About Diabetes

Kevin Sinclair asked:


Diabetes is a disease caused by the inability of the body to properly produce insulin, a hormone that helps the body convert food to energy. In type 1 diabetes the body does not produce insulin at all. This type of diabetes is usually diagnosed during childhood. In type 2 diabetes the body does not produce enough insulin or it produces insulin which is ineffective in regulating the body’s blood sugar levels. This type of diabetes is usually diagnosed later in life and is commonly called adult onset diabetes.

Diabetes is an important health concern because incidence of the disease worldwide is increasing. It is also associated with other health risks and is expensive to treat and control. Also, diabetes is a major cause of death worldwide.

The number of cases of diabetes is increasing around the world. The incidence of diabetes in 1995 numbered about 135 million worldwide, about 4.0% of the population. Diabetes affected 170 million people in 2000 and is projected to affect about 300 million people by 2025, about 5.4% of the population. India, China, and the United States have the largest number of cases.

In a recent year direct medical expenses in the United States for diabetes totaled $92 billion, up from $44 billion five years earlier, according to the American Diabetes Association. Another $40 billion was spent on permanent disability expenses. Care for diabetes represents about 11% of the total health care expenditures in the United States. In 1997 annual health care costs for a person with diabetes averaged $10,071 and increased to $13,243 by 2002. That annual rate is more than 5 times greater than the average annual health care costs for a person without diabetes. Also diabetes accounted for an annual loss of about 88 million disability days.

The mortality rate for people with diabetes runs about 5.2% of all deaths according to the World Health Organization. In 2000 about 2.9 million deaths worldwide were caused by diabetes. In another 4.5 million deaths diabetes was a contributing factor.

The good news is that type 2 diabetes can be delayed or prevented from ever developing. Before people develop type 2 diabetes, they nearly always develop the condition known as “pre-diabetes.” This condition occurs when blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Studies have shown that people with a pre-diabetic condition can control the condition with lifestyle changes or with medicine. With reasonable treatment they can greatly increase their chances that they will never develop diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association created a publication called, “The Prevention or Delay of Type 2 Diabetes.” The following are some of the findings and recommendations from the ADA.

About 41 million Americans have the pre-diabetic condition. There are two tests commonly used by physicians to determine whether a person has pre-diabetes. One test is called the fasting plasma glucose test, or FPG, and the other is called the oral glucose tolerance test, or OGTT. Both tests have a normal range and a diabetic range. The range in between indicates the pre-diabetic condition.

The FPG test is more convenient to patients, less expensive, and easier to administer than the OGTT test. On the other hand the OGTT will detect more cases of glucose intolerance and undiagnosed diabetes than the FTP test. Either test should be repeated in 3 year intervals.

Once a diabetic or pre-diabetic condition has been diagnosed, a person has two choices of treatment. One strategy is to use lifestyle modifications such as a change in diet and an increase in physical activity, and the other strategy is to use glucose-lowering drugs that have been approved for treating diabetes. Studies indicate that the drug therapy is about half as effective as the diet and exercise therapy in delaying the onset of diabetes. Lifestyle changes have been proven effective as a way to prevent type 2 diabetes from developing from the pre-diabetic condition. Diet and exercise, in many cases, are able to return the blood glucose levels to the normal range.

Lifestyle changes include a combination of losing 5% to 10% of body weight, reducing total fat calorie intake, reducing saturated fat calorie intake, increasing fiber intake, and exercising at least 150 minutes per week. One study, called the Diabetes Prevention Program study, showed that a treatment using the combination of 30 minutes per day of moderate physical activity and a 5% to 10% reduction in body weight resulted in a 58% reduction in the incidence of diabetes.

The type of physical activity recommended by the ADA includes aerobic exercise, strength training, and flexibility exercises. The goal of the aerobic exercise is to increase heart rate, raise the breathing rate, and exercise the muscles. The goal is to exercise for 30 minutes a day, 5 days per week. The 30 minutes can be split into 10 minute intervals. This type of activity includes brisk walking or running, dancing, swimming or water aerobics, skating, tennis, bike riding, gardening, and house cleaning. Strength training, performed several times a week, helps to build more muscle, making everyday chores easier, and helps to burn more calories, even at rest. Flexibility exercise, simple stretching, helps to keep joints flexible and helps to reduce chances for injury during other activities.

Dietary changes are an important part of a pre-diabetes treatment. A body mass index test (BMI) can be administered and calculated easily. A BMI test result that is greater than 25 means that a person is above their ideal weight and a person with a BMI result greater than 30 is considered obese. The goal in the first instance is to decrease body weight by 5% and in the second instance by up to 10%. It is recommended that a person consult a physician who can help to develop a dietary plan that will achieve the desired weight loss.

The effects of type 2 diabetes are expensive and dangerous to one’s health. Fortunately, diabetes can be delayed or prevented by adopting a reasonable program of diet, weight control, and exercise.

Josephine

killing me softly asked:


My sister has type 1 diabetes, and she told me that I have a good chance of getting it too because our great grandfather and his mother had diabetes. A lot of other people in my family have it, on my mom’s side. What are my chances of getting Type 1 diabetes?

Joe

Diabetes Info asked:


On “The Sopranos,” Aida Turturro plays the kooky sister of a mob boss – an aging hippie whose New Age mantras served as a wake-up call for her brother as he recovered from a life-threatening gunshot wound. In real life, it was Turturro who had the wake-up call three years ago when her doctor sat her down and warned her about the damage type 2 diabetes could be doing to her body.

The actress, who was initially diagnosed in 2001, knew it was time to get her blood sugars under control. Working with her doctor, a nutritionist and other specialists, Turturro learned how to balance the busy life of an actor with the detailed diet, exercise and insulin therapy demands of her disease.

Priority Publications: How has diabetes changed your life?

Aida Turturro: I have a lot of details to think about every single day. I need to do a lot of planning about food. When I take a car ride, I can’t stop at McDonald’s. I have to think, “Do I have a half an apple with me?” Every time I go away, like for filming, I have to make sure I have my insulin and all my supplies.

PP: Do you think the demands of your career as an actor have made it harder or easier to manage your diabetes?

AT: I don’t think I have it harder. But sometimes I’m on the set, we’re filming in some weird location and it’s really hard. I have to watch the time and watch my food and sometimes it’s like, “Guys, can you get me some turkey?” It’s hard for me if I’m getting up and filming at 4 a.m. and the next day it’s 11 a.m. As a diabetic, you want to keep a regular schedule, like one meal at nine o’clock and one meal at one o’clock. But you can’t always do that [on the set].

PP: What about scenes where you are supposed to be eating?

AT: I either don’t eat or I tell them, “Just give me vegetables.” If it’s a wine thing, I can’t drink the grape juice [they use] because it’s filled with sugar. So I have them go get this dye they use [in water]. I don’t eat the pasta. They know on the set, so they’re fine when I say, “I won’t eat that.”

PP: Has diabetes ever interfered with your career?

AT: It’s never stopped me from going to work. There are days I have a little struggle, but nobody knows at work. But, you know, I feel so much better [since seeking treatment]. For a while there, because I was out of control with my blood sugars, I was up and down, moody. And I was wiped out for a while – really exhausted. Now, I’ve got my energy back and I do 80,000 things.

PP: In that sense, would you say this has been a positive experience for you?

AT: I wouldn’t say it was positive. I think that it’s hard. I wish I didn’t have it. It’s a lot of work. But I’m grateful that I have it in a time when, with hard work, you can live a very healthy life.

PP: You’ve been visiting hospitals and speaking with other diabetics about your experience. What’s your motivating force?

AT: I’ve seen how much it helps other people. Even if I get one person to start taking care of themselves, then I’ve helped somebody.

Rick

Jack Stanley asked:


Diabetes is widely considered a chronic illness during childhood. They attack the children at any age, including preschool children and even toddlers. Al if so, diabetes among children is often diagnosed late, when the child is diabetic ketoacidosis (ACD), or it is totally wrong. In many parts of the world, insulin, the main life-saving medicines that children with diabetes need to survive, is not available (or is available but unused for reasons of economy, Geography or restrictions on supply). Consequently, many children are dying of diabetes, particularly in countries with low and medium income. The closest to the child as the family, school staff, family physician, May no knowledge of the first indications. The World Diabetes Day 2007 and 2008 campaigns wanted this challenge and deeply the message that “no child should die of diabetes.” Today, beyond 240 million people worldwide are suffering from diabetes. Inside the next 20 years, this number is expected to advance to 380 million dollars. The children are not safe from this global epidemic, with its untenable and potentially fatal complications. Type 1 diabetes is increasing by 3% per year among children and adolescents, and a fear of 5% per year among children of preschool age. An estimated 70000 children under 15 years is struck by type 1 diabetes each year (nearly 200 children per day). Of the approximately 440000 cases of Type 1 diabetes among children worldwide, more than a quarter live in Southeast Asia, and more than a fifth in Europe. Type 2 diabetes was once seen as a disease of adults. Today, this type of diabetes is shocking to move rates among children and adolescents. In the USA, it is estimated that type 2 diabetes covers between 8 and 45% of new cases of diabetes in children by geographic region. Over a period of 20 years, type 2 diabetes has doubled among children in Japan and accordingly, it is more common than type 1. In the indigenous and children in North America and Australia, the incidence rate of type 2 diabetes ranges from 1.3 to 5.3%. Diabetes has an effect on children and their families. The daily life of children is thwarted by the need to control blood sugar, be subjected to drugs, and balance the impact of the activity and food. Diabetes can disrupt the normal development needs of childhood and adolescence, which include succeed in school and mature into adulthood. To help children and families cope, and make sure that the best possible physical and emotional health of the child is there, care should be provided by a multidisciplinary team with a good awareness on issues Pediatrics. Back-up must also be given to care and school staff. In this way, children with type 1 or type 2 diabetes can enter adulthood with the least possible negative effect on their well-being. For children with diabetes in developing countries the condition at present is bad. The 2007 campaign aims to raise awareness of the high prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents. Early diagnosis and education are of paramount importance in reducing complications and save lives. The health care community, educators, parents and guardians must combine effectively to help children living with diabetes, preventing the state of people at risk, and remove the unnecessary death and disability.

Evelyn