Many people dealing with diabetes admit that the disease snuck up on them. They didn’t see it coming.
These men and women didn’t suddenly lose weight or become excessively hungry and thirsty (as those with type 1 diabetes often experience), nor did they feel sick in any way. In fact, there are few truly recognizable type 2 diabetes symptoms. The disease is usually discovered during a routine blood test when a high fasting blood glucose reading, usually in the 150 to 300 mg/dL range, is noted.
There are, however, a few common type 2 diabetes signs and symptoms:
The vast majority of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight, with the distribution of weight most commonly in the abdominal area.
Most people with type 2 diabetes are inactive.
Worldwide, the greatest increase in the number of people managing diabetes appears in those over the age of 65. Beginning in our forties, our lifestyle indiscretions are no longer protected by the resilience of youth. Things like an unhealthy diet, extra pounds, and lack of exercise suddenly turn into diabetes risk factors and begin take their toll.
For more information about type 2 diabetes symptoms and natural remedies for diabetes, visit www.drwhitaker.com.
Infrared light therapy (brand names Anodyne and HealthLight) delivers pulses of special wavelengths of light through the skin directly to injured tissues. Though the light itself is invisible, its effects are readily apparent: enhanced blood flow, improved sensation, regeneration of tissues, and pain relief.
As I've indicated before, treatment with infrared light therapy is simple and painless. Flexible pads containing small lights are affixed to the affected areas. The energy that pulses from the lights penetrates beneath the skin and is absorbed by deep tissues. After just 30 minutes of treatment, blood flow is enhanced by 400 percent, and this boost in local circulation persists for several hours after the pads are removed. The key to this dramatic improvement in blood flow is a short-lived molecule called nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide is an unstable gas that is crucial to the health of every part of the body that depends on an adequate blood supply for normal functioning. Unfortunately, people dealing with diabetes produce less nitric oxide than healthy individuals. It’s not surprising then that people living with diabetes often suffer from problems related to poor circulation, including heart disease, poor blood pressure health, kidney dysfunction, retinal damage, peripheral neuropathy, and impaired wound healing. This is where infrared light therapy comes in.
As blood cells pass beneath the light unit, they absorb photons of energy, causing them to release nitric oxide. This localized release enhances blood flow in the immediate vicinity, bringing oxygen and nutrients to injured tissues and stimulating healing.
Infrared light therapy has been the subject of at least eight clinical trials in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy and “loss of protective sensation,” an objective measure of nerve impairment and a significant risk factor for amputation. These studies found that treatment with infrared light restored sensation in 93 percent of affected limbs, greatly reducing risk of amputation.
Though you may not hear about it from your conventional doctor, infrared light therapy is gaining popularity as its benefits are becoming better known.
As you strive to control blood sugar levels, it’s important to remember the role antioxidants play in managing diabetes. In order to get a handle on this condition, you’ll need to shore up on these important nutrients.
For starters, there’s Vitamin C. Vitamin C is the most active antioxidant in our water-based tissues. It lowers levels of sorbitol, the sugar that collects in and damages cells of the eyes (retinopathy), kidneys (nephropathy), and nerves (neuropathy).
You’ll also want to take an adequate amount of Vitamin E, your body’s premier fat-soluble antioxidant. Vitamin E improves glucose control and protects blood vessels and nerves from free radical damage, which is accelerated in people living with diabetes. Studies have shown that high doses of supplemental vitamin E may even reverse damage to nerves caused by diabetes and protect against diabetic cataracts and atherosclerosis.
Supplementation with both of these antioxidants is associated with a reduced risk of diabetic retinopathy. If you are living with diabetes, aim for 1,000-2,500 mg of vitamin C and 300-800 IU of vitamin E daily.
For more information on treating diabetes and diabetes risk factors, visit www.drwhitaker.com.
Type 2 diabetes information and research can be found all over the place, but much less is written about type 1. That’s likely because the vast majority of people living with diabetes have type 2. Nevertheless, type 1 diabetes warrants discussion.
Type 1 diabetes, sometimes referred to as juvenile diabetes because it usually appears before the age of 20 (though it can crop up at any age), results from the inability of the pancreas to produce adequate insulin. Insulin is the nutritional storage hormone. Produced in specialized beta cells located in areas of the pancreas called the Islets of Langerhans, insulin is the key that opens up cells to glucose and other nutrients. If there is not enough insulin in the bloodstream to “unlock” these cells so that nutrients can get in, cells literally starve to death.
Not surprisingly, classic symptoms of type 1 diabetes include extreme hunger as the body tries to compensate for this inability to feed its cells, and rapid weight loss as the cells are unable to utilize food, regardless of how much is eaten. In addition, untreated individuals with type 1 diabetes are extremely thirsty, drink copious amounts of fluids, and urinate excessively. This is because the kidneys, in an attempt to keep things in balance, excrete as much excess glucose via the urine as they possibly can.
People with type 1 diabetes are often diagnosed in the emergency room—dehydrated, wasting away, and sometimes in a life-threatening diabetic coma. Their blood glucose is sky high, usually between 350 and 750 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL; normal is 80 to 110 mg/dL).
This type of diabetes is defined as an autoimmune attack on the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Researchers aren’t sure exactly what causes the immune system to attack, but viral infections are one possible cause.
But to reiterate, only 10 percent of all people dealing with diabetes have this form of the disease. For the other 90 percent, lifestyle factors—the foods you choose to eat, the supplements you take, your activity level, and your weight—determine whether or not you will develop diabetes and what course it will take if you already have it.
For more information on treating diabetes, diabetes risk factors, or diabetes success stories, visit www.drwhitaker.com.
Believe it or not, one-third of Americans are obese, and obesity, particularly in the abdominal area, is a well-established diabetes risk factor.
When you exercise, your muscles’ energy requirements increase dramatically—they need ready access to glucose, which fuels the hungry muscle cells. Exercise appears to some degree to actually bypass the normal requirements for insulin. It increases the transport of glucose into the cells, not only while you are exercising but for hours afterwards. Thus, it lowers blood glucose levels and also improves overall insulin sensitivity. So, if you’re living with diabetes, exercise can be your key to controlling blood sugar.
Researchers at Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley who followed almost 6,000 men for 14 years determined that increased physical activity was especially protective for men with the highest risk of developing diabetes—those who were overweight or had a family history of diabetes.
Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical exercise four or more days per week. You don’t have to run marathons—just get active. Brisk walking is one of the easiest activities for beginners, but the most important thing is to choose something you enjoy and stick with it.
One of the primary reasons we’re seeing a worldwide glut of insulin-resistant diabetes is because more and more emerging nations are adopting the Western diet that we’ve “enjoyed” for years. Indigenous diets of fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, and whole grains are being replaced with processed, refined foods that have been stripped of their natural fiber and nutrients. Meat has become more prominent in the daily diet. And fast-food restaurants are springing up all over the globe. This is horrible news for anyone trying to manage diabetes.
In the US, we’ve been eating a schizophrenic diet for years. In a futile effort to lose weight, we fill up on fat-free cookies and ice cream, which are nothing more than unhealthy refined carbohydrates. We’ve also become sugar junkies. According to US Department of Agriculture statistics, Americans consume an average of 149 pounds of sweeteners a year—not counting the artificial sweeteners that we consume in more than 7,000 products.
Excess fat is also a culprit, particularly saturated fats from meat and altered trans fatty acids in processed foods. As early as the 1920s, it was demonstrated that a high-saturated-fat diet contributes to type 2 diabetes, as it not only causes weight gain—one of several diabetes risk factors in itself—but also decreases insulin sensitivity and makes it difficult to control blood sugar.
Beating diabetes has a lot more to do with lifestyle choices than with which pill to take next. Stay tuned to this blog for additional diet recommendations and other natural remedies for diabetes.
Diabetes is a silent stalker, and if you’re over 45, overweight, inactive, or suffering with other diabetes risk factors, you’re a prime target.
In the United States alone, nearly 24 million people suffer from diabetes, and another 5.7 million are walking around undiagnosed. Worldwide, the number of people with diabetes is expected to skyrocket to 366 million by the year 2030.
Diabetes is a fearsome disorder, yet one we take much too lightly. Few people flirting with borderline elevated blood sugar levels realize the urgency of managing diabetes in its early stages. Most are unaware that diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, and amputations in this country, or that people with diabetes are more likely to have—and die of—a heart attack or stroke than those with normal blood sugar metabolism. Nor do they recognize that diabetes is a primary contributor to erectile dysfunction (impotence) and dementia.
Furthermore, most people either don’t know or tend to ignore the subtle warning signs of this devastating disease. It’s time we all pull our heads out of the sand and look diabetes in the eye. Diabetes is in large part a disease of lifestyle. In 90 percent of all cases, it is both preventable and treatable—yet statistics clearly show that it is being neither prevented nor treated appropriately.
Taiwanese researchers looked at more than 87,000 patients with type 2 diabetes who were treated with either oral drugs or insulin, and what they discovered may shock you.
They found that patients using insulin had a higher prevalence of hypertension (61.3 versus 53.9 percent), and the longer they used it, the greater their risk.
This is not surprising when you consider insulin’s activities beyond nutrient storage. Injected insulin increases sodium retention and stimulates the sympathetic nervous system. It induces oxidative stress, leading to free-radical damage that impairs the function of the endothelial cells lining the arteries. It also has growth factor–like activity that thickens blood vessels and increases risk of atherosclerosis.
Since people living with diabetes are already at dramatically increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, the last thing they need is a treatment that amplifies this risk.
Instead, opt for alternative treatments for diabetes, including nutritional supplements and diet modifications. These more natural options have been very successful in lowering blood sugar and preventing complications.
Fact #1: In the Diabetes Prevention Program, a large prevention study of people with diabetes risk factors, changes in lifestyle reduced the likelihood of participants developing diabetes by 58 percent over three years. And for participants who were aged 60 years or older, the reduction was even greater—71 percent. Fact #2: A review of 37 studies involving 40,129 patients revealed that a low-glycemic diet reduces diabetes risk factors and makes it less likely to get the disease.
Fact #3: Chinese and U.S. researchers teamed up to evaluate the dietary habits of more than 64,000 healthy, middle-aged Chinese women. After four and a half years, they discovered that the women who ate the most legumes had a 38 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. And those who regularly ate soybeans slashed their risk almost in half!
Fact #4: In a British study involving 1,122 men and women, fiber-rich vegetables were shown to be protective against diabetes risk factors and against developing the disease. Those who regularly ate salad and raw vegetables had an 80 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes than people who ate vegetables less often.
Fact #5: Austrian researchers found that walking downhill lowers and helps control blood sugar levels more effectively than walking uphill, while walking uphill is better at lowering cholesterol and triglycerides.
Contrary to popular belief, the leading liver problem in the United States is not alcoholic cirrhosis or hepatitis, but nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Afflicting roughly one in four Americans, it is not caused by alcohol or a virus but by obesity and insulin resistance. Hence, many people living with diabetes are affected by it.
In fact, at least half of all people with type 2 diabetes have it, as do up to three-quarters of obese people and 90 percent of the morbidly obese. Although nonalcoholic fatty liver disease usually develops in people over age 50, it is becoming increasingly common in children as obesity rates skyrocket in our younger age groups.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a progressive disease with three distinct stages. Simple fatty liver, or steatosis, is characterized by elevations in liver enzymes and fatty deposits in the liver (at least 10 percent of the liver cells are replaced by fat). If the disease is arrested in this stage, it remains relatively benign. Unfortunately, for one in five patients, it progresses to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, involving inflammation of the liver. From there, half develop cirrhosis, marked by advanced and irreversible scarring, fibrosis, and loss of liver function.
The most significant risk factors for progression include type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome (formerly called syndrome X). The unifying link in both of these disorders is insulin resistance.
When the cells resist insulin’s signals to let glucose in, the pancreas secretes higher and higher levels of insulin to get the job done. Elevated concentrations of insulin in the blood create metabolic imbalances that drive up blood levels of free fatty acids. This influx of fatty acids overwhelms the liver’s ability to handle them, and they are converted into triglycerides and stored in the organ, setting up a vicious cycle of lipid peroxidation (free-radical damage), inflammation, and liver cell injury.
But don’t despair! This blog includes many natural diabetes treatments that can help you avoid this, as well as other diabetes complications.
Risk Number #1—Prescription Drugs: Taking certain prescription drugs can increase your risk of developing diabetes.
Common culprits include corticosteroids (typically prescribed to treat asthma and arthritis) and antipsychotic drugs (such as Seroquel and Risperdal, used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder). Drugs prescribed for patients with hypertension, such as thiazide diuretics (also used to treat heart failure), and beta blockers raise risk of diabetes as well.
Researchers recently discovered that taking antidepressants for two or more years have an 84 percent greater likelihood of developing diabetes. The most problematic drugs were the selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) paroxetine (Paxil and Seroxat) and the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline (Endep and Elavil). Patients taking more than 20 mg of paroxetine daily experienced a fourfold increased risk of diabetes
If you are taking these medications, talk to your doctor about safe, natural alternatives to these side effect-riddled drugs. Just as there are medications for diabetes, there are nutritional supplements you may be able to take to more naturally treat type 2 diabetes.
Risk #2—Smoking: Everyone knows smoking increases your risk of cancer, but many probably don’t know that it also increases risk of type 2 diabetes. People who smoke are at increased risk of compromising their blood pressure health, which can make them more susceptible to diabetes.
Pre-diabetes occurs when a person’s blood sugar is elevated above normal but not quite to diabetic levels.
People with pre-diabetes have either impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), or both. To determine if IFG is present, you must fast overnight and then have your blood sugar levels tested in a physician’s office.
If your fasting blood sugar level is 100–125 mg/dL you have IFG. To determine IGT, you will need to ask your doctor to administer a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test. If your blood sugar level is 140–199 mg/dL then you have IGT.
A diagnosis of pre-diabetes doesn’t necessarily mean you will develop diabetes. Because diabetes and weight are closely related, studies have shown that people with pre-diabetes who lose weight and increase their level of physical activity can prevent or delay the disease. It is also a good idea to reduce starches, sugars, and excess fats from your diet so that you’re sure to be eating for the good of your health, and not against it.
While it makes sense to find out if you have pre-diabetes so you can take steps to prevent it from turning into full-blown type 2 diabetes, I only recommend taking these tests if you know you have diabetes risk factors and could develop the disease. Rather than testing, I feel that the best approach, especially if you’re overweight, is to assume you’re on the road to developing diabetes and do everything in your power to prevent it.
In my earlier post, I explained that supplemental insulin can cause people who are trying to manage diabetes to gain weight. Sadly enough, weight gain isn’t the only downside of insulin use.
Another strike against insulin is its tendency to increase your risk of hypertension.
Taiwanese researchers looked at more than 87,000 patients with type 2 diabetes who were treated with either oral drugs or insulin. They found that patients managing diabetes using insulin had a higher prevalence of hypertension (61.3 versus 53.9 percent), and the longer they used it, the greater their risk.
This is not surprising when you consider insulin’s activities beyond nutrient storage.
Injected insulin increases sodium retention and stimulates the sympathetic nervous system. It induces oxidative stress, leading to free-radical damage that impairs the function of the endothelial cells lining the arteries. It also has growth factor–like activity that thickens blood vessels and increases risk of atherosclerosis, which also adversely affects blood pressure health.
Since people living with diabetes are already at dramatically increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, the last thing they need is a treatment that amplifies this risk.
I opt for more natural remedies for diabetes, many of which I’ll be discussing here in my blog. Please stay tuned.
People living with diabetes are at higher risk of developing periodontal disease than people without blood sugar problems.
Periodontal disease, or gum disease, occurs when the gums become infected and inflamed. Signs that you may have periodontal disease include:
red, sore, swollen gums
bleeding gums
loose or sensitive teeth
bad breath
trouble chewing
According to the CDC, young adults dealing with diabetes have about twice the risk of periodontal disease than those without diabetes. Also, people with poorly controlled blood sugar levels are nearly three times more likely to have severe forms of gum disease, and they typically lose more teeth than those without diabetes.
As is the case with most diabetes risk factors, a primary culprit behind the increased risk of periodontal disease is damage to blood vessels due to the inability to maintain blood sugar levels within the healthy range. Without nourishment and removal of wastes from their tissues, the gums become less resistant to infection, setting the stage for periodontal disease.
Another reason people with diabetes are much more prone to periodontal disease is because they are prone to nutritional deficiencies. Diabetes is nutritional wasting disease, and affected individuals often have low blood levels of vitamin C, zinc, and other water-soluble vitamins and minerals. Zinc is necessary for tissue healing, and vitamin C is required for collagen formation. In fact, scurvy, the quintessential vitamin C deficiency disease, is characterized by bleeding gums and loose teeth.
And if you smoke, you are at even higher risk. Statistics show that diabetics who smoke and are 45 years or older are 20 times more likely to develop severe gum disease than people who don’t smoke.
The best way to lower your risk of developing periodontal disease is to brush and floss every day, take a good daily vitamin and mineral supplement, and visit your dentist on a regular basis.
Are you looking for natural remedies for diabetes? If so, one thing you can do is maintain a healthy weight.
One of the most significant risk factors for type 2 diabetes is obesity. Statistics show that 90 percent of all people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. In fact, the link between diabetes and obesity is so strong that it’s led to the coining of a new term, diabesity.
Where you store those extra pounds is also an issue. If you’re a person living with diabetes and you carry your weight in the abdominal area, you are at an even greater risk of insulin resistance and diabetes. That’s because abdominal fat is more metabolically active than fat stored in the hips or buttocks. It is more easily broken down into free fatty acids that enter the bloodstream, interfere with the action of insulin, and raise triglyceride and glucose levels.
The good news is, for most people, getting a handle on weight is all it takes to minimize diabetes risk factors.
Much of the research on the relationship between diabetes and heart disease has come from the Framingham Heart Study.
Started in the early 1950s, this study, which has followed the medical history of thousands of residents of Framingham, Massachusetts, has provided a gold mine of data showing how people living with diabetes are at dramatically increased risk of heart disease and related health concerns.
Other studies have demonstrated that even in the absence of other heart disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, or a family history of heart disease, people living with diabetes are still at a much higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and death from cardiovascular disease. They’re also more likely to be concerned about their blood pressure health. Why is this?
The most common type of heart disease, coronary artery disease, is primarily a disease of the blood vessels, or coronary arteries, that supply the heart muscle with vital oxygen and nutrients. In a process known as atherosclerosis, the artery walls become narrowed and hardened with buildups of cholesterol and cellular debris, which can restrict blood flow and impair circulation. If the blood flow through these arteries is severely restricted, angina (chest pain caused by insufficient oxygen to the heart muscle) may result. And if a blood clot lodges in a narrowed artery, a heart attack or stroke may occur.
When you throw elevated blood sugar into the mix, the situation only gets worse. Excess blood sugar makes the blood less viscous, causing impaired circulation. And high levels of insulin, also characteristic of type 2 diabetes, damage the arteries and contribute to atherosclerosis. So it makes sense that people living with diabetes are also at increased risk of developing heart disease. Fortunately, taking steps to manage blood sugar levels can help to reduce this risk.
In addition to being the driving force behind type-2 diabetes, insulin resistance is also part and parcel of a condition known as metabolic syndrome.
Identified in the mid-1980s by Stanford University researcher Gerald Reaven, MD, metabolic syndrome, initially called syndrome X, is a cluster of disorders that includes obesity, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol (often referred to as “good” cholesterol since it ushers excess cholesterol out of the body), and increased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Reaven, observing that these seemingly unrelated disorders cropped up so often in the same individuals, determined that the one underlying constant was insulin resistance. In addition to insulin resistance, here are some of the other risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome:
Abdominal obesity: an accumulation of excess fat around the waist
Age: the older you are, the higher your risk
Sedentary lifestyle
Hormone imbalances
Poor diet: a diet high in saturated and trans fats and sugar
Fortunately, by following the alternative treatments for diabetes that we’ll be sharing here, you will not only protect yourself from diabetes, but also lower your risk of metabolic syndrome.
One of the most significant risk factors for type-2 diabetes is obesity.
Statistics show that 90 percent of all people with type-2 diabetes are overweight. In fact, the link between diabetes and obesity is so strong that it’s led to the coining of a new term, diabesity.
Where you store those extra pounds is also an issue, in terms of your ability to control blood sugar. For example, if you carry the pounds in the abdominal area, you are at an even greater risk of insulin resistance and diabetes. That’s because abdominal fat is more metabolically active than fat stored in the hips or buttocks. It is more easily broken down into free fatty acids that enter the bloodstream, interfere with the action of insulin, and raise triglyceride and glucose levels.
The good news is, for most people, getting a handle on weight is a great way of beating diabetes. Check this blog often for tips on how to lose weight and other natural remedies for diabetes.
While there are many diabetes risk factors, I’d like to focus on three:
1. Prescription Drugs. Taking certain prescription drugs can increase your risk of developing diabetes. Common culprits include: corticosteroids (typically prescribed to treat asthma and arthritis), thiazide diuretics (often used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure), and antipsychotic drugs. British researchers also found that beta blockers (medications used to treat hypertension) increase the risk of diabetes by 50 percent. If you are taking any of these medications, talk to your doctor about safe, natural alternatives to these side effect-riddled drugs. Doing so may help you manage diabetes.
2. Level of Activity. People who are inactive are at higher risk of developing type-2 diabetes. In fact, Harvard researchers found that the more TV you watch, the more likely you are to develop diabetes and weight problems. This is because lack of regular exercise lowers insulin sensitivity and increases the possibility of metabolic syndrome.
3. Smoking. Everyone knows smoking increases your risk of cancer, but many probably don’t know that it is also a risk factor for type2 diabetes.
There are many other diabetes risk factors, which we will explore in this blog. We’ll also carefully examine the many alternative treatments for diabetes and how you can incorporate them into your daily life.
Just about anyone can develop type 2 diabetes, but research has shown that certain individuals seem to be more susceptible than others. Let’s take a look at two common type 2 diabetes risk factors.
Genetics
Some research has found that people who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes typically have at least one close relative who has the disease. That being said, if you have a family history of diabetes, it is important that you take steps now to manage the risk factors that you can control so you can avoid diabetes and its complications.
Age
According to recent findings published by the CDC, the age bracket with the highest percentage of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes is the 60+ age group.
However, the CDC also found that of the approximate 1.6 million new cases of diabetes that were diagnosed in people aged 20 years or older in 2007, most of them (approx. 819,000) occurred in those aged 40–59 years.
Furthermore, while there are no firm statistics available, more and more young adults and children are now being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes—a disease that has historically been confined to adults aged 40 years and older.
Additional diabetes risk factors will be discussed in future blog postings. I’ll also be sharing natural remedies for diabetes. Stay tuned.
Powered by Compendium Blogware