Acai Berry and Diabetes

With obesity on the rise, there has also been a drastic increase in the amount of people who are developing diabetes. It's a disease that affects millions of people each year and that number continues to rise. Acai berry has been used by the Amazons of Brazil for generations, but was recently introduced world wide, mainly as a health supplement but also as a weight loss enhancer. This article discusses acai berry and diabetes.

Diabetes is often responsible for rapid cellular deterioration. This is a process that has a highly negative impact on the heart and overall health. Acai berry has omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. This helps heart health and counteracts the damage that this ailment can cause.

While there have been no studies conducted to confirm the relationship between acai berry and diabetes, doctors believe that acai berry can help regulate insulin levels which control blood sugar. Therefore it has been highly recommended as of late to assist with potentially improving the health of diabetics.

You should continue with your normally prescribed treatments, but acai berry can help to enhance your quality of life. Diabetes ultimately weakens the immune system over time due to repeated attacks on the body from this disease. This is yet another place where the acai berry comes in and helps the body to be stronger. The berry has been shown to improve and strengthen the immune system. This can benefit everyone, even those who don't have a major disease.

Another way the acai berry assists with diabetes is simple - everyone is supposed to consume five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. However, the majority of people simply fail to do so. This can have a detrimental effect on the health of a person with diabetes. However, with the acai berry and diabetes, a person can get a large portion of the nutrients they need to stay healthy just by consuming acai on a regular basis.

Although there have not been any detailed tests with acai berries and diabetes, there was a University of Florida in lab test that showed how the fruit killed 86% of leukemia cancer cells. If acai berries are that potent, it is a very good chance that their nutrients will have a positive impact for those suffering from diabetes.

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Pediatric Diabetes and Caring for Children Diabetes

Despite our best efforts as parents or caregivers, children will become sick. One such illness which is becoming increasingly prevalent is pediatric diabetes. However, keeping a diabetic child healthy is dependent on being informed about the disease, its symptoms, and treatments. Caring for the child with diabetes is the responsibility of all persons who, at some time or other, has to take care of that child. As such, parents need to ensure that all care givers are informed about their diabetic child's dietary needs.

Most children tend to have type I diabetes, previously known as juvenile diabetes, although children are increasingly being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes as well. Type I diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not work and does not produce any insulin. Insulin is needed to help break down sugars (glucose) in our body to help it work efficiently. When this breakdown of sugars does not happen, as in the case of type I diabetes, the sugar stays in the blood stream.

Because insulin is important in breaking down sugars in the body to use for energy, insulin has to be taken to control the illness. Therefore type I diabetes is also called insulin-dependent diabetes. Exercise and diet are also important helping to control this type of diabetes. Caring for the child with diabetes means that you will need to recognize the signs of the illness, as well as any resulting reactions that can occur. The main signs of pediatric diabetes are:

Breath smelling like fruit
Constant hunger
Pulse beating faster than normal
Headaches
Being weak and dizzy
Difficulty concentrating
Vision becoming foggy
Skin tending to be cold and moist
Experiencing seizures

Next, you should be able to identify when the child is in crisis, suffering either a hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic episode, and you should know what to do help in either case. Hyperglycemia occurs when the sugar levels are too high. Rising sugar levels are generally a result of eating too much, not taking the correct amount of insulin, or not exercising enough. When a child is hyperglycemic, treatment by medical professionals is needed. A child suffering from high blood sugar will complain of the following:

Weakness
Extreme thirst
Needing to urinate frequently
Not seeing clearly
Not being hungry

With hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), the symptoms vary from child to child, but some of the typical signs include:

Clumsiness
Sudden mood changes
Sweating
Hunger
Seeming confused
Trembling
Headache
Tingling feeling around the mouth

The first course of action is to increase the child's sugar intake by giving them something sweet to drink, such as regular soda, fruit juice or glucose tablets. Once the child is feeling better, you should give them something more solid to eat. If the child is too weak to swallow or is unconscious, administer the recommended dosage of glucagon and call for immediate medical assistance. Glucagon is a medication given by injection to rapidly increase the level of glucose in the blood. It is normally the first course of treatment in severe hypoglycemia.

Diet is a major part of keeping the diabetic child healthy. The caregiver has the responsibility to ensure that the child eats what is recommended. It is also important to talk with the child and let them know that they will get really sick if they eat too many sweets or other foods that can pose a risk. It is also important to let others, such as teachers, know that a diabetic child may need to snack to boost their sugar and energy levels. The child with diabetes must also have regular meals.

Exercise is important as well, and there is no reason why the diabetic child cannot participate in all regular physical activity. Exercise helps to control blood sugar levels. However, suffering from pediatric diabetes should not exert themselves before meal time. Also, they will need to have a snack, such as juice, crackers or a fruit, handy, as they will need to replace sugar lost during physical activity.

Most importantly, children should be taught how to test their blood sugar levels during the course of the day, once they are able to do soon their own. This is important so that they can take insulin or eat something as needed.

Caring for the children diabetes while calling for more vigilance in terms of their eating habits can be stress free once you and others taking care of the child know what to do and follow the rules. Also, make sure that emergency numbers are close at hand and that the child learns how to recognize symptoms of potential trouble and take corrective actions.

Diabetic and Neuropathy

Neuropathy is a functional change or pathological disturbance in the peripheral nerves. Know anymore than you did? Probably not. Let's see if we can get a better understanding of what all that mumbo-jumbo means!

The human body's nervous system has two main parts with the Central Nervous System being the one we hear the most about. This is the part of the nervous system that includes the brain and spinal cord. The one we hear less about is also a very important one. The Peripheral Nervous System is made up of the nerves that connect the Central Nervous System to the other organs and muscles in the body. As you can imagine, the peripheral nerves affect a lot of areas of the body. Now back to our original definition of neuropathy, a functional change or pathological disturbance in the peripheral nerves, one can see how neuropathy can become a big problem.

The peripheral nervous system is made up of three different types of nerves. They are motor nerves, which are responsible for voluntary movements such as waving goodbye, walking, etc. Another is sensory nerves which allow us to feel pain, hot and cold, etc. The third type is the autonomic nerves. As the name implies, these nerves control our involuntary movements such as breathing, heart beats, etc. Obviously, the nervous system is very complex and one of more nerves may be involved in neuropathy.

Symptoms of neuropathy can come on suddenly or gradually over time, depending on the types of nerves involved. Unfortunately, diabetes is the most common cause of neurophathy so we diabetics need to be aware of the symptoms because early intervention is important in treatment and recovery. In most cases, the early symptoms are weakness, pain, or numbness. Symptoms such as difficulty walking, stumbling or tiring easily, muscle cramps, trouble holding onto objects, an unsteady gait, dizziness when standing up may be symptoms. Some people complain of their hands and feet feeling as though they are wearing gloves or slippers when they are not. Because the peripheral nerves involve so many areas, there are many different types of symptoms. This can lead to problems getting a diagnosis since so many of these symptoms also relate to other illnesses. If you notice one or more of these symptoms for an extended time, check with your doctor. He or she may refer you to a neurologist, a doctor whose specialty is the brain and nerve disorders. A complete history of the symptoms should be presented and such tests as an EMG (electromyography), blood tests and urine tests will probably be done.

The key to recovery is to seek help as soon as you suspect problems. Recovery time depends on how much damage has been done and if nerve damage is left untreated for a long period of time, the symptoms could become irreversible. Don't ignore the symptoms! This is your life, your future and your comfort we are talking about here. Most of us human beings have a tendency to think it's our imagination, it will get better on its own, the doctor will think I'm just a complainer, I'll mention it when I see the doctor in six months, etc. Wrong! At the risk of repeating myself, I feel that I must stress early diagnosis and treatment is important for this one. Don't let yourself have permanent nerve damage because you waited too long to admit you had a problem.

Source:
New Day Counseling
New Day Counseling is a professional counseling center with a number of licensed therapists who do couples and marriage counseling as well as counseling for anger and depression.

Red wine a Diabetes Saviour

After establishing itself as a heart-friendly drink, read wine is now once again ready to be there on your dining table; this time as an antidote to diabetes.

Obviously, good news for millions of people, constantly bearing blows of this debilitating disease. Credit to shovel out this fact goes to new study showing that chemical called, resveratrol—found in the skins of red grapes and in red wine – significantly improves the sensitivity of mice to insulin. Moreover, it (resveratrol) was found activating the SIRT1 enzyme – known for increasing longevity, DNA repair, and insulin secretion.

These findings nurture a hope for diabetes-afflicted people, by confirming that in near future red wine might play a significant role in fighting diabetes, which currently is supposed to be engulfing around 170 million people worldwide.

Quick diabetes facts:

• Diabetes causes about 5% of all deaths globally each year.

• Diabetes deaths are likely to increase by more than 50% in the next 10 years without urgent action.

• Most people with diabetes in low and middle-income countries are middle-aged (45-64), not elderly (65+).

So, this time it would be interesting to see red wine proving its metal, this time in a new form – diabetes killer!

Source:
The human body

Lacking in deep sleep may enhance Diabetes risk

Hyderabad, January 18: Deep, sound sleep may be important for keeping Type 2 diabetes at bay, a research in the US said.

The team studied nine adults between the ages of 20 and 31, who spent consecutive nights in the sleep lab where they slept undisturbed for 8.5 hours each.

Then, for three nights, the researchers disrupted their sleep with noise.

The effect was to reduce slow-wave deep sleep by about 90 per cent without altering total sleep time.

At the end of each study, the researchers injected a sugar or glucose supplement into each subject and measured their blood sugar and response to insulin, the hormone that regulates the glucose.

After three nights of disturbed sleep, eight of the nine volunteers had become less sensitive to insulin, without increasing the production of insulin. Since insulin tells the body it has consumed energy, this deficiency can lead to weight gain and diabetes.

Diabetes: main cause of blindness among adults

Diabetes mellitus and obesity common in developed countries. However, with lifestyle deterioration, these problems are on the rise even in developing countries!

A study reveals that India has an estimated 35 million diabetics. The incidence of diabetes in urban India has increased 20 times in the past 20 years. Another startling revelation is that over 50 percent cases of diabetes in rural India and 30 percent in urban areas go undiagnosed.

Diabetes leads to multiple program like diabetic neuropathy, nephropathy and retinopathy. One of the most feared complications of diabetes is damage of the eye. This fear is justified, since nearly half of all people with diabetes will develop some degree of diabetic retinopathy during their lifetime.

A diabetic person is at the risk of getting the following eye problems: cataract, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy during their lifetime.

A cataract is a clouding of that eye’s lens. Studies shows that a person with diabetes is twice as likely to get a cataract as someone who does not have the disease. Cataracts also develop at an early age in people with diabetes. Usually cataract surgery restores the vision of the patient.

Glaucoma may also become a problem for those with diabetes. Glaucoma starts with an increase in fluid pressure inside the eye that can lead to the optic nerve damage and loss of vision. A diabetic is nearly twice at the risk of getting glaucoma than other adults. The visual damage because of glaucoma is irreversible. Therefore, its detection in early stages is important. Glaucoma may be treated with medications, laser or other forms of surgery.

Diabetic retinopathy develops when the tiny blood vessels which provide oxygen to the retina become damaged. Retina damage happens slowly. The longer the person has diabetes, the more likely he or she will get diabetic retinopathy.

Often there are no symptoms in the early stages of the disease. Even in more advanced cases, the disease may progress a long way without symptoms. Without an eye check-up, most people are unaware that they have eye damage.

When sigh occur they may include blurred or double vision, dark or floating spots, pain in one or both eyes, trouble seeing things out of the corner of the eyes, rings, flashing lights or blank spots. These usually happen with the advance stage of the disease. Detecting retinopathy in early stage is best way to prevent vision loss. Do not wait for symptoms.

LASER treatment is advised in various stages of diabetic retinopathy. It reduces the risk of severe vision loss by 60 percent. Laser, however, typically cannot restore vision that has already been lost.

Awareness about the diabetic eye problems and the need for daily routine examination to detect them at an early stage are important. Keeping one’s blood glucose and blood pressure readings as close to normal as possible and getting regular eye check-ups done are the best defenses against the diabetic eye diseases.

If you have diabetes, get a detailed eye examination at least one year and more often, as per your eye specialist’s opinion, if you have diabetic retinopathy.

Dark meat is as good as white meat

Health authorities have long advocated white meat, saying it contains less fat and fewer calories. But the nutritional differences between the two are not so great. In general, what makes one cut of turkey – or any other type of poultry – darker than another is the type of muscle it contains. Meat is darker if it contains higher levels of myoglobin, a compound that enables to transport oxygen, which is needed to fuel activity. Since turkeys and chickens are flightless and walk a lot, their leg meat is dark while their wing and breast meat are white. Many people choose white meat over dark meat because of its lower caloric content. But according to the US’s department of agriculture, an ounce of boneless, skinless turkey breast contains about 46 calories and 1 gram of fat, compared with roughly 50 calories and 2 grams of fat for an ounce of boneless, skinless thigh. But dark meats has its benefits. Compared with white meat, it contains more iron, zinc, riboflavin, thiamine and vitamins B6 and B12. Both have less fat than most cuts of red meat, so you can’t go wrong wither way.

HealFast Bandage: A boon for diabetics

A breakthorough concept in bandages has surfaced on the horizon which is boon for diabetics. HealFast is a bandage designed by Donn Koh that uses electric fields to accelerate the healing process and prevent further infection in the surrounding tissues.

Healfast is a simple solution to counter the wounds inflicted by pressure sores and chronic ulcers in diabetics. Applying this bandage is a simple task. Just place this bandage on the wound and peel off the protective covering, and the bandage is ready for action. When a person applies this bandage by pressing it down on his wounds, an electric charge is activated and results in a weak electric field which accelerates the healing process and prevents the surrounding tissues from getting infected.

I find this concept very helpful because even a small cut or scratch can spell disaster for a diabetic. HealFast’s amazing power can arm the diabetics with an increased sense of security.

Spotlight On Diabetes

Diabetes, the fifth leading killer in developed countries, is a disease in which the body's failure to regulate glucose, or blood sugar, can lead to serious and even fatal complications.
Until very recently, the regulation of glucose - how much sugar is present in a person's blood , how much is taken up by cells for fuel, and how much is released from energy stores - was regarded as a conversation between a few key players: the pancreas, the liver, muscle and fat.
Now, however the party is proving to be much louder and more complex than anyone had shown before. Focusing on the cross-talk between more different organs,cells and molecules represents a "very important change in our paradigm" for understanding how the body handles glucose, said Dr C Ronald Kahn,a diabetes researcher and professor at Harvard Medical School.
The defining feature of diabetes is elevated blood sugar, But the reasons for abnormal sugar seem to "differ tremendously from person to person" said Dr Robert A Rizza, a professor at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Understanding exactly what signals are evolved, he said, raises the hope of "providing the right care for each person each day, rather than giving everyone the same drug."