Diabetes – Diabetes treatment

Damaged glucose tolerance or weakened fasting blood sugar is also known as pre-diabetes. It is an ailment which is treatable wherein the glucose levels in the blood are elevated, but not elevated enough to cause diabetes. When someone has pre-diabetes, he/she is more probable to get diabetes type II and several causes of diabetes in the body may happen throughout pre-diabetes. If somebody has pre-diabetes, there are plenty of ways to control blood sugar levels to remain physically fit and healthy.

Generally, pre-diabetes has no signs and can be identified only by the physician by means of A1C laboratory examination, a glucose acceptance test through the mouth or abstained plasma glucose examination. If you have observed the following signs like severe hunger or thirst, fatigue, loss of weight, frequent urination, recurrent infections, blurred vision or sores which do not heal, go to your doctor immediately and ask for medical advices.

A1C test for hemoglobin measures the sugar scales in the blood for within the past 2 to 3 months. The proportion of sugar which is found in the protein content of the red cells in the blood which transmit oxygen is measured. If the proportion ranges from 6 – 6.5, pre-diabetes is present in your body. Fasting plasma sugar examination measures sugar levels in the blood after abstaining for food or anything by mouth overnight. If the levels range from 100 to 125 mg/deciliter, then you are suffering from pre-diabetes. The oral glucose acceptance examination measures sugar scale in the blood after fasting overnight. Sugary solution is taken two hours after and then test is done again for blood sugar. If the sugar scale ranges from 140 to 199, you are suffering from diabetes.

If someone has risk factors which include of having members of the family suffering from diabetes, having elevated blood pressure, being overweight, being smokers, high or low cholesterol levels, high triglycerides, heavy utilization of alcohol and acquiring diabetes in time of pregnancy. Anybody having polycystic ovary disorder must be examined every year.

Pre-diabetes is curable and easy to treat. You can avoid from acquiring pre-diabetes by means of doing exercises; thirty to sixty minutes of exercise every day. Prevent from smoking and limit use of alcohol. Avoid processed, sugary and fatty food and drinks and also eat little portion sizes. Above all, eat healthy diet which includes fruit, whole grain, dried beans, fish, non-starchy vegetables, lean meat and dairy without fat. If you follow these healthy lifestyles pre-diabetes will be prevented and treated as well.

The doctor may prescribe medications to reduce blood sugar, if pre-diabetes is persistent. Glucophage or Precose can be given to lower blood sugar level. Low-dose aspirin is also given to safeguard your heart. Elevated blood sugar and cholesterol medications can also be prescribed.

Loss of weight can help you more in managing diabetes. Diabetes if not treated results to many complications like cardiovascular or heart ailments which have been proven to be deadly. The good information is that diabetes onset can be avoided or delayed by good management. Excellent management is done by means of early detection of risk issues in pre-diabetes period and also healthy lifestyles focused on exercise and diets.

Lower blood sugar levels, weight loss, and stopping type 2 diabetes and it’s complications in it’s tracks, is something anyone diagnosed with this condition often hopes for. Like many diseases or conditions, type 2 diabetes is caused by our genes and our personal environment, in other words our lifestyle. Now what does all this mean: it means we cannot change our genes but we can control whether or not the effect of these genes is activated. In other words you are in control; it is possible to lower blood sugar levels and reverse type 2 diabetes.

There is a way to beat or reverse type 2 diabetes… and guess what, it can be done naturally with no side effects. You must have heard all this before… but this time we will go into more details. Yes, you guessed it correctly, the way to do this is through lifestyle changes. Now let’s delve into the specifics involved.

When lifestyle changes are mentioned, there are concepts involved. Each one involves a change in your habits which can be difficult… it’s really a long-haul proposition. You need to set both short-term and long-term goals for yourself and then move forward at your own pace.

First one on the agenda is weight management.

a) This is only easy if you put your mind to it. It is eating healthily and exercising adequately.

We all know that exercise is essential and thirty minutes a day will do it. Actually exercise is like insulin to your body! This coupled with eating healthily will lead to successful weight loss. It’s easy to fall into the TV dinner diet trap… this is where you eat the TV dinner and then still feel hungry, and so you eat more.

Do you know if you cook for yourself, you are often ahead of the game? If you cook you have control over all the ingredients in your meals. You can substitute healthier ingredients, use less sugar and control portion size.

b) Keeping a food and beverage journal also helps for reference to blood sugar level comparisons. Keep a record of your exercise level each day also.

c) It is also wise to find out why you eat too much. Sometimes eating is triggered by boredom, anger, loneliness, stress and other emotions.

d) After your emotional issues have been addressed, there are lifestyle priorities for achieving weight loss and lower blood sugar levels:

• eating several small meals at regularly timed intervals rather than infrequent large meals. Your pancreas has to produce insulin every time you eat in proportion to the amount you eat at each sitting.
• eating less fat will help but replacing it with more fat-free foods is not the way to go because some fat-free foods are rich in calories
• reduce or eliminate sweetened or naturally sweetened beverages. This includes regular soda, fruit punch and natural fruit juices
• weight training will help lose more weight, and gaining muscle is one way to help burn calories and also to lower blood sugar levels
• keeping active will help stabilize your blood sugar levels and get rid of the risk factors that can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, bad cholesterol levels and all kinds of diseases
• exercising regularly has benefits… it helps improve glucose transport and metabolism. It almost immediately improves your muscles’ sensitivity to insulin, making it easier to store sugar in your muscles rather than have it rise in your circulation
• including fiber satisfies hunger plus blunts the rise in your blood sugar levels and it also lowers your cholesterol levels

Foods to eat sparingly include:

• high glycemic foods
• fruit juices… eat fruit instead
• artificial sweeteners… some research shows they stimulate your appetite
• coffee and caffeine
• alcoholic beverages… limit yourself to one or two drinks a week. Alcoholic drinks can stimulate your appetite
• soft drinks and soda… drink herbal teas and water

Eating these foods can stall your weight loss or lead to weight loss plateaus.

2. Stress

Eating when you are stressed is not great for your body. When your stress level is high, your body is in flight or fight mode. Then your parasympathetic nervous system, which controls digestion, shuts down. When stressed your pleasure sensing abilities disappear.

3. Supplements

Drugstores and health food stores are stocked with shelf after shelf of them. If you are adding supplements that might affect your blood sugar levels, be sure to check your blood sugars regularly.

• take most supplements with or immediately after a meal
• take one new product at a time
• some natural supplements contain potent chemicals that can interfere with absorption or other medications you might be taking

In people with type 2 diabetes, supplemental alpha-lipoic acid appears to increase insulin sensitivity and reduce symptoms of nerve damage. Chromium is what is called an insulin cofactor… an insulin helper. Although correcting chromium deficiencies is essential for blood sugar control, it is not yet clear whether adding extra chromium helps, or if it is safe to do so.