About Diabetes: Hope for diabetic patients

Topics:

• Diabetics 200% likely to develop cataracts
• Hope for diabetic patients
• Diabetes Drug Alert
• Bone and joint disorders in diabetes
• Diabetes at festive seasons
• Prevention of type 2 diabetes
• Diabetes and Hepatitis B
• Type-1 Diabetes: Quest for a cure
• Diabetes and womanhood
• Economic and social costs of diabetes
• The rise of the glucose meter
• Insulin use and type 2 diabetes
• My diabetes history
• TYPE-1 DIABETES: QUEST FOR A CURE
• Combination therapy in diabetes
• Four steps to manage your diabetes for life

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Diabetics 200% likely to develop cataracts
~TheGuardian Nigeria. Wednesday, February 7, 2018.

Diabetics

Women sufferers had the greatest risk of cataracts – the leading cause of blindness across the world that starts as a clouding of the lens in the eye. And the 15-year study concluded that middle-aged patients were nearly six times more likely to develop the vision-robbing condition.


It is unsure why diabetes leads to cataracts, however, charities consider it a known complication for adults with poorly managed blood sugar levels.


The latest study involved a team of international researchers from Anglia Ruskin University, University Hospitals Bristol, Switzerland and Boston University.


It aimed to assess incidence rates of cataracts in 56,000 patients, all aged over 40, with diabetes. Cataracts are a known complication of diabetes.


The participants were all followed for 15 years to determine the link between the two conditions, which has existed for years.


The research, published in the journal Eye, found that cataracts was diagnosed at an overall rate of 20.4 per 1,000 people with diabetes.


In comparison, just 10.8 per 1,000 of the general population were diagnosed with cataracts – which is also linked to smoking and boozing.



Diabetics aged between 45 and 54 were considerably more likely than non-sufferers to develop cataract, with their risk being 4.6 times higher.

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Hope for diabetic patients

~Xinhua/NAN

New study that was released by some researchers in the University of Otago and Aucklandon on Tuesday said that Women who took a naturally occurring probiotic were less likely to develop diabetes during pregnancy.

Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that are good for your health, especially your digestive system.

The joint study by the universities of Otago and Auckland involved the probiotic, Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001, which was used to make fermented milk products such as yoghurt.

The report said that it was given in capsule form to 194 women from early pregnancy, while 200 women received a placebo.

Gestational diabetes was assessed at 24 to 30 weeks gestation.

“Using the current New Zealand definition for gestational diabetes, 6.5 per cent of the women had diabetes in the placebo group, versus 2.1 per cent in the probiotic group.

Why sugar could be eight times more addictive than cocaine!

~Vanguard Nigeria. Sunday, September 18, 2016.

DOES the thought of living life sugar-free fill you with horror? If so, you may unknowingly be addicted. In fact, sugar is believed to be eight times more addictive than cocaine. Some people are more sensitive than others, but the more sugar you eat, the more likely it has taken hold of your addictive pathways and is driving you to eat – and drink – far too much.

When sugar hits the bloodstream, it stimulates release of a brain chemical called dopamine, which makes you feel good. The feeling is usually short-lived. By the time you're licking the chocolate off your fingertips or picking the last crumbs of biscuit from the plate, your dopamine levels will probably have fallen, taking you into a mini-withdrawal. This can trigger cravings for more sugar, urging you, against your better judgement, to pick up another biscuit or break off another square of chocolate so your brain can have another hit of dopamine. Before long, the biological signals that would normally control hunger and satiety (fullness) are swiftly being overwhelmed by this dopamine stimulation, to the point where your body (and brain) starts listening only to sugar's cues and ignores the fact that you have already eaten far more than you need.

If you have even the mildest addiction to sugar, there is every chance that your 'off' switch no longer works properly in response to eating, either. That's why one biscuit or scoop of ice-cream never seems like enough, even after a huge meal. The more sugar you eat, the more your tolerance adapts, so you end up needing more and more sugar to get the same boost – drug addicts and alcoholics experience the same cycle.

QUIZ: ARE YOU A SUGAR ADDICT?

ANSWER honestly yes or no to the following questions …

*CAN YOU eat sweet, starchy or fatty foods until you are over- full?

*DO YOU feel hungry even after eating a full meal

*CAN YOU eat large quantities of sweets or stodgy foods even when you're not feeling particularly hungry?

Misconception about fruits, sugar consumption

Written by Oladapo Ashiru - The Punch, Nigeria

Oladapo Ashiru

Ever since we started Mayr therapy in Lagos, we have seen many patients come for therapy. The majority often complained of serious arthritic pain in the joints, numbness of the hands and feet, diabetes, general body fatigue and more.

When their dietary consumption is analysed, the results point to a common factor: fructose intolerance as a result of eating too many fruits.

The patients believed they were observing healthy habits by eating plenty of oranges, water melon, apple or even fruit smoothies or cocktails.

They are usually shocked when the bioenergetics testing results indicate that such fruits are weakening and stressing many of their organs.

When we tell them that they are fructose intolerant, they are astonished to find the pain and all other problems disappear as they undergo detoxification and stay away from fruits.

We explain to them that all the sweet fruits that they are consuming have high fructose content with its attendant consequences. Indeed, the myth that fruits are good for you is not based on medical advice. It is the product of commercial marketing!

Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a simple ketonic monosaccharide found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose.

It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, including glucose and galactose, that are absorbed directly into the bloodstream during digestion.

Fructose is found in honey, tree and vine fruits, most sweet fruits, flowers, berries, and most root vegetables. High fructose corn syrup is a mixture of glucose and fructose. All forms of fructose, including fruits and juices, are commonly added to foods and drinks for taste enhancement, and for browning of some foods, such as baked goods.

Fructose exists in foods either as a monosaccharide (free fructose) or as a unit of a disaccharide (sucrose). Free fructose is absorbed directly into the intestine. Then it enters the hepatic (liver) portal vein.

Fats and oils

Good fats, bad fat

Fats are one of the three macronutrients that nourish the body. They are esters of three fatty acid chains bonded to an alcohol known as glycerol. Fats are also known as triglycerides and they consist of long chains of carbon atoms. In the carbon chains of the fatty acids, there are either single bonds (-C-C-C-) or a combination of single and double bonds (-C-C=C-C). Fats that have only single bonds and are said to be saturated and this kind is found mostly in animal fats. The ones that have one or more double bonds are unsaturated fats found commonly in plants and fish. When there is only one double bond, the fatty acid is known as monounsaturated fatty acid. Where there is more than one double bond, it is referred to as polyunsaturated fatty acid.

The double bond of the unsaturated fat can be broken into two and each half of the bond made to take up a hydrogen atom. When this happens, all the bonds become single and the fat is said to be saturated. This is achieved by heating liquid vegetable oil to very high temperatures and pumping hydrogen atoms into it. The heat breaks the double bonds and hydrogen atoms pumped in get attached to the single bonds created. This process is known as hydrogenation.

The saturated fat thus produced, known as trans fat and like all single bonded saturated fats, is solid at room temperature. Not only that, it has an extended shelf life, which is the intention of the manufacturer in the first place. However, saturated fats are dangerous to the consumer.

Types of fats

From the above description, four types of fats can be identified and they are; Monounsaturated fats, Polyunsaturated fats, Trans fat, Saturated fat. Unsaturated (good) fat.

Unsaturated fats are either monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. The monounsaturated have only one double bond in the fatty acid chain, while the polyunsaturated has more than one double bond.

'Cooking, eating at home lower risk of type 2 diabetes'

~TheGuardian, Nigeria. 

Sleep well to avoid insulin resistance, researchers advise

EATING homemade meals around twice a day may reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes, researchers find.

Study coauthor Dr. Geng Zong, a research fellow at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA, and colleagues suggest eating more meals prepared at home may reduce weight gain over time, which they say could explain their findings; excess weight is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

The negative health implications of regularly dining out in restaurants – particularly fast food restaurants – have been well documented.

Earlier this year, for example, Medical News Today reported on a study that found eating out leads to significantly higher calorie and salt intake, which may lead to weight gain and high blood pressure – risk factors for diabetes and heart disease.

But despite the associated health risks, it seems more of us are choosing to dine out rather than prepare home-cooked meals. Earlier this year, a report from the United States (US) Department of Commerce revealed that, for the first time in history, Americans are spending more money eating out than buying groceries.

"The trend for eating commercially prepared meals in restaurants or as take-out in the United States has increased significantly over the last 50 years," notes Zong. "At the same time, type 2 diabetes rates have also increased."

13 per cent lower type 2 diabetes risk with two homemade meals daily

For their study, Zong and colleagues set out to investigate whether increasing consumption of homemade meals may protect against type 2 diabetes.

The team assessed the homemade meal intake and the type 2 diabetes development of almost 58,000 women who were part of the Nurses' Health Study and more than 41,000 men who were part of the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.

All participants were free of diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease at baseline and were followed for up to 36 years between 1986-2012.

If you are diabetic, don’t neglect your mouth

Written by Solaade Ayo-Aderele - Nigeria

Except a miracle happens, diabetes is a life-long disease. The best way to avoid it is to prevent yourself from developing it.

But then, if you have the condition, there’s no sitting down and wishing it never happened or indulging in self-pity.

Physicians say once an individual is confirmed as being diabetic, the best thing s/he can do is to enroll for medical care under a competent doctor in order to prevent complications from setting in.

Diabetologist/Medical Director of Rainbow Specialist Hospital, Dr. Afokoghene Isiavwe, warns that diabetes is not a condition that any individual can manage at home. Rather, she says, it’s a life-long condition that needs expert, life-long care if the patient must live quality life.

Isiavwe says diabetes comes with sack loads of issues which, if well managed, may not result in life-threatening complications.

Of course, having diabetes is life-threatening enough, experts lament; but they are quick to say that if you take practical steps by accessing good care, you can reduce the complications for which diabetes is notorious.

What is diabetes?

Isiavwe says an individual is said to be diabetic when the amount of glucose in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly.

Blood flows through every part of the body, because it is the fuel that keeps us alive. The day blood-flow to an organ ceases, that organ dies, literally.

The body needs healthy, untainted blood, to function optimally. But because of too much sugar in the blood — which causes diabetes in the first place — the body is inhibited from functioning properly.

Modernity and diabetes

It was Jean-Claude Mbanya, lately President of the International Diabetes Federation that both poignantly and succinctly stated in year 2011 that '...development is driving a transformation in lifestyles: the motorization of the urban environment and the televisionization of free time are resulting in the sedentarization of adult and, more worryingly, child behaviour. This is one of the downsides of 'progress'. The other is the increased consumption of processed foods'.

According to Vasanti S et al, 'it has also been long suspected that sugar sweetened beverages contribute at least in part to the obesity epidemic, only in recent years have large epidemiologic studies been able to substantiate the relationship between sugar sweetened beverages consumption and long-term weight gain, Type 2 diabetes and increased risk of heart disease'.

From the foregoing, it becomes needful to critically examine the impact of prolonged television viewing and frequent consumption of sugar sweetened drinks.

Apart from its deleterious effect on academic performance in children, television viewing also has an impact on the health status of individuals. After all said and done, health is a personal matter and thus remains the preserve of the individual to take care of his or her lifestyle as it does have significant consequences on health. The current worldwide scourge of Diabetes has a lot to do with lifestyle that is increasingly becoming sedentary.