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Diabetes in UK Growing Faster than in the US

February 26, 2009 By AnaLise Leave a Comment

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.

Filed Under: Diabetes News Tagged With: diabetes, diabetes awareness, diabetes control, diabetes treatment, obesity, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes

Can Diet Alone Control Type 2 Diabetes?

February 12, 2009 By AnaLise Leave a Comment

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/

Filed Under: Diabetes News Tagged With: cholesterol, diet, insulin resistance, obesity, triglycerides, Type 2 Diabetes

Understanding Childhood Diabetes

January 10, 2009 By AnaLise Leave a Comment

Childhood Diabetes is also called Type 1 Diabetes.  A child with Type 1 diabetes needs to take insulin shots to provide for the insulin not being produced by the child’s pancreas.

The food a child eats is broken down by the body into a sugar called glucose.  The sugar is carried through the blood and gives the body energy.  Insulin helps the sugar enter the cells in the body and controls the amount of sugar in the blood.

With diabetes there ends up being too much sugar in the blood because there is not enough insulin being produced to balance out the sugar.  This often causes many heath problems, which if not treated, can end up being fatal.

In childhood diabetes (Type 1 Diabetes), the pancreas cannot create enough insulin because many of the cells in the pancreas are being destroyed. This is sometimes due to the body’s immune system destroying the cells.  Sometimes Type 1 Diabetes occurs due to hereditary factors, as it can be genetic and run in families.

Some of the main symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes are excessive thirst, urinating a lot and losing weight.  Learning about the disease and learning about what type of diet can be helpful and healthy for diabetes is important for families to learn about and understand.  Treatment involves monitoring blood sugar through use of a glucose meter to check the levels and exploring the choices for a good diet and sticking to it.  Keytone tests are also important.  Basically, they test the urine and can tell you if enough insulin is being produced.  Your doctor or pharmacist can tell you how they work and can also prescribe insulin or other medication to control your child’s diabetes.

It is also essential to have continuous treatment and monitoring through your family’s or child’s doctor, not only for the child that is diagnosed with diabetes, but also to have the entire family tested, as well. 

Juvenile, Childhood or Type 1 Diabetes can be managed and controlled in a way that will allow your child to live a normal life, doing the same things that other children do.  One of the best sources of information is the American Diabetes Association.  You can call them at 1-800-342-2383 or visit the on the web at www.diabetes.org.

Filed Under: Diabetes News Tagged With: American Diabetes Association, Childhood Diabetes, diabetes control, juvenile diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes

Gestational Diabetes a Precursor to Diabetes

January 1, 2009 By AnaLise Leave a Comment

Gestational Diabetes has been an issue for pregnant women for many years.  It knows no boundaries and can develop in any woman whose body falls into the right condition during pregnancy to cause this disease. 

The issue that has not been reported on much is that gestational diabetes can lead to type 2 diabetes that can last a lifetime.  In fact, of women who develop gestational diabetes have a 71% higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes after pregnancy.  An interesting phenomenon is that once the women who have gestational diabetes have delivered their babies and the gestational diabetes has subsided, they do not necessarily develop type 2 diabetes right away.  It can take from a few months to a few years before type 2 diabetes develops after the pregnancy.   The medication metformin has been used for women who have had gestational diabetes with excellent results.

Sometimes gestational diabetes is caused by difficult pregnancies and/or multiple pregnancies in a short period of time or year after year not allowing the body and the immune system to totally stabilize or normalize in between pregnancies.  One example of a situation that can be quite dangerous and very conducive to gestational diabetes is that of Angelina Jolie.  She has had several pregnancies that were close together – nearly back to back – and there were problems with the most recent pregnancy which caused her to have to deliver by cesarean section.  Doctors have warned her that she should wait quite a while before she has another pregnancy or preferably, not get pregnant again. 

If you have had a pregnancy during which you developed gestational diabetes or if you ever have that situation, it is important that you follow up with your doctor every 6 to 12 months and keep track of your blood glucose level.  Make sure that you keep on the watch for diabetes symptoms such as frequent urination, excessive thirst, extreme tiredness, or rapid changes in weight. 

If you are pregnant, do everything you can to keep you and your child healthy by eating well, getting enough rest and getting at least a modest amount of exercise.  If you still develop gestational diabetes, be sure to monitor your health far into the future

Filed Under: Diabetes News Tagged With: blood glucose level, diabetes, Diabetes Care, gestational diabetes, managing diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes

The Facts about Type 1 Diabetes

December 1, 2008 By AnaLise Leave a Comment

 

Childhood Diabetes is also called Type 1 Diabetes.  A child or young person that has diabetes is in a situation where their body does not create enough insulin, and as a result, it needs to be treated by taking insulin shots to provide for the insulin not being produced in the body.

The production of insulin, which is an important hormone, happens in the pancreas.  The food a child eats is broken down by the body into a sugar called glucose.  The sugar is carried through the blood and gives the body energy.  Insulin helps the sugar enter the cells in the body and controls the amount of sugar in the blood.

In diabetes there is too much sugar in the blood because there is not enough insulin to balance out the sugar.  This can cause many heath problems, and if they are not treated, these problems can end up being fatal.

In childhood diabetes (Type 1 Diabetes), the pancreas cannot create enough insulin because many of the cells in the pancreas are being destroyed, sometimes due to the body’s immune system destroying the cells.  Sometimes Type 1 Diabetes occurs due to hereditary factors, as it can be genetic and run in families.

Some symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes are excessive thirst, urinating a lot and losing weight.  Some of the treatments include learning about the disease and learning about what type of diet can be helpful and healthy for diabetes.  It is important for the family to learn this information as well. 

Another part of treatment is controlling blood sugar through use of a glucose meter to check the levels, but just as importantly, exploring the choices for a good diet and sticking to it.  Keytone tests are also important.  Keytone tests test the urine to tell you if enough insulin is being produced.  Your doctor or pharmacist can tell you how they work.

Continuous treatment and monitoring through your family’s or child’s doctor is essential, not only for the child that is diagnosed with diabetes, but also to have the entire family tested, as well. 

Juvenile, Childhood or Type 1 Diabetes can be managed and controlled in a way that will allow your child to live a normal life, doing the same things that other children do.  There is a lot of information available.  One of the best sources of information is the American Diabetes Association.  You can call them at 1-800-342-2383 or visit the on the web at www.diabetes.org.

Filed Under: Diabetes News Tagged With: American Diabetes Association, diabetes treatment, glucose control, glucose meter, insulin, juvenile diabetes, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes