Aging and Disease

Today, most people with diabetes are only treating the symptoms. And many medications given to people with diabetes are actually
compounding the underlying cause of the disease.

The best way to manage your diabetic condition is to address the
actual cause. Doesn’t that make more sense? So let’s look at what
type 2 diabetes really is.

The Simple Explanation

Other than the genes you inherited, there are two primary causes of diabetes:

1) a long-term diet that has been high in carbohydrates, and

2) nutritional deficiencies.

Your body breaks down carbohydrates into sugar (glucose) which then enters your blood stream. The more carbohydrates consumed, the higher your blood sugar goes. In response, your body produces insulin. Insulin’s job is to push the blood sugar into the cells so they can use it for energy.

On the surface of the cells in your body are insulin receptors, which act like little doors that open and close to regulate the inflow of blood sugar.

After many years of consuming a high-carbohydrate diet, your cells have been bombarded with so much insulin that these doors begin to malfunction and shut down.

With fewer of these doors open, your body needs to produce even more insulin to push the glucose into the cells. More insulin causes even more doors to close and as this vicious cycle continues a condition called “insulin resistance” sets in.

When your body can no longer produce enough insulin to push the blood sugar into the cells, type 2 diabetes develops. It is simply an extreme case of insulin resistance.

The key point for you to understand is that your energy, wellness and longevity are primarily dependent on improving the sensitivity of your cells to insulin — how well your cells open and close the doors and clear sugar from the blood.

What’s the Bottom Line?

Since type 2 diabetes is really a severe case of insulin resistance, the solution to your condition is to find a way to increase the sensitivity of your cells to insulin and help your body get the sugar out of the blood and into the cells so it can be metabolized and turned into energy. (This inability to metabolize sugar is one of the reasons why most diabetics often feel tired and fatigued.)

The Deadly Effects of Excess Insulin

Your “metabolism” is the food processing and energy production system of your body. It is made up of many extremely fine-tuned internal processes, and can be thrown off by even the tiniest of imbalances.

Insulin is the master hormone of your metabolism. When it is out of balance and your insulin levels are consistently elevated, a long list of deadly complications are created:

* Heart Disease
* Hardening of the Arteries
* Damage to Artery Wallsv
* Increased Cholesterol Levels
* Vitamin & Mineral Deficiencies
* Kidney Disease
* Fat Burning Mechanism Shutdown
* Accumulation & Storage of Fat
* Weight Gain

In his best-selling book, “Protein Power,” Dr. Michael Eades wrote, “When insulin levels become too high… metabolic havoc ensues with elevated blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, diabetes, and obesity all trailing in its wake. These disorders are merely symptoms of a single more basic disturbance in metabolism, excess insulin and insulin resistance.”

Nutritional Deficiencies from Excess Insulin

Science has shown that excess insulin also causes your body to become deficient in many vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. It’s a proven fact that being deficient in these nutrients is directly linked to and a cause of high blood sugar levels.

Chromium

Chromium is essential to proper metabolism and maintaining safe sugar levels. Excess insulin depletes your body’s chromium. In “Protein Power,” Dr. Eades further states, “The insulin receptor, the structure on the surfaces of your cells that actually become resistant to insulin, requires chromium to function properly. Deficiency of chromium is rampant – it affects 90% of the American population – because a diet high in starch and sugar puts a heavy demand on the insulin system to handle the incoming carbohydrate load, and that demand depletes chromium.”

Chromium is critical to blood sugar metabolism and, and as a diabetic you can be pretty sure that you are severely deficient in this nutrient. If you ever wondered where your “sweet tooth” and sugar cravings come from, now you know – chromium deficiency!

Calcium and Magnesium are also depleted by excess insulin, which can cause many problems, as they are critical to over 200 biochemical processes in your body.

Other very important nutrients that excess insulin causes
deficiencies in are Zinc, Selenium, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Vanadium, B Complex vitamins, essential fatty acids, and many more.

Now that you know how and why people develop type 2 diabetes and know some of the consequences of not controlling your blood sugar level, here are your choices:

You can continue on with what you’ve been doing…

Or you can research the science and testimonials surrounding
Glyconutrients.

Fortunately, your body has miraculous healing powers, is very
resilient and operates in a very intelligent manner. If you give it the right fuel and the right nutrients, it will respond very quickly. Some exercise and the right attitude also help!

The first step is to switch your body from an out-of-control,
nutrient-depleting and fat-storing machine into a clean, nutrient-rich, fat-burning machine!

To do this you must:

1) Restrict the carbohydrates in your diet, and
2) Take the right nutritional supplements.

These two actions are not optional or negotiable! Your body will only burn fat (and properly utilize nutrients) if its metabolism is balanced. Doing 1 and 2 above on a regular basis is the only way to address the root cause of your diabetic problem and balance your body’s metabolism for the long-term.

Jason Carriere is an alternative health advocate and wellness crusader, specializing in glyconutrient education.

Tags: Cancer, Aging

Popularity: 2% [?]

Diabetes affects the manner in which the body handles carbohydrates, fats and proteins. If neglected, diabetes can have serious complications. The diabetic people have high blood sugar level. The blood sugar level is regulated by insulin – a hormone produced by the pancreas, which depends on your eating habits.

The symptoms of diabetes included excessive urination, excessive thirst and hunger, sudden weight loss, blurred vision, delay in healing of wounds, dry and itchy skin, repeated infections, fatigue and headache. These diabetes symptoms may be due to other reasoons also.

There are two different types of diabetes.

Type I Diabetes (juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes): The reason for type I diabetes is due to pancreas unability to produce insulin.

Type II Diabetes (non insulin dependent diabetes or adult onset diabetes): This diabetes is a result of body tissues becoming resistant to insulin. It is usually hereditary.

If neglected, diabetes can lead to various complications such as damage to the kidneys, heart disease, nerve damage, hypoglycemia (drastic reduction in glucose levels). Diabetes is a serious disease and there is no treatment of it. However, it can be brought under control by proper diabetes diet plan. Fortunately, with a healthy lifestyle and with diet management you can lead a healthy life.

Copyright 2005 P. Mehta http://www.fatfreekitchen.com

[You have permission to publish this article in your web sites, ezines or electronic publication, as long as the piece is used in its entirety including the resource box, all hyperlinks (clickable) and references and copyright info.]

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This article has been written by http://www.fatfreekitchen.com For more information on diabetes and how to manage it, visit the web site
Diabetes Symptoms, Diabetes Types & Causes
Please note that this article is not a subsitute for medical advise.

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Tags: Disease, Health

Popularity: 2% [?]

The question of acid reflux being a hereditary condition has not been researched
very often. However, specialists have concluded that genetically speaking the
chances of getting this disease by inheritance may account for 50% of the
sufferers. They have also concluded so far that the other 50% is due to diet.

Of all the digestive diseases in the world, acid reflux is considered to be the
most common. It is estimated that nearly 1 in 5 people suffer from acid being
regurgitated into the mouth and esophagus and/or heartburn. It is also known
that a regular cycle of acid reflux occurrences gives people a higher risk of
getting esophageal cancer.

In July 2003, scientists did studies with 2000 pairs of non-identical and
identical twins, and found that 43% of the total who suffered frequent
gastrointestinal symptoms and the chances of them developing acid reflux, were
suffering or would suffer do to hereditary genetics. However, whether acid
reflux is hereditary or not, there are other main causes. It is known that
there are at a minimum of ten possible considerations.

Coffee, tea and other caffeinated beverages account for the first possible
cause. These trigger problems by relaxing the digestive system and let the
stomach’s contents to regurgitate into the esophagus.

The second possibility is chocolate which contains known amounts of theobromine.

This can relax the esophageal sphincter, allowing stomach acid to spurt back
into the esophagus.

Fatty and fried foods are another possible culprit. Such foods stay in the
stomach a lot longer and reduce the speed of digestion. This causes
over-filling of the stomach and the risk of food regurgitation.

Tomatoes and foods containing tomatoes can also cause acid reflux. Again,
tomatoes and the like will relax the digestive system.

Alcohol helps to increase the amount of acid in the stomach. It also relaxes
the digestive system, greatly increases the risks.

Another troublemaker is tobacco smoking. As cigarette chemicals enter the lungs
and the blood, they also impede on the ability of the digestive system and
esophagus to work properly.

Meal sizes are a critical factor. Too large a meal over fills the stomach and
can prevent the esophageal sphincter (lower) from closing. Again, the chance of
regurgitating food into the esophagus increases.

Citric juices and fruits can relax the lower esophagael sphincter. It can also
add further acid to the stomach.

Food consumption in the few hours before going to bed is a definite trigger.
Once you lie down with a full stomach the pressure is increased on the lower
esophageal sphincter.

Finally, tight fitting clothes and belts can impede on digestion. Anything that
puts pressure on the abdominal area will do the same to the stomach. This will
force food out of the stomach and into the esophagus.

Tags: Cancer, Disease

Popularity: 3% [?]

Pericardial Mesothelioma is an extremely difficult cancer to treat and presently, all treatment methods used have a poor success rate. The chances of a patient’s survival depend largely on how early and how aggressively the cancer is treated. If pericardial mesothelioma is treated when it has fully matured and developed then the chances of survival are very slim and the prognosis for a patient could be only a couple of months.

The latency period of pericardial mesothelioma (30 – 50 years), and its symptoms which are ordinary of other more common diseases such as pneumonia, make it extremely difficult to diagnose and therefore difficult to treat in its early stages. In this way, a lot of pericardial mesothelioma treatments do not aim to cure patients but instead focus on reducing the symptoms.

Before a patient is treated, a doctor will evaluate him or her, and afterwards decide which treatment method is most suitable for the patient’s situation. The patient’s age, medical history, general well being and even weight are taken into account before the doctor will decide which of the three treatments are most appropriate. These treatments are surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Surgery

There are two different types of surgery that can be used one of which is called aggressive surgery. This is the most dangerous of all the treatment methods available and only the fittest of people are deemed strong enough to undergo this. Aggressive surgery consists of removing large chunks of cancerous cells from inside the patient. This is extremely dangerous in the case of pericardial mesothelioma seeing as the cancerous cells are in extremely close proximity to vital organs such as the heart and lungs. Extremely skilled surgeons are needed to perform this operation.

The second type of surgery is palliative procedures and this type of surgery is used only for the purpose of reducing the symptoms of the cancer. Palliative procedures are performed when pericardial mesothelioma is in its latest stages and is practically impossible to cure.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the most well known cure of cancers and involves using drugs to kill of cancerous cells. However, many of the drugs used do not have a high success rate although researchers are discovering new combinations of drugs that work more effectively. Many pharmaceutical companies are also endeavouring to find new drugs. Researchers predict that they will soon discover a drug with a significantly improved success rate.

Radiation Therapy

This form of treatment uses doses of radiation to kill cancerous cells. However, in the case of pericardial mesothelioma this is extremely difficult because as well as damaging cancerous cells, the radiation also damages vital organs such as the heart and lungs. This makes using radiation therapy most effectively extremely difficult. The dose of radiation is usually too weak to make a significant impact on curing pericardial mesothelioma.

Dual Therapy

Dual therapy is just a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This consists of using surgery to remove the majority of the cancer cells and then using chemotherapy and radiation therapy to kill off any remaining cells. This has proved to be an effective treatment method however also very dangerous. Only the fittest young people are able to undergo this treatment.

For more information on pericardial mesothelioma such as the risks, causes, symptoms and treatments go to:

http://www.pericardialmesothelioma.co.uk
http://www.pericardial-mesothelioma.co.uk
http://www.asbestos-resource.co.uk

Tags: Health, Illness

Popularity: 1% [?]

Diabetes affects around 16 million Americans and about 800,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Diabetes attacks men, women, children and the elderly. It spares no race.

Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, blindness in Adults and amputations. It is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and birth defects and it shortens life expectancy by up to 15 years. So you can see what I am up against. It is up to me to make sure that none of these things ever happen to my daughter. My daughter Ashley has Diabetes Type 1. She will be 10 years old March 15th. Ashley has been a diabetic for 5 years.

Five years ago I was totally overwhelmed by all that information. I felt helpless and depressed. I was sure this was a death sentence for my daughter. This was because of my total ignorance of Diabetes. A person can live a full life with Diabetes. It just takes some extra care. A good diet plays an important part in a Diabetics life. They need to put together a meal plan with their doctor & dietitian. My daughter has several meals a day. She has breakfast, a snack, lunch, a snack, dinner & another snack. She has these meals at the same time every day. This is important. It helps keep her body on a schedule and her blood sugar regulated. Skipping meals and snacks may lead to large swings in blood sugar readings. To keep blood sugar levels near normal a Diabetic must balance the food they eat with the insulin the body gets from injections and with physical activities. Blood sugar monitoring gives you the information you need to help with this balancing. Near normal blood sugar readings will help you feel better. Normal is between 70 and 120. They will also reduce your chances of complications.

Lets talk about how a Diabetic needs to eat. Everyone needs to eat nutritious foods. Our good health depends on eating a variety of foods that contain the right amount of Carbohydrate, Protein, Fat, Vitamins, Minerals, Fiber and Water. Carbohydrate, Protein and Fat are found in the food that you eat. They supply your body with energy. Your body needs insulin to use this energy. Insulin is made in the pancreas. If you have Diabetes, either your pancreas is no longer producing insulin or your body can’t use the insulin it is making. So your blood sugar levels are not normal.

Starch and Sugar in foods are Carbohydrates. You can find starch in breads, pasta, cereal, potatoes, beans, peas and lentils. Natural sugars are in fruits, milk and vegetables. There are added sugars in desserts, candy, jam and syrup. All of these Carbohydrates can affect your blood sugar. When you eat Carbohydrates they turn into glucose and travel in your bloodstream. Insulin helps the glucose enter the beta cells in your pancreas where it can be turned into energy and stored. Eating the same amount of Carbohydrate daily at meals and snacks can help you control your blood sugar levels. Protein is in meats, poultry, fish, milk and other dairy products, eggs, beans, peas and lentils. Starches and vegetables have small amounts of protein. The body uses protein for growth, maintenance and energy. Your body needs insulin to use the protein you eat.

Fat is in margarine, butter, oils, salad dressings, nuts, seeds, milk, cheese, meat, fish, poultry, snack food, ice-cream and desserts. There are three different types of fat. Monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated. Everyone should eat less saturated fats found in meats, dairy products, coconut, palm or palm kernel oil, and hardened shortening.

Saturated fats can raise your blood levels of cholesterol. The fats that are best are the monounsaturated fats found in canola oil, olive oil, nuts, and avocado. The polyunsaturated fats found in corn oil, soybean oil, or sunflower oil are good too. After you eat fat it travels through your bloodstream. You need insulin to store fat in the cells of your body. Fats are used for energy.

So you can see what a big role insulin plays in your body. Good diet is very important for a Diabetic. Excersize is also very important. A Diabetic can live a healthy full life if they do three things. Eat healthy, Excersize, and inject the right amount of insulin. It takes dedication and hard work. But in the end it is totally worth it because it is your life.

Devoting her last 8 years to Diabetes Education, Kimberly maintains her website ElviraDarkNight.com and publishes the Living Life as a Diabetic Newsletter as well as dispatches donated Diabetic supplies to needie individuals without Health Insurance. Kim would like to personally invite you to become informed on issues of Health, Nutrition & Diabetes.

Tags: Medical, Aging

Popularity: 1% [?]