Posts Tagged: diabetes

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1
Jul 10

Lowering Glucose And Insulin Levels To Prevent Diabetes

Diabetes is one of the most damaging health conditions we know of. It contributes to the deterioration of the body and plays a role in most every type of major disease or condition including the most common cause of death in America, heart disease. This is why it is so important to recognize the warning signs for diabetes and prevent them from taking hold. Insulin resistance, elevated blood sugar, and high insulin levels all suggest the onset of pre-diabetes. Learning how to lower insulin levels and improve fasting blood sugar levels needs to be the most important thing in your life otherwise your health might continue to deteriorate.

To understand how insulin and blood sugar levels get to high in the first place you have to know that your body increases insulin production when your blood sugar levels get high. This is a natural response to blood sugar as insulin is the natural mechanism for transferring glucose to the cells of the body. When you eat the food is broken down into glucose and then the insulin allows the glucose to enter the cells of your body from your blood stream.

Things go wrong however when insulin resistance starts developing. This happens for a few reasons including weight gain, poor dietary choices, and low activity levels. It is no surprise these same lifestyle choices can also lead to heart disease and changing these habits can improve your risks for both conditions simultaneously. When insulin resistance develops your body essentially doesn’t respond to insulin as it should and as a result your glucose levels remain high for longer periods of time and your insulin levels increase to compensate for the poor insulin sensitivity your body demonstrates.

To effectively lower your risks for developing type-2 diabetes you have to get control of you insulin resistance. The number one way of doing this is increase your daily levels of activity and exercise. This has the greatest affect on insulin levels and insulin sensitivity and should be the first and most important prevention technique. Closely following this you should start eating better foods and in less quantity. This may be difficult but will be the ebst way to prevent diabetes and lower your risks for getting sicker as you age.

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21
May 10

Prevent Foot Ulcers

If you have type 2 diabetes then you are also at risk of getting foot ulcers.  Around 10-15% of diabetics develop them.  They are caused from a foot injury being infected.  If you have diabetes your ability to fight off infections and heal wounds is greatly reduced putting you at risk of foot ulcers.  They can be very painful and in some cases if the infection cannot be cured then the foot will have to be amputated  before the infection spreads throughout the body.  You can prevent or cure type 2 diabetes foot ulcers by following some of the these steps.

The first thing you need to do is take even more care of your hygiene.  Keep the feet clean at all times and check for sores more regularly.  If you acquire a wound make sure it is cleaned thoroughly.  Use anti-infection ointments and creams on the area and if you put a dressing on the area make sure to change it more often.  If an infection does occur talk to your doctor immediately and they will let you know the necessary steps to prevent a foot ulcer.

The next preventative step you can take is wear the proper footwear.  A diabetics shoes should be very comfortable as well as offer great support for the feet and ankles.  Make sure they fit properly because rubbing of the shoes can cause lesions which may lead to infection.  In addition to well fitting shoes you also need to think about your socks.  There are specific socks made for diabetics that offer additional support and comfort.

If you take these preventative steps and keep in good contact with your doctor you will be at less risk to acquire a foot ulcer.  Foot ulcers are very painful and no infection should be left unwatched or untreated.  Your doctor can be the biggest help when having a foot ulcer.  He will administer the proper antibiotic to help fight the infection.

Additionally, if you have not been diagnosed with diabetes foot ulcers are one of the symptoms of type 2 diabetes.  If you find yourself having trouble dealing with infections and healing talk to your doctor immediately.

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7
Mar 10

Look Good Nekkid and Live Longer

Big fat stomachs are a problem and not just if you are trying to look good nekkid.

The stomach poses a difficult health problem because all of that stomach hanging out is not made up of fat on the outside of the stomach, but in most cases is fat inside the stomach wall surrounding all of the organs in the abdominal area.

This condition is called central obesity and is a dangerous health condition because of the increased incidence of the onset of Type II diabetes. Now it’s not perfectly clear if having fat around the middle is a precursor to developing diabetes or if the initial onset of diabetes causes a person to gain weight around the middle. The evidence is just that the two seem to go together, no matter which comes first.

There are also studies that suggest that skipping breakfast causes people to develop a pot belly or excess fat in the stomach. My guess is that this is because often when breakfast is skipped a person may tend to snack between meals or even over eat at the next meal to make up for that increased feeling hunger from the longer periods between meals. Grandma was right breakfast just might be the most important meal of the day.

If you have developed that excess stomach fat a two-fold attack for getting rid of it is most effective. The two parts are diet and exercise. Now by diet that doesn’t necessarily mean a special group of foods, but rather how and when you eat. More meals of smaller caloric intake to keep a person from getting hungry and then compensating by overeating can be an effective way to manage calorie intake. Exercise can be as easy as just doing more walking by taking stairs whenever possible or even by parking farther away from stores when running errands. Those are two small changes, but they can have a big impact on better health.