Newly Diagnosed with Diabetes? Why you need a Nutritionist

One of the most important things that people who have just been diagnosed with diabetes have to pay attention to is their dietary plan. How they eat can have a huge impact on diabetes. They have to make sure that they have a proper diet. This will help them maintain good health, and well being!

It is a must for people who have diabetes to acquire the assistance of a nutritionist. This is because every individual that has diabetes requires a dietary plan that is customized to suit their needs. A good nutritionist will be able to assess the type of meal that an individual needs depending on what type of health concerns he/she might have.

Those people who need to shed some pounds will benefit greatly from nutritionists. A nutritionist will be able to help them come up with a dietary plan that will help them lose weight, while maintaining the nutrients that their body needs.

Carbohydrates

Most carbohydrates that are introduced into the body are turned into glucose. What happens is that the glucose goes into the body's blood stream. This in turn causes the body to release insulin. What insulin does is it causes glucose to go from the bloodstream into the cells, where it will then become a stored energy source.

The important thing is to achieve a proper balance between the carbohydrates, having enough exercise and the right amount of insulin. This is to make sure that the blood sugar level in the body remains regulated.

Regulate your meals

To help maintain healthy sugar level individuals should regulate their meals. This means as much as possible, try to eat meals at the same time each day.

After eating, a person's blood glucose escalates. If a person eats a huge meal one day and eats a light meal the next, his or her blood sugar level will become unstable.

Carbohydrates when absorbed turns into glucose. Individuals must keep track of the amount of carbohydrates that they consume. They can do this by reading food labels. Carbohydrates are usually measured in grams.

Also, it would be best if individuals try to consume the same amount of food for every meal. Another thing that is important is not to skip meals.

For the best possible method of regulating one's diet, those who have diabetes should consult their doctors. They will be able to provide a proper meal plan that would be specifically designed to meet the needs of each and every individual.

Support System

Those who are newly diagnosed with diabetes can enter hospital programs where they are educated about the disease. They are also informed about new dietary plans, and changes they need to incorporate into their lifestyle to lead a healthy life.

People who have just discovered that they have diabetes need a strong support system. During this time they might feel extremely vulnerable. They would need emotional support. This is the time where family and friends come in handy. Especially during the time they are still adjusting and discovering ways to come to terms with their new health condition.

Your Cardiovascular System and Diabetes

Cardiovascular system is one of the most important systems in the human body. It is comprised of the heart, blood and blood vessels. Blood is being pumped out from the heart and is the one responsible in delivering oxygen and other nutrients to all the parts of the body. It also cleans up our body by picking up the waste products on its way back to the heart so our body can get rid of them.

So what has diabetes got to do with the cardiovascular system? Since blood is part of the cardiovascular system, and diabetes is a condition in which the level of glucose in the blood is higher than normal, then there must be some relationship between the two.

Diabetes and cardiovascular system diseases has been recognized to be closely related to each other for some time now due to the so-called insulin resistance syndrome or metabolic syndrome. Among the 20 million people in the United States who has diabetes, around 5 to 6 million of this population who are aged 35 years and above were diagnosed to have a certain cardiovascular disease according to the National Diabetes Surveillance System. Some examples of the commonly diagnosed cardiovascular disease are coronary heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and other heart conditions.

Cardiovascular diseases are the major cause now of deaths related to diabetes. In a study published few years back in the Journal of the American Medical Association, deaths due to some heart conditions went up by 23% in diabetic women despite the 27% drop of the same in non-diabetic women. As for diabetic men, there is only about 13% decrease in heart disease related deaths as compared to the 36% drop in non-diabetics. Thus, the two indeed go together.

Risk Factors
Diabetes is now considered by the American Heart Association a major risk factor in cardiovascular diseases. Other factors that contribute to the possibility of acquiring cardiovascular diseases in diabetic patients include hypertension, smoking, and dyslipidemia.

- Hypertension. Hypertension in diabetes is considered a major contributor to the increase in mortality from cardiovascular diseases. Diabetic patients, especially those with Type 2, need to always have their blood pressure checked every visit to the doctor. Self-monitoring at home is also a must to maintain and control the rise of blood pressure. The American Diabetes Association recommends a target blood pressure of not more than 130/85 mm Hg to maintain a good level of blood pressure.

- Hyperglycemia. Intensive glycemic control may prove to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, although not directly. This can be more beneficial in controlling micro vascular complications, but still, assessing all risk factors and properly managing them is a big step in preventing occurrence of any cardiovascular diseases.

- Smoking. Smoking has been determined dangerous to our health. Studies show that smoking indeed increase risk of premature death and cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients.
PreventionAs the old saying goes, "prevention is better than cure." There are many ways on how to prevent the increased possibility of cardiovascular events in diabetic patients. Several alterations or modifications to the risk factors can be done to still maintain healthy despite of diabetes.

The simplest step one can start with is to stop smoking. Diabetic or not, cessation of smoking will really prove beneficial to one's overall health condition. Maintaining blood pressure to less than 130/85 or 130/80 mm Hg helps control the occurrence of hypertension. Having a body mass index (BMI) of less than 27 is also a must for diabetic patients to control their overall condition.

Some tests are also recommended to monitor and keep maintain key factors at a healthy level. These tests include annual urine test, retinal dilation examination, dental examinations, and biannual foot examination for sensation testing and measurement of pulses. Influenza and pnuemococcal immunizations also help in proper maintenance.

Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases need proper attention and care. Regular visits to your health practitioner are recommended as they are the right people who know all about your condition. They keep all the records of their patients' health history and can track improvements or otherwise. Proper medications and advice are also given by these professionals.

Diabetes is indeed a life-long condition that demands a lot of attention. There may be no hard and real cure for this disease, but it sure can be maintained and controlled by proper care and having thorough knowledge and understanding about the condition.

For more information on diabetes, visit HealthKC.net's "Coping With Diabetes" library.

Diabetes Awareness: I'll Wait til it Hurts

By the time many type 2 diabetics (and often their doctors) realize action is necessary, the disease, with its destructive high blood sugars, has been silently damaging their body for years. Complications to the blood vessels and tissues of your eyes, feet, heart, kidneys, and other organs, are likely well underway.

You visit the doctor because you feel bad, and you wish to feel better. You react to the symptoms of perceived illness. This is understandable, but does not allow much room for prevention or early detection of diabetes.

Of course this idea, "Don't see the doctor 'til it hurts," comes from our "busier-then-ever" lifestyles. But to blame, to point fingers after the damage has started is as pointless as is the leaping bungee-jumper's complaint that his equipment has just failed. It's a little late to talk about why. Some problems are better prevented.

If you have type 2 diabetes, you know most of the time you don't feel very bad. You might think that because you don't feel very bad, it isn't very serious, and you don't have to do anything about it just now. "I'll wait 'til it hurts" ...You couldn't be more wrong.

Diabetes damages your body with high blood sugars. It doesn't care whether your sugars are high from type 2, type 1, or some other cause - if they're up, they're doing damage. Type 2 diabetics who let their sugars run "because they don't feel bad" are doing serious damage to their eyes, kidneys, hearts, and nervous systems.

Suppose you have diabetes, and don't want the complications. Suppose you don't know you have diabetes, but you're from a high-risk group (maybe someone in your family has or had diabetes), and you want to cut the risks. Or, suppose you just want to feel better.
It's all the same - Your early detection, education, and prevention work best.

Don't wait 'til it hurts. Ask your doctor about diabetes and have your blood sugar checked several times a year.

For more information about diabetes, including a Diabetes Quiz and a Free booklet, visit our website at: http://hope4diabetes.com/info
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It could help you live a longer and more active life. The booklet is Yours absolutely FREE - No Risk! Share it NOW with the people you love and want to Keep alive!.
David Anderson Freelance healthwriter at Hope4Diabetes.com


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Diabetes Defined

- Type I and Type II Diabetes

The word diabetes is a familiar one with most people. Unfortunately, its familiarity stems from the fact that so many people have been afflicted with this disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that nearly 180 million people worldwide have diabetes. If current trends continue, by the year 2010, there will be nearly 250 million diabetics around the world.

The disease is characterized by the body's impaired ability or failure to process glucose (a form of sugar) in the bloodstream because of the lack / absence of insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas that processes blood sugar into a form that the cells in the body can use for energy.

Without the proper processing of sugar, the body either becomes hyperglycemic (too much sugar) or hypoglycemic (too little sugar). Both are dangerous as it can make the body react in any number of ways such as weakened kidneys, impaired nervous system, loss of sight and in some extreme cases, coma.

Diabetes takes on two kinds of forms, and they differ from each other primarily through the means by which the disease is contracted.

The first type of diabetes (Type I) is contracted genetically. Most of the patients of this type are boys and girls of around 15 years old. It is because of this trend that experts have interchanged the term Type I diabetes with Juvenile Onset Diabetes.

The disease works by fooling the body's immune system into thinking that the cells responsible for producing insulin are harmful. The islets of Langerhans (as these cells are called) are attacked by the immune system, rendering the islets unable to produce the necessary hormone to process blood sugar.

Diabetics of this type need to have insulin administered regularly into their system. As of now, the most common method for delivering the hormone is through injections. Other delivery systems are also being developed, the most recent of which is an oral spray that eliminates the need for hypodermic needles. This measure simply manages the condition but does not fully address the problem of curing it.

Short of a pancreas transplant, there is no cure for Type I diabetes. And even then, the risks are considerable making anyone think twice before undergoing the procedure. This is because transplanted organs run the risk of being rejected by the recipient's body even if blood types match.

However, should the transplant prove successful, the diabetic may no longer have the need to have insulin artificially introduced into his / her body. A trade off exists in that in order to prevent organ rejection, the patient will have to take immuno-suppressive drugs throughout their lifetime, which may make him / her more susceptible to infections than usual.

Even then, most patients who have undergone the procedure say that it is a price they are willing to pay in exchange for a life free of needles and in fear of the complications the disease brings.

Type II diabetes

Of the total number of cases of diabetes worldwide, Type II accounts for more than 90 percent. Until recently, Type II diabetes was also called Adult Onset Diabetes, with the average age of a symptomatic patient around 40 years of age. But the increasing number of cases of children acquiring this type of the disease has led experts into setting this term aside.

Type II diabetes is characterized by the body's impaired ability / failure to process sugar despite the presence of insulin-producing cells. The pancreas cannot keep up with the demand to produce enough insulin to process sugar in the body.

The cause for Type II diabetes is a lot less ominous than the first one. Whereas Type I is genetic, where the patient has no control over it, the second type of diabetes is usually brought about by a lifestyle of poor eating and exercise habits.

Doctors and research scientists alike are finding more and more the direct proportion of obesity to Type II diabetes. Findings show that overweight and obese individuals are very likely to contract the disease and their chances of succumbing to the complications brought by the disease increase significantly.

This is perhaps what makes Type II diabetes such an alarming situation. Many experts feel that the number of people (over 160 million) living with this disease need not be as great had they observed proper diet and exercise.

To manage the disease, Type II diabetics are instructed to exercise regularly, limit their carbohydrate and sugar intake and when absolutely necessary, have insulin administered artificially.

More research is done to resolve the disease and each step brings medicine closer to a solution. But for now the good news lies in that with proper care and observance of the instructions, a diabetic of either the first or second type can still live a full and productive life.