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Millions of Americans each year are diagnosed with Diabetes, and almost everyone knows someone who is suffering from the life altering disease. More than 20 million Americans are living with Diabetes today. Diabetes is a metabolism disorder, and for people who have Diabetes the body has a problem breaking down and digesting food. This is because food that we eat is broken down into a sugar called Glucose, which is the main way a body fuels itself. The way that Glucose works is that it goes into the bloodstream through Insulin, which is a hormone that comes from the Pancreas. The Pancreas matches up the appropriate amount of Glucose to move the mood into our blood stream, but for people with Diabetes the Pancreas does not produce Insulin at all or produces very little. This causes the body to lose its main way of getting energy and fuel which is called Diabetes.

For the millions of people who are suffering from this Disease the costs can become very expensive for the monthly purchases of Insulin and other drugs needed to keep Diabetes under control, and for many people these costs are unaffordable. Diabetes is most common in adults over the age of 60, this is when most people are starting to retire. This is a problem because for people who are nearing retirement it may be very hard to find affordable health insurance. Affordable health insurance is so difficult to find for people who are around this age because many elderly people plan to wait until age 64 to be covered by Medicare. The problem with that is illnesses don’t wait for people to turn 64 to set in, for many people Diabetes can start much earlier and can cause huge financial problems if you do not have affordable health insurance.

Although Diabetes can be effectively managed medical supplies are necessary to follow and check glucose levels. The only problem with this is that it may cost hundreds of dollars in just a single month to check Glucose levels for one person. In recent studies it was found that people without affordable health insurance were more likely to mismanage their diabetes, which had debilitating consequences on thousands of lives. It was also found that adults without affordable health insurance were considered high-risk for developing complications due to the lack of treatment of diabetes. This is very dangerous seeing that the side effects and complications of Diabetes can be very severe and sometimes life threatening. With all these problems with health insurance in the United States it is really necessary to take a hard look at our health care system, and realize that in many areas the health care coverage system isn’t adequately covering Diabetes patients.

Ronnie Hamilton
http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/affordable-health-insurance-helps-diabetes-patients-689171.html

Diabetes is the inability to transfer sugars in blood into the sugar-storage sites of your body, the muscles and liver. Sugars, called carbohydrates, are found mainly in cereals, rice, bread, pastas, potatoes, milk products, fruits, fruit juices and sweets. When we consume these foods, they pass from the stomach into the intestines and get broken down to the most basic sugar form, glucose. Glucose (sugar) normally moves into the blood via a web of blood vessels that are connected to the intestines. When the movement of glucose into the blood stream raises its average level above 100 points (mg/dl), it triggers the secretion of a hormone called insulin from the pancreas. When insulin is secreted into the blood, it causes the excess glucose (sugar) to be stored in muscles and liver cells. It is stored in a form called glycogen, which may be used at a later time as an immediate source of energy.

This energy is used for activities of up to three minutes: lifting or throwing an object, running away from danger, sprinting, stop-and-go actions such as a short walk, or any sports activity. Some people have impairment in their insulin production or in the functioning of their insulin. This insulin impairment causes the level of glucose to rapidly rise above the 100-point mark, and that is the condition we call diabetes. High sugar levels, left untreated, can gradually cause damage to vital tissues, such as blood vessels, the nervous system, kidneys, heart and arteries. This can cause debilitating strokes, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, loss of sensation or pain in the feet and hands, leading to leg amputations, kidney failure and blindness.

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 Diabetes is when someone can produce little or no insulin, due mainly to immune and genetic (inherited) defects in the pancreas. People with Type 1 Diabetes create approximately only 10% of all of people diagnosed with diabetes. Type 1 can occur at a relatively young age, especially during childhood. At the time of diagnosis, people are usually of average weight, experiencing weight loss; frequent urination, blurred vision and dry mouth and their blood fasting sugar are way above 125 points (mg/dl). Type 1 diabetics have to depend on insulin use for the rest of their lives, in order to survive and making good lifestyle choices is integral to diabetes control. Oral Diabetes medications that are Sensitizers (see detailed discussion of this group of drugs in Action Step 2 right after the Insulin section) can be prescribed along with Insulin for people with Type 1 which can help reduce the amount of daily insulin used. Also leading and maintaining an active Lifestyle and making favorable food choices and raising your fiber intake can all help bring Diabetes under control and reduce the amount of total daily insulin dose (decisions about insulin dosing can ONLY be made by your doctor). Refer to Action Step 4 for a detailed discussion on how to start and maintain an active Lifestyle and make favorable food choices.

Impaired Glucose Tolerance or Pre-diabetes

This is a condition where glucose levels are higher than normal but not enough to be diagnosed as diabetes namely at a range from 100 to 125 mg/dl on a fasting state (first thing in the morning before eating). Typically, the more than 54 million people in this category are overweight or obese. They are people who consume large amounts of “junk food” (nutrient-deficient foods and drinks such as soft drinks and all other sugar containing juices and drinks. Foods that are loaded with sugars and unfavorable sources of fat such as animal fat, butter, margarine and Trans Fatty Acids that are found in the majority of packaged processed sweet and or salty snacks) and lead totally sedentary lifestyles; they also have high cholesterol and triglycerides and have low HDL (the good cholesterol). Studies show that these people will eventually develop diabetes and other preventable chronic ailments, such as: high cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart disease, “unless” they are identified early and they start making favorable lifestyle choices.

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes affects some women during pregnancy and is characterized by consistently higher than 95 points (mg/dl) on a fasting state first thing in the morning, and over 120 points 2 hours after a meal. Most women who suffer from Gestational Diabetes will return to having normal blood glucose levels after delivery. Up to 45% of women who develop diabetes during pregnancy may progress to having full-blown diabetes later in life unless they make favorable lifestyle choices and change their eating and activity habits. The main predisposing factors for gestational diabetes are family history of diabetes, obesity and sedentary lifestyles . It is crucial that women at risk be identified, since high blood sugar causes fetal harm.

Who Should Test?

All women, early on in their pregnancy, who have the following criteria must be tested for high blood sugar; women who are: overweight, over the age of 25, who have family history of diabetes, those who belong to ethnic groups other than Caucasian, those who have previously had gestational diabetes, or who have previously delivered large babies over 9 pounds.

Treatment

Gestational diabetes is initially treated with Lifestyle interventions such as making balanced food choices and increasing activity as described in Action Step 4. If fasting (first thing in the morning before eating) blood sugar is not brought to 95 points (mg/dl) or to 120 points 2 hours after lunch or dinner then Insulin is the ideal drug that is used. Your doctor will decide which insulin product and dose is appropriate for you. (See the discussion about insulin in Action Step 2).

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, usually affects people later on in life, after the age of 25 or 30. However, Type 2 Diabetes has alarmingly been plaguing children at a much younger age than ever witnessed. Kids as young as 15 and 17 who are obese and leading sedentary lifestyles and commonly seen in grocery stores shopping while riding electric shopping scooters, are now diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. About 90% of people with diabetes have Type 2. People with Type 2 Diabetes produce insulin from their pancreas, but due to lifestyle factors such as obesity and inactivity the insulin is not able to perform and move the extra sugar from the blood into the muscle and liver cells, resulting in the buildup of sugar levels in the blood. This defect is referred to technically as insulin resistance. The diagnosis for Type 2 Diabetes is when people have a fasting (before eating in the morning) blood sugar level of 126 points (mg/dl) and over on 2 separate readings.

Type 2 Diabetes can be of hereditary origin. Non-Caucasians are more predisposed to getting it. But the vast majority of people get it due to inadequate lifestyles such obesity, overeating and sedentary lifestyles. A staggering 75% of people with diabetes are obese and inactive . This lends to the worsening of their conditions. I witness this trend every single day in my pharmacy practice. People drop off several prescriptions for diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure, and they sit the entire time in the pharmacy waiting area. When I counsel them about their medications and suggest they might increase the amount of daily walking, their invariable answer is, “I don't have time.” Sometimes, they drop off their prescriptions and go food shopping; they bring back a cart full of bacon, cookies and other packaged snacks such as popcorn, jugs of soft drinks, pretzels, butter, white bread, and let's not forget the cigarettes!

People with Type 2 Diabetes may be treated with: medications, either taken by mouth and/or through insulin injections, and by making favorable lifestyle choices . Medications alone without an active lifestyle will never be an efficient way to control diabetes and/or other chronic lifestyle-related diseases. Your doctor has many medication options from which to choose. What is important is to get diabetes under control in order to avoid deadly complications ! Your health is your responsibility, and staying in close contact with your doctor and pharmacist is the only way to avoid diabetes complications and hugely important in keeping your diabetes under control.

The message that I bring you is that, “You are not doomed.” Certainly, you can control diabetes, but you have to be aware of some simple facts and act on them . Inaction will cause these deadly ailments to creep up on you and systematically destroy your internal organs and claim your life prematurely. You can become involved, seriously and consistently, in your health; take the lead and the primary responsibility for managing your health and disease! It is simpler than you think.

If you take charge of this responsibility, you reap the benefits of living your lifespan to the fullest, enjoying the best quality of life. It is very simple. You just have to take charge by starting to apply the reliable, simple, and practical recommendations in LIFESTYLE MAKEOVER FOR DIABETICS AND PRE-DIABETICS

For more detailed information on any of these topics log on to: www.LifestyleMakeoverEbook.com and check out these information packed lifesaving book and e-book volumes: LIFESTYLE MAKEOVER FOR DIABETICS AND PRE-DIABETICS and 4 other e-books: Lifestyle Makeover: Sex, Stress, and Alcohol , Lifestyle Makeover for All Couch Potatoes , Lifestyle Makeover: Defeat High Cholesterol and Blood Pressure , and Lifestyle Makeover for all Tobacco Users . The author of this article is also the author of these volumes

Test your knowledge on these various issues and take a simple True and False quiz by logging on to: www.LifestyleMakeoverEbook.com

Copyright © 2008 by George Tohme All rights reserved.

George Tohme
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/what-is-diabetes-and-the-differences-between-type-1-and-type2-diabetes-684243.html

Insulin is the best drug for the treatment of type 1 diabetes (Insulin dependent diabetes), also known as juvenile onset diabetes. Administration of insulin caused disappearance of sugar from the urine and lowers down the above level of sugar to the normal level of blood, within 24-48 hours. There are several myths about diabetes treatment. Some of them are as below -

Myth – Uncooked food or food taken in raw form helps in checking diabetes

Fact – The calorie value of foods whether raw or cooked remain unchanged and so is their fattening attribute. The effect of food on human body in terms of calorie accumulation remains the same and this provides no guard against diabetes. It is more important to eat wisely and have a balanced diet whatever the form.

Myth – A diabetic person can balance off over eating with use of insulin

Fact – No, a diabetic person should follow the diet plan given by his doctor. Violation from it can lead to complications. Many diabetics live longer than normal people because they have a tendency to regulate their lives more strictly than the non-diabetic. They avoid or restrict foods containing a large quantity of ‘free sugar’ such as ice cream, pastries, cake, sweets, table sugar, etc.

Myth - Non- consumption of sugar, sweets or excessive amount of carbohydrates checks the onset of diabetes

Fact – There is no medical evidence to support this point. The exact cause of diabetes is not known. Studies have shown that the disease occurs more frequently in people who have a family history and who are overweight. Other causes are abnormal function of the pancreas, liver, adrenal glands, pituitary gland and other related structures.

 Excessive intake of sugar or sweets may aggravate and bring to light an underlying tendency towards diabetes.

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to provide health advice and is for general information only. Always seek the insights of a qualified health professional before embarking on any health program.

Copyright © Nick Mutt, All Rights Reserved. If you want to use this article on your website or in your ezine, make all the urls (links) active.

Are you looking for some Home remedies for obesity? Know effective Home remedies for migraine. Read useful Home remedies for stretch marks for clear skin.

Nick Mutt
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/diabetes-myths-and-facts-670025.html

A diabetic person cannot make normal use of sugar, and so sugar builds up in the blood. The kidneys discharge some of the excess sugar in the urine. In severe cases of diabetes, fats and proteins cannot also be used normally.

The type 1 diabetes strikes some people so suddenly that the lack of insulin causes an emergency condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. There is excess urination, thirst, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and difficulty in breathing. If the patient is not treated promptly, he may go into diabetic coma with fatal results.

In type 2 diabetes, the patient has normal or even above normal production of insulin. But their bodies do not respond efficiently to the insulin. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes are excessive urination, great thirst, hunger and loss of weight and strength.

Complications of Diabetes

It is very important to take care of diabetes as improper care can give rise to several complications. If the blood sugar level is kept under control, one can prevent many health problems. Many people come to know of their diabetes only when they develop one of its complications.

1. The structural and functional abnormalities of diabetic complications are the glycation of structural proteins and the production of advanced glycation end products with their deposition in various tissues.
2. Most patients with type 2 diabetes also tends to be obese and hypertensive.
3. Angina is a long term complication of diabetes.
4. Difficulty in walking with chronic ulceration of feet due to diabetic neuropathy and also diabetic microangiopathy and diabetic nephropathy due to small blood vessel disease.
5. Diabetic patients are at higher risk of developing atheroscelerosis.
6. Wound healing is delayed in diabetics because of neuropathy, and hyperglycaemia.
7. Intermittent claudication and gangrene due to atherosclerosis
8. Blindness due to diabetic retinopathy
9. Diabetes affects the blood vessels, the blood and the heart.
10. Cardiac failure is also another long term complication of diabetes.

I hope this article has covered some of the long term complications of diabetes. Knowing these complications will help you to prevent them.

Control your blood glucose level for more controlled life!

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to provide health advice and is for general information only. Always seek the insights of a qualified health professional before embarking on any health program.

Copyright © Nick Mutt, All Rights Reserved. If you want to use this article on your website or in your ezine, make all the urls (links) active.

Are you looking for some Home remedies for cellulite? Know effective Home remedies for weight loss. Read useful Home remedies for erectile dysfunction for more intimate relationship.

Nick Mutt
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/long-term-complications-of-diabetes-670039.html

What are the early signs and symptoms of juvenile diabetes? Juvenile diabetes is having a sudden onset. The cause of juvenile diabetes is destruction of insulin producing beta cells of the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas which changes the glucose in the energy needed by the body. The most common in children is type 1 diabetes mellitus. The early signs and symptoms of the disease include:

How does juvenile diabetes manifest?

Diabetes in youngsters usually appears in the form of Type 1 Diabetes. More than 90 percent of children under the age of 16 suffer from this type of diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, where the body's cells themselves start attacking the other helpful cells, treating them like enemies. This results in the destruction of tissues and vital organs, over a period of time.

Symptoms of Juvenile Diabetes

Frequent bathroom trips – High blood sugar increases the amount of blood that is filtered through the kidneys, leading to an increase in urinary output.

Being thirsty all the time – Dehydration caused by the high urine output leads to an increased thirst.

Increased hunger and eating – The lack of insulin keeps the sugar in the blood, starving the cells for the energy they need to function. Because of this perceived energy deficit the body responds with hunger pains.

It’s not always apparent that a child has type 1 or juvenile diabetes. Some of the symptoms seem like average childhood problems that occur. Nausea and/or vomiting can be misconstrued as the flu. Irritability, being tired and listless may be attributed to behaviors all children exhibit at one time or another. The discovery of juvenile diabetes may happen during a visit to a physician for another ailment such as a vaginal yeast infection for girls or even a routine examination.

Vision changes - they should not be attributed to too much time in front of the television or computer screen.

Sweet smelling breath may be noticed by parents and may equally well be attributed to something the child has eaten.

Increased appetites may be remarked upon, but of course children are growing and can have large appetites - why would a parent necessarily consider this to be a bad thing?

Heavy, laboured breathing is another symptom which can be masked by any number of respiratory problems which seem to be more prevalent in children nowadays.

These symptoms can occur alone but because diabetes is a disease that affects entire bodily functions there is a good chance that these symptoms will start slowly but will occur as a group. If one is noticeable it is a good idea to ask your child if they are experiencing any of the other known signs.

The sooner the symptoms of juvenile diabetes are recognized the sooner the child can be taken to the doctor for the proper tests to diagnose this disease. Diabetes in children, while incurable, can be managed successfully with a combination of insulin therapy and diet. Left untreated diabetes can cause a whole host of complications that can seriously affect any diabetics ability to live a normal life.

Tom Smith
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/symptoms-of-juvenile-diabetes-680867.html