"The Diabetic & Diabetes Center"

It is widely known that depression is often connected with pregnancy – both during pregnancy and after pregnancy. It is also known that many women develop gestational diabetes when they are pregnant. When looking at all of these conditions together – pregnancy, diabetes and depression – there are many reasons for concern regarding what any or all of these conditions can do to a woman’s body and her unborn child.

A study of 11,000 low income pregnant woman revealed that low income women with diabetes who are pregnant or recently gave birth have twice the risk of getting depression as opposed to women who do not have diabetes. The study showed that it didn’t matter whether the women developed diabetes before or during pregnancy, or if they were taking insulin or oral medications. The risk of depression was still much stronger for women with diabetes.

“Those with diabetes have nearly twice the risk of depression during pregnancy and post-partum,” said the study’s lead author, Katy Backes Kozhimannil, a research fellow in the department of ambulatory care and prevention at Harvard Medical School in Boston. She added that women who’d never been depressed before appeared to be at risk, too. “One in 10 women who had no indication of prior depression received a diagnosis of depression within a year following delivery,” she said.

The study did not look at the reasons for the connection, but Kozhimannil said there are biological changes that occur with diabetes that might increase the risk of depression. She also said the stress of managing a chronic illness might contribute to the risk of depression.  In addition, the hormone changes that come with pregnancy are also a factor.

“Health-care facilities need to pay particular attention for depression in women with diabetes during the post-partum period,” said Kozhimannil. “Both diabetes and depression in the post-partum period are treatable.”

For quite some time Diabetes has been one of the leading causes of severe illness and linked to many deaths throughout the world with the U.S. leading the way until recently when the UK took the lead in the numbers of individuals with diabetes. Most of the rise in diabetes in both countries are attributed to obesity.

Type 1 Diabetes comes on usually during pre-teen and teen years. There is too much glucose in the blood and it can make you ill. Type 2 diabetes usually comes on gradually, often after the age of 35 or 40, however those figures are getting lower and lower. People who are extremely overweight are most likely to get Type 2 Diabetes.

Researchers have found that diabetes is affecting more and more people and more and more are being diagnosed in the UK, the US and other developed countries. Using a large database of medical records, studies were done on nearly 2 million people with diabetes in the UK. The studies showed that in 1996 in the UK, there was nearly 3% of UK citizens with diabetes. By 2005 there was an overall increase of 54%, with type 2 diabetes being up over 66%.

The researchers have also looked at the rise of diabetes in both countries over the past decade. Diabetes has increased in the US approximately 41% and 66% in the UK. The difference in the two countries could be that campaigns and research to deal with diabetes in the US has been going on longer than in the UK, creating an awareness and various programs to help control diabetes sooner in the US.

Regardless, it is important and essential that research continues, programs continue and awareness of how to avoid, treat and control diabetes also continue, no matter where it takes hold anywhere in the world.

A high percentage of individuals that have diabetes are also overweight. They are not just a litte overweight, but substantially overweight. This is a difficult situation for many reasons, however the largest reason it that too many people are under the misconception that being overweight not only doesn’t make diabetes worse, they are under the misconception tht being overweight is actually good for diabetes!

It is unthinkable in this day and time that there is this amount of misinformation that is being taken as correct information. As more and more information becomes available regarding diabetes, the information should help numerous individuals with diabetes by identifying symptoms, by being provided with lists of symptoms and cautions as well as lists of things to be aware of – both good and bad – that affect diabetes.

Since weight can create many health issues including high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, blood glucose problems and more, it is important that individuals that may be dealing with diabetes take the time to get as much information as possible regardless of the source.

They should speak with their doctors, get information on the internet (just type in “Diabetes” and you will find pages and pages of diabetes information), and get information from your local Diabetes Assciation, health department or senior center.

At any rate, to make the point clear, being overweight is not a good thing when it comes to diabetes. In fact, the more overweight you are, the more complications you are at risk for. There are ways to keep the pounds under control, which will also keep you diabetes symptoms under control as well. Of course, if you are 15 pounds over weight, it will be easier to control those pounds as opposed to being 50 pounds or more over weight. However, 15 pounds or 50 pounds, still can be controlled, helping to keep your diabete in check and keep you healthier.

I watched her do this well into her fourties. She had her first and only son at age 41. Then everything changed. She developed diabetes during her pregnancy and was never able to control it again. She gave birth to a healthy and beautiful boy who was the love of her life. The problem, however, was that her gynecologist assumed that she overcame her diabetes once she had the baby. She moved to another area shortly after that and started with a new doctor. She let the doctor know about her pregnancy and the diabetes. Told him verbally and filled out the papers.

But at that time, many doctors didn’t connect gestational diabetes with diabetes that would or could continue in life. That is a more recent finding. Unfortunately, this cost my friend her life too early and too soon. By the time her son was 9 the symptoms had reappeared again, worse than during her pregnancy. Again, the doctors weren’t looking for diabetes. When the doctors finally figured out what the problem was – type 2 diabetes – her diabetes was full blown. She had to take insulin shots several times every day. She had cardiovascular and kidney problems.

She was still holding her own in the fight. She couldn’t leave all of us in the dirt, but that didn’ stop her from trying on brisk walks instead of runs. The walks were shorter. She ran out of breath sooner. She got frequent dizziness and headaches.  The doctors thought it was because of blood glucose swings.

Early one morning my phone rang and her doctor told me to get to the hospital right away. He said he didn’t have time to explain but he would talk to me when I got there. Upon arrival I found my beloved friend who had just reached age 50 a few months before – now lying in a coma. The complications from her diabetes ended up being an aneurysm that ruptured in her brain.

I went to see her every day, kept her son with me, and in about 40 days she faded into a deep sleep from which she never woke up.

I share this story with you so that you can understand that diabetes is serious, it is insidious and it can be deadly. If you have any symptoms of diabetes, such as frequent urination, extreme thirst, pain and tingling in feet and/of hands or any symptoms you are not sure about including high blood pressure or vision problems talk to your doctor, your local health center, your local diabetes association or look up any information you can on google or any other search engine on the internet. The sooner you deal with diabetes, the beter chance you have of overcoming or at least controlling it and living a longer, healthier life.

Researchers have found substantial evidence that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or at least delayed by a combination of lifestyle changes and good dietary advice. In the studies, a team of Cochrane Researchers found that there is no indication whether dietary advice alone can prevent diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is very common and the number of people affected is increasing. The disease is linked to obesity, with 80% of individuals who develop the disease being obese. Therefore as we see obesity rise around the world, we are seeing a proportionate increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 180 million people worldwide have diabetes. It claims that this number is likely to more than double by 2030.*

When a team of Cochrane Researchers set out to see if dietary advice alone could help a person with type 2 diabetes, they were only able to identify two trials that together involved just 358 people.
“Considering the importance of this disorder, we were disappointed to find such a small amount of relevant data,” says lead researcher Lucie Nield, who works in Centre for Food, Physical Activity & Obesity, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough.

The two studies did, however, indicate that dietary advice alone could play an important role. One study randomly assigned people to either a control group or a dietary advice group. After six years 67.7% of people in the control group had diabetes, compared with only 43.8% in the advice group. This was a 33% reduction. In another study 12 months of dietary advice led to significant reductions in many diabetes related factors, such as insulin resistance, fasting C-peptide, fasting proinsulin, fasting blood glucose, fasting triglycerides, and fasting cholesterol and PAI-1.

“These two studies give grounds for believing that dietary advice alone could play an important role in reducing type 2 diabetes, but we do need more well-designed, long-term studies before we can work out the best advice to give,” says Nield.
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*http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs312/en/

It is no secret that Diabetes and High Blood Pressure weem to go hand in hand. Most people that have diabetes struggle with high blood pressure as well. This can be a vey harmul and dangerous pair because both diabetes and high blood pressure have negative effects on the cardiovasclar system. With either diabetes or high blood pressure a person is more susceptible to placque build up in the veins and arteries, blood clots which could start out anywhere in the body and travel to the lungs or heart and burst. There could be a blood clot or aneurysm in the brain which could put a person into a coma or could be fatal if the clot/aneurysm bursts in the brain.

Without being careful about your diabetes and blood pressure you could end up in a situation where you have other issues, as well. You could have a stroke, which delivers too much pressue on your heart and brain, causing serious damage to your brain and body.

1. There are several important signals of a stroke. They include paralysis of the arms or legs, tingling, numbness, confusion, dizziness, double vision, slurred speech, trouble finding words, or weakness, especially on one side of the face or body.

These are signs of stroke — or a “brain attack” — in which arteries that supply oxygen to the brain become blocked or rupture, causing brain tissue to die.

If you have these symptoms, call 911 right away and get to an emergency room that offers clot-busting therapy for strokes due to blocked vessels. Such treatment, which dissolves clots in blocked vessels, needs to be given within the first three hours after symptoms begin, but newer treatments may work within a longer time frame2. Chest pain or discomfort; pain in the arm, jaw, or neck; breaking out in a cold sweat; extreme weakness; nausea; vomiting; feeling faint; or being short of breath.

2. These are signs of heart attack. If you get some of these symptoms, call 911 immediately and go to the emergency room by ambulance. Shulman and Birge also recommend that patients chew one regular, full-strength aspirin (unless they’re allergic to aspirin) to help prevent damage to the heart muscle during a heart attack.

3. Tenderness and pain in the back of your lower leg, chest pain, shortness of breath, or coughing up blood.

These are symptoms of a potentially dangerous blood clot in your leg, especially if they come after you’ve been sitting for a long time, such as on an airplane or during a long car trip. These signs can also surface if you’ve been bedridden after surgery

4. Blood in the urine without accompanying pain.

Anytime you see blood in your urine, call your doctor promptly, even if you have no pain.

These are major symptoms that something has gone wrong and you need medical help right away. always keep a list of your medications and doctor’s name and number with you so that in a serious situation where it might be difficult to have a conversation, you can provide information – that may be lifesaving – to the doctors and other medical professionals who will be trying to help you.

It is essential that you eat a balanced diet, take your medication, get enough rest and take care of yourself so that your high blood pressure and diabetes stay under control, helping you avoid any of the serious complications we have just reviewed.

In recent studies at Northwestern University, researchers have found that insulin and insulin enhancing drugs can slow, decrease or eliminate the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease.

The hippocampus is the area of the brain that holds the brain/body’s memory cells. If a person has Alzheimer’s Disease, the neurons in this area of the brain are attacked by toxic protein cells called ADDL’s, which are responsible for memory loss.

In a normal situation there is plenty of insulin attached to brain cells, however when the cells are attacked by ADDL’s there is an extremely marked decline in insulin. Researchers also discovered that by treating the hippocampus neurons with new insulin and the insulin sensitizing medication rosiglitizone, which binds to the cells in the hippocampus keeping the insulin with them and keeping them from deteriorating, thus keeping them healthy and keeping the individual’s memory in tact.

It is an amazing discovery that the treatment for diabetes can also be used to treat Alzheimer’s Disease. In fact, researchers are now calling Alzheimer’s Disease a type of brain diabetes. This provides hope that there will be help in the fight against Alzheimer’s, which is such a devastating disease.

Since diabetes affects the entire cardiovascular system, using insulin on its own or with an insulin enhancing drug will help the effects of the brain which has many blood vessels. The fact that insulin is able to slow Alzheimer’s Disease is amazing in and of itself. The fact that insulin can prevent Alzheimer’s Disease altogether is an unexpected miracle.

There are a lot of precautions that individuals must take when it comes to their diet. If the diet is balanced along with exercise and a few other things that are good for you, you should be fine and feeling well.

But just when you thought you knew what could eat safely, here comes another addition to the list of things that aren’t good for you if you have diabetes. We already know about sugar, fried foods and other food that is certainly not good for you if you have diabetes.

So here’s the new addition that you never would have expected: eggs. That’s right, eggs. Ok, we know about the cholesterol thing with eggs, but now we are being told that if we sit down to a breakfast of bacon and eggs every day or even every other day, we have a higher than usual chance of developing type 2 diabetes.

To put it in percentages, researchers have found that if a person eats one egg per day they have a 58 to 77% more likely to develop diabetes than individuals who do not eat eggs, or at least not as many eggs.

The studies regarding eggs do not mean that eating eggs will cause diabetes directly. However, eating a lot of eggs can definitely raise your chances of getting diabetes, so it is definitely a good idea to limit the number of eggs you eat.

A study from Harvard Medical School in Boston stated that it is not necessary to eliminate eggs completely, but you should limit your eggs to 6 or less per week, the less, the better.

The study did not explain how and why eggs are linked to diabetes, but researchers are looking at cholesterol as a cause. Cholesterol is often linked to diabetes.

There is more research being done to determine more specific answers to the connection between eggs and diabetes. Until the answers are found, it’s probably a good idea to limit your egg intake.