the
body from going into shock.
4. Work things out. Proper exercise can go a long way towards the prevention of diabetes, as well as
help maintain proper blood sugar levels too. Keep active for at least 30 minutes a day to help the
body regulate its blood glucose.
5. Know your risk factor. Anyone can develop diabetes over the course of their life, but certain people
have a higher risk than others. Being over 45, overweight or obese, a diagnosis of
pre-diabetes, having low HDL readings, or people with a family history of diabetes are
more likely to develop diabetes.
6. Diabetes is often preventable. A good combination of steady diet and exercise goes a long way in the
prevention of diabetes. Lowering the amount of added sugars in your diet can also help keep this
epidemic from affecting your life.
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, or think you may have it, contact your doctor immediately. Also, check out our large selection of diabetes education products here. http://www.ncescatalog.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=17&cat=Diabetes
Diabetes Defined – Type 1 Diabetes
November is National Diabetes Month. Diabetes mellitus, as it’s officially known, actually manifests itself
in a few ways. One of these manners is known as Type 1 Diabetes.
Also known as juvenile diabetes, this is caused by the autoimmune destruction of beta cells in the
pancreas that produce insulin. The only proven way to treat this type of diabetes is by receiving
injections of insulin. However, most people who have type 1 diabetes are usually healthy otherwise.
Unfortunately, type 1 diabetes is a life-long disease, and although it’s easily treatable, it is un-curable so
far. With the proper education and awareness, a person with diabetes can live a full and productive life,
with little-to-no-interference from their condition.
The injections of insulin can be rough for some people, and many times complications are associated
with the balance of insulin in the system. Low blood sugar can cause seizures or unconsciousness, often
resulting in hospitalization. Having high blood sugar can have long term damaging effects to other
organs, such as the eyes and joints, as well as making the patient feel constantly tired.
The symptoms of type 1 diabetes are: frequent urination, increased thirst, increased hunger, and rapid
weight loss.
Some of the complications that can arise from poorly-managed cases of type 1 diabetes include heart
disease, diabetic neuropathy (damage to the nervous system), and diabetic retinopathy (damage to the
retina) which can eventually lead to blindness.
If you are concerned you might have diabetes mellitus, contact your personal health care practitioner.
If you have already been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, see our catalog, or visist www.ncescatalog.com for a complete list of resources and tools that will help you live with Type 1 Diabetes.
Diabetes Defined
November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. This is a very important subject and we are looking forward to tackling different diabetes issues through our blog throughout the month!
Diabetes, whose official name is Diabetes Mellitus, is where a person finds themselves with a high blood sugar level, mainly due to one of two problems. Either the body isn’t producing enough insulin, or the cells in the body aren’t properly responding to the insulin that is being produced. Insulin is the hormone that the body produces to turn blood sugar (or glucose) into energy. With diabetes cases, not only is the body not producing energy from the glucose, but that same lack of reaction also causes the glucose to accumulate in the blood, which leads to vascular and nerve problems.
There are different types of diabetes, though the most common types are:
Type 1 diabetes: Results from the body’s failure to produce insulin, which requires the person to inject insulin for its required amounts.
Type 2 diabetes: Results from insulin resistance, which is a condition in which the body’s cells fail to use insulin properly, and is sometimes combined with an absolute insulin deficiency.
Gestational diabetes: When pregnant women, who have never had diabetes before, have a high blood glucose level during pregnancy. It may also precede development of type 2 diabetes.
There are a couple ways to control Type 2 diabetes. One way is to follow what’s called the ‘Exchange System.’ With this system, foods are divided into six basic groups according to the calories they contain and where those particular calories come from. Foods are interchangeable within these groups and are balanced to control a person’s diabetes.
The other popular way to control your diabetes is to count the number of carbohydrate grams you consume, which then come with a prescribed number of insulin units that are provided by a registered dietitian or diabetes educator.
For more tips, check out our diabetes section here.
CBS and FDA Warn Against Too Much Salt
Yesterday on the CBS Early Show, Dr. Jennifer Ashton showed Americans the dangers of eating too much salt, and to clarify a misunderstanding concerning the Institute of Medicine and the Food & Drug Administration.
Contrary to popular belief, the FDA will not be cracking down and limiting the salt in American products and the salt intake of Americans. The Institute of Medicine however, did ask the FDA to help create awareness of the problems with having too much salt causes.
The average American consumes 1 ½ tablespoons of salt each day, which is over twice the recommended amount. Although the health community has known for 40 years that there has been at the very least a casual link between salt and heart disease, but it’s now a very real connection and cause for concern.
It’s estimated that by reducing the average American’s salt intake by just one teaspoon a day could save over 150,000 lives from heart disease.
No one is asked people to put away the salt shaker. Since only about 23% of an American’s salt come from the added salt you sprinkle on your meal, it’s less of a concern. Where the real trouble lies is in the processed foods that you eat, where the other 77% of your salt lies.
Watch what you eat, and keep an eye on the grams of salt and sodium in that lunch you’re having. It might just save your life.
Check out the video here! http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6417471n&tag=cbsnewsTwoColUpperPromoArea
Sugar As An Addiction: Fact or Fiction?
Yesterday on Good Morning America, added sugar in foods, and its impact on Americans was a topic of discussion. Too much sugar in diets has been linked to the onset of diabetes, heart attacks and strokes. Considering the typical American consumes around 156 pounds of sugar a year, that’s quite a concern.
The American Heart Association recommends an upper limit of about 9 teaspoons of added sugar a day for a man, and about 6 added teaspoons a day for a woman. What’s more likely, is that people are eating about 4 to 6 times that amount.
That’s a cause for concern.
Many natural foods have sugar in them, such as grapes, which is fine, since they also come with so many vitamins and minerals as well. It’s when sugar is added to them, either in processing, or by hand, where it has the real danger. Most foods have sugar added to them merely for taste’s sake, without regard to how healthy it may be for our culture.
In the same GMA piece, the good doctor makes the claim that we, as a culture, are addicting ourselves to sugar by eating so many artificial sugars. While it makes sense in my head, research to this point has not made any definitive link between artificial sugars and addiction.
It’s a good argument in theory, and it wouldn’t hurt to lay off of the extra sugar, but addiction, I’d wager it’s not.
Watch the video here! http://ow.ly/1BUAA
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