Archive for the ‘Diabetes Tips’ Category

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What Is The Causes Of Diabetes?

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Some people get the false notion that diabetes is a hereditary disease. But the fact is that this is a common condition that can be caused by certain factors. So what is the causes of diabetes exactly? Here are some factors that can lead to it.

• Inherited – It is not always inherited but diabetes can be passed on from a parent to a child and so on. This is because diabetes seems to be a condition involved with the blood so related blood can cause it to be hereditary.
• Age – Why this is one of causes of diabetes? One of the factors included is a person’s age. Ridiculous as it may sound, 80% of diabetes cases actually occur after the age of 50.
• Poor diet – This is where it gets really dangerous. A lot of people these days are not receiving the right nutrition and therefore they can become victims of diabetes. By maintaining a low protein and fiber intake, one can be put at risk of attaining the condition.
• Obesity – Is overweight also one of causes of diabetes? Well, being overweight means that a person can be extremely resistant to insulin. Of course the body has to be more than 30% fat. Physically this means that a woman’s waist size will be about 35 inches and a man’s about 40 inches.
• Stress – Believe it or not but stress is one of the leading factors behind many conditions. So how is stress can be diabetes causes? Physical or emotional stress can lead to diabetes given the right factors and conditions. It is the disturbance of Cortiosteroid therapy that can lead even to clinical signs of diabetes.
• Sex – Sex health is important and diabetes may be seen in a lot of elderly men but women also suffer from it when they go through multiple pregnancies. They also are prone to diabetes if they are suffering from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

We just finish explaining the causes of diabetes, so now you may want to find out more about types of diabetes.

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Types Of Diabetes

Friday, November 20th, 2009

What is diabetes?

Diabetes has been emerged as the leading fatal disease in the world surpassing HIV/AIDS. Every year millions of lives have been taken away by this disease all over the world.

Diabetes is formed as a result of metabolic disorder. The food which we consume gets broken down into glucose which is later carried by the blood. This glucose is absorbed by the cells in order to produce energy. The glucose can enter into the cells only with the help of insulin, a hormone produced by pancreas. But for a diabetic, the pancreas produces little or no insulin which makes the glucose to accumulate in your blood.

Thus in short, diabetes is a disease formed due to the incapacity of your body to produce insulin. Insulin is responsible for converting starch, sugar, and other forms of food into energy.

How many types of diabetes are there?

Diabetes is normally of three types. They are

Type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes)

Type 1 diabetes also known as insulin dependent diabetes is an immune related disorder where the immune system of a person destroys the beta cells in the pancreas, the one which is responsible for producing insulin.

It is also known as juvenile-onset diabetes and it is responsible for 20% of all diabetic causes. This type of diabetic can affect people of all age group, especially the middle aged people. Also factors such as diet, virus attack etc may also trigger the onset of this disease. Type1 diabetics should inject insulin several times a day. They have to pay more attention to their diet and routine exercises.

Type 2 diabetes (non-insulin dependent diabetes)

Type 2 diabetes commonly known as non-insulin dependent is most common form of diabetes. This type of diabetes is found among 80% of people having diabetic diseases. Also known as the late onset diabetes, this type of diabetics is featured by insulin deficiency and insulin resistance.

Heredity is considered as the major cause of this type of diabetes. However inappropriate lifestyle may also trigger the severity of the disease. This type of diabetes remains silent for years and they don’t show off any symptoms. But once they start appearing, the side effects will be severe. The person having this kind of diabetics is supposed to suffer from severe cardiovascular disease. The severity of type 2 diabetes is more than type 1. Also type 2 diabetics have to follow a strict diet and routine exercises to keep the blood glucose level under control. Insulin injections may not require in the initial stage.

Gestational diabetes mellitus

Pregnant woman are the victims of gestational diabetes. Women with a family history of diabetes are more prone to gestational diabetes. Late pregnancy, excess weight, dietary habits etc are some other factors that trigger gestational diabetes. However this type of diabetes will come to normal after the delivery. But this alone can be a risk factor for developing diabetes in future.

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What Is Gestational Diabetes

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Gestational diabetes is a kind of diabetes which affects mainly the pregnant woman. How does gestational diabetes develop? When a woman is pregnant, the hormones which are responsible for the development of placenta block the insulin in the mother’s body. It reduces the receptivity of insulin by the cells and this situation is known as the insulin resistance.

It is believed that 4% of pregnant women have the risk of getting affected by gestational diabetes. It has found that around 150,000 cases of gestational diabetes occur every year in U.S.

When a woman is pregnant she requires thrice the amount of insulin to make the glucose to enter into the cells. The shortage of insulin due to insulin resistance transforms to gestational diabetes. When the glucose mounts in the blood, it is called as hyperglycemia.
Too much of glucose may affect the health of the baby when the woman is pregnant.

Gestational diabetes is more frequent in women with late pregnancy. As the insulin fails to cross the placenta, the excess blood glucose passes to the baby. It forces the baby’s pancreas to make extra insulin to meet the excess blood glucose.

As the baby receives more energy than the required level, the excess will be stored in the form of fat. This makes your baby fat at birth and may even lead to hypoglycemia or respiratory problems.

Is treatment for gestational diabetes necessary?

Much care and attention is needed for gestational diabetes as it may severely harm you and your child. The ultimate aim of the treatment is to keep the blood glucose level under control. The treatment includes routine exercise and a planned diet. You have to take insulin injections if required. Frequent check up of blood glucose level helps you to keep the blood sugar under control. If gestational diabetes is treated properly you can even avoid even the cesarean section.

Normally gestational diabetes does not show off after pregnancy. Since you have already had gestational diabetes, your chances for appearing of this disease is more in the next pregnancy.

Sometimes it may become hard to discover whether the woman has gestational diabetes or any of other two type of diabetes. If the pregnancy exposes type1 or type2 diabetes, then that women should continue her diabetes treatment even after the pregnancy.

Also the possibilities of developing type2 diabetes in future are more in the gestational diabetic patients. It is mainly because both gestational and type2 diabetes are insulin resistant in nature. However a change in your normal life style can prevent the onset of diabetes after the gestational diabetes. If you are weighing more, then losing a few pounds can be effective in preventing the diabetes. Also choosing a healthy diet and undergoing routine exercise can give you better results.

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