Type 2 Diabetes Information
Per the American Diabetes Association
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. Millions of Americans have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and many more are unaware they are at high risk. Some groups have a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes than others.
Type 2 diabetes is more common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, as well as the aged population.
In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use glucose for energy. When you eat food, the body breaks down all of the sugars and starches into glucose, which is the basic fuel for the cells in the body. Insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can lead to diabetes complications.
Type 2 diabetes is more common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, as well as the aged population.
In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use glucose for energy. When you eat food, the body breaks down all of the sugars and starches into glucose, which is the basic fuel for the cells in the body. Insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can lead to diabetes complications.
Even mild exercise can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes
Endocrinologists recommend that just taking a 15 minute moderately paced walk after every meal will help regulate overall blood sugar for those predisposed to getting type 2 diabetes.
A study in the June 2013 issue of Diabetes Care by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services showed that waiting a half hour after your meal and then walking for just 15 minutes controls blood sugar in adults.
Diabetes is the 5th highest killer in the U.S. after heart disease, cancer, storke and respiratory illnesses. More than 70,000 Americans die of it each year according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
The American Diabetes Association Web site provides a great deal more information. After reading the information provided on this page enroll in their Living with Type 2 Diabetes Program to get recipes, support, tips, etc. and listen to information.
A study in the June 2013 issue of Diabetes Care by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services showed that waiting a half hour after your meal and then walking for just 15 minutes controls blood sugar in adults.
Diabetes is the 5th highest killer in the U.S. after heart disease, cancer, storke and respiratory illnesses. More than 70,000 Americans die of it each year according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
The American Diabetes Association Web site provides a great deal more information. After reading the information provided on this page enroll in their Living with Type 2 Diabetes Program to get recipes, support, tips, etc. and listen to information.
Famous People with Type 2 Diabetes
These well known people have Type 2 Diabetes and have generally treated their condition by exercising more, watching their diet and losing weight:
Tom Hanks, Billie Jean King, Larry King, Paula Dean, Ben Vereen, Sherri Shepherd, Patti LaBelle.
Tom Hanks, Billie Jean King, Larry King, Paula Dean, Ben Vereen, Sherri Shepherd, Patti LaBelle.
Antipsychotic Drugs and Diabetes
Older people with diabetes who begin taking antipsychotic medications (also known as neuroleptics or major tranquilizers) could be at greater risk for elevated blood sugar levels.
Effective Injected Medication for Type 2 Diabetes
If oral medication is not enough to control your blood glucose levels, your doctor may prescribe an injected medication other than insulin. Known as incretin mimetics, drugs in this class of type 2 diabetes medications mimic the action of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), an incretin hormone that triggers insulin production after a meal.
Exenatide (Byetta) was the first GLP-1 to hit the market, followed by liraglutide (Victoza® )Byetta and Victoza® act only when blood glucose levels are high, so they should not cause hypoglycemia. As blood glucose decreases, these medications stop stimulating insulin release.
GLP-1 medications are injected medications that are taken in addition to oral medications. People inject Byetta twice daily at meal time; Victoza® requires only one injection per day and does not have to be taken with meals, though it must be taken at the same time each day. Both drugs can cause significant weight loss by decreasing appetite.
Nausea is the most common side effect. Vomiting and diarrhea may also occur.
Because Byetta slows the absorption of oral drugs, you may need to take certain medications at least one hour before an injection of Byetta. There is some concern that Victoza® may increase the risk of pancreatitis and thyroid cancer. Because these are new drugs, their long-term effects are still unknown.
For more information Google Byetta and Victoza or go to www.victoza.com/index.aspx
Exenatide (Byetta) was the first GLP-1 to hit the market, followed by liraglutide (Victoza® )Byetta and Victoza® act only when blood glucose levels are high, so they should not cause hypoglycemia. As blood glucose decreases, these medications stop stimulating insulin release.
GLP-1 medications are injected medications that are taken in addition to oral medications. People inject Byetta twice daily at meal time; Victoza® requires only one injection per day and does not have to be taken with meals, though it must be taken at the same time each day. Both drugs can cause significant weight loss by decreasing appetite.
Nausea is the most common side effect. Vomiting and diarrhea may also occur.
Because Byetta slows the absorption of oral drugs, you may need to take certain medications at least one hour before an injection of Byetta. There is some concern that Victoza® may increase the risk of pancreatitis and thyroid cancer. Because these are new drugs, their long-term effects are still unknown.
For more information Google Byetta and Victoza or go to www.victoza.com/index.aspx
Diabetes Facts & Projections
- 29.1 million Americans currently have diabetes and an additional 86 million have pre-diabetes. 1 in 4 Americans 65+ have diabetes.
- In the next 25 years, the number of Americans with diabetes will grow to over 44 million people and the cost of treatment will triple according to a report by the University of Chicago.
Your weight and Type 2 Diabetes
The association’s Website www.diabetes.org/ indicates the most common risk factor is being overweight. Family history, high blood pressure and heart disease are also major contributing factors to the development of type 2 diabetes. The direct medical cost of treating Americans with diabetes will rise from $113 billion annually to $336 billion, according to the U of C report.
According to the Centers for Disease Control even “modest” weight loss will reduce the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes. Regular exercise and improvement in diet, lowered the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 58%.
The diabetic population covered by Medicare alone is predicted to rise from 8.2 million to 14.6 million people, with annual treatment costs reaching $171 billion. Out of the 23.7 million Americans currently suffering from diabetes, 90% have type 2 diabetes. This makes it the most preventable of all major illnesses.
According to the Centers for Disease Control even “modest” weight loss will reduce the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes. Regular exercise and improvement in diet, lowered the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 58%.
The diabetic population covered by Medicare alone is predicted to rise from 8.2 million to 14.6 million people, with annual treatment costs reaching $171 billion. Out of the 23.7 million Americans currently suffering from diabetes, 90% have type 2 diabetes. This makes it the most preventable of all major illnesses.
Drink red wine
A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that moderate intake of wine (particularly red wine) among diabetics as part of a healthy diet actually decreased their cardio-metabolic risk or their risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
Eating More Red Meat Increases Type 2 Diabetes Risk
Several studies have linked increased consumption of red meat to type 2 diabetes.
Nutritionists examined a database of information about 150,000 men and women who filled out dietary questionnaires every four years. Notably, they were asked how many servings (equal to 3 ounces) of unprocessed red meat (beef, lamb, pork) and various servings of processed red meat (bacon, sausage, salami, bologna) they ate each day.
The findings. Over four years, people who increased their intake of red meat by just a half serving per day, on average, were 30 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than men and women whose consumption remained stable after accounting for weight gain. Reducing meat intake by half a serving per day, on average, was associated with a modest decreased risk for type 2 diabetes (about 10 percent) in the long run.
People who consumed lots of processed red meat appeared to be most at risk for type 2 diabetes. This finding suggests that fat, a rich source of obesity-promoting calories, may be the culprit. Choose lean cuts of meat such as sirloin and top round, and get protein from a variety of sources, including poultry, fish and legumes.
This study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine (Volume 173, Page 1328).
Nutritionists examined a database of information about 150,000 men and women who filled out dietary questionnaires every four years. Notably, they were asked how many servings (equal to 3 ounces) of unprocessed red meat (beef, lamb, pork) and various servings of processed red meat (bacon, sausage, salami, bologna) they ate each day.
The findings. Over four years, people who increased their intake of red meat by just a half serving per day, on average, were 30 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than men and women whose consumption remained stable after accounting for weight gain. Reducing meat intake by half a serving per day, on average, was associated with a modest decreased risk for type 2 diabetes (about 10 percent) in the long run.
People who consumed lots of processed red meat appeared to be most at risk for type 2 diabetes. This finding suggests that fat, a rich source of obesity-promoting calories, may be the culprit. Choose lean cuts of meat such as sirloin and top round, and get protein from a variety of sources, including poultry, fish and legumes.
This study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine (Volume 173, Page 1328).
Diabetes results in other illness
According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes is the single leading cause of kidney failure. Many people suffering from diabetes also experience nerve and blood vessel damage.
For more information on diabetes go to www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/26/diabetes.projections/
For more information on diabetes go to www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/26/diabetes.projections/
Intensive Dieting And Exercise
The Key To Beating Type 2 Diabetes?
by Lily Sparrow
Everyone, whether they are suffering from a health condition or not is aware that they key to living a long and healthful life is to eat well and get the right sort of exercise for optimum nutrition and fitness.
This becomes ever more important in someone who is diagnosed with an illness or long term health problem which needs constant medication and monitoring. Such lifestyle interventions are particularly important in someone who has been diagnosed with diabetes and scientists believe they may have discovered a way to actually put Type 2 Diabetes into remission by following a simple formula.
by Lily Sparrow
Everyone, whether they are suffering from a health condition or not is aware that they key to living a long and healthful life is to eat well and get the right sort of exercise for optimum nutrition and fitness.
This becomes ever more important in someone who is diagnosed with an illness or long term health problem which needs constant medication and monitoring. Such lifestyle interventions are particularly important in someone who has been diagnosed with diabetes and scientists believe they may have discovered a way to actually put Type 2 Diabetes into remission by following a simple formula.
Intensive diet and fitness measures
A study, the results of which were interpreted by Edward Gregg who works for the Wake Forest School of Medicine in North Carolina, looked at data that had been collected from the results of a survey carried out by the Action For Health and Diabetes group (AHEAD).
In total there were four thousand five hundred and three participants all with Type 2 Diabetes that took part, all of them were either slightly overweight or obese.
They were split into two distinct groups, an “Intervention Group” and a “Non-Intervention Group”. The former underwent a complete lifestyle overhaul which included a strictly calorie controlled diet and an intense fitness program that meant they were exercising for three or more hours every week. The people in this group had to strictly limit their calorie intake to just one thousand two hundred a day, which was a marked reduction from their pre-survey diets.
The participants in the latter group were given a series of educational support and counselling sessions on how to manage their condition themselves and nothing else. They monitored their own diets and took little or no exercise.
The results of the study
It was found that the people who were part of the Intervention Group were more likely to experience either a total remission, or a partial remission from the signs and symptoms of their diabetes after a year of sticking rigorously to this regime than the people who were in the Non-Intervention Group, who had to solely rely on a counselling based method of support.
The scholars completing the research found that eleven and a half percent of the people in the Intervention Group who stuck to the changes had actually lowered their blood sugars back to a safe pre-diabetes level and could effectively stop taking their medication, whereas in the Non-Intervention group the success rate was only two percent.
This shows a definite trend towards strict, controlled dieting and energetic exercise being the key towards managing and combating the effects of Type 2 Diabetes. However, on a slightly less positive note it was found that of the people that had successfully managed to lower their blood sugars through use of this type of program, less than a third of them managed to maintain their blood sugar levels for the next four years, which led to the suggestion that while this type of intervention may work successfully for some, it wasn’t wholly successful for everyone. The study did go a long way to proving that the main key for assisting with the symptoms of diabetes is a sensible diet combined with regular, effective exercise that helped with weight loss for obese patients who were suffering from the condition.
It was also suggested that this type of treatment may also be successful in those people who have pre-diabetes or are suffering from impaired glucose tolerance after an initial glucose tolerance test. It may also be of benefit to patients who do have diabetes that requires some medical treatment but is not yet serious enough to require any kind of insulin therapy.
What the research telsl us
It seems the key to understanding diabetes really is to be careful about the types of foods that are eaten and keeping calorie intake regulated. In the early stages of diabetes diagnosis, especially if the patient is overweight or obese, blood sugars may fluctuate as weight is lost and the body begins to shed the extra pounds it is carrying.
Maintaining a strictly regulated, calorie controlled diet that is set at a maximum of one thousand two hundred every day may become too restrictive and impossible to keep up after a certain period of time or as the desired amount of weight is lost.
However, this study is the largest of its kind to ever have been completed on this matter that shows the long term results of dieting and exercise in combination do really work to actively lower blood sugar amongst suffers of Type 2 Diabetes.
It seems the key to understanding diabetes really is to be careful about the types of foods that are eaten and keeping calorie intake regulated.
From a Johns Hopkins Medical Alert
In total there were four thousand five hundred and three participants all with Type 2 Diabetes that took part, all of them were either slightly overweight or obese.
They were split into two distinct groups, an “Intervention Group” and a “Non-Intervention Group”. The former underwent a complete lifestyle overhaul which included a strictly calorie controlled diet and an intense fitness program that meant they were exercising for three or more hours every week. The people in this group had to strictly limit their calorie intake to just one thousand two hundred a day, which was a marked reduction from their pre-survey diets.
The participants in the latter group were given a series of educational support and counselling sessions on how to manage their condition themselves and nothing else. They monitored their own diets and took little or no exercise.
The results of the study
It was found that the people who were part of the Intervention Group were more likely to experience either a total remission, or a partial remission from the signs and symptoms of their diabetes after a year of sticking rigorously to this regime than the people who were in the Non-Intervention Group, who had to solely rely on a counselling based method of support.
The scholars completing the research found that eleven and a half percent of the people in the Intervention Group who stuck to the changes had actually lowered their blood sugars back to a safe pre-diabetes level and could effectively stop taking their medication, whereas in the Non-Intervention group the success rate was only two percent.
This shows a definite trend towards strict, controlled dieting and energetic exercise being the key towards managing and combating the effects of Type 2 Diabetes. However, on a slightly less positive note it was found that of the people that had successfully managed to lower their blood sugars through use of this type of program, less than a third of them managed to maintain their blood sugar levels for the next four years, which led to the suggestion that while this type of intervention may work successfully for some, it wasn’t wholly successful for everyone. The study did go a long way to proving that the main key for assisting with the symptoms of diabetes is a sensible diet combined with regular, effective exercise that helped with weight loss for obese patients who were suffering from the condition.
It was also suggested that this type of treatment may also be successful in those people who have pre-diabetes or are suffering from impaired glucose tolerance after an initial glucose tolerance test. It may also be of benefit to patients who do have diabetes that requires some medical treatment but is not yet serious enough to require any kind of insulin therapy.
What the research telsl us
It seems the key to understanding diabetes really is to be careful about the types of foods that are eaten and keeping calorie intake regulated. In the early stages of diabetes diagnosis, especially if the patient is overweight or obese, blood sugars may fluctuate as weight is lost and the body begins to shed the extra pounds it is carrying.
Maintaining a strictly regulated, calorie controlled diet that is set at a maximum of one thousand two hundred every day may become too restrictive and impossible to keep up after a certain period of time or as the desired amount of weight is lost.
However, this study is the largest of its kind to ever have been completed on this matter that shows the long term results of dieting and exercise in combination do really work to actively lower blood sugar amongst suffers of Type 2 Diabetes.
It seems the key to understanding diabetes really is to be careful about the types of foods that are eaten and keeping calorie intake regulated.
From a Johns Hopkins Medical Alert
Foot Care Advice for People With Diabetes
If you have diabetes, it's important to pay special attention to your feet. Diabetes can lead to nerve damage in the feet (peripheral neuropathy), which, in turn, can reduce your ability to feel sensations, like cold, heat or pain. Also, diabetes can impair circulation and wound healing by hardening and narrowing the arteries that supply blood to the legs (peripheral arterial disease, PAD).
A wound on your foot that doesn't heal can turn into an ulcer that may become infected. And if you have severe peripheral neuropathy, you may not even know it's there. Left untreated, or if treatment is unsuccessful, severe cases may require amputation.
What should you do? People with diabetes should follow the self-care measures described below.
Medical Disclaimer: The information on these pages is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician
A wound on your foot that doesn't heal can turn into an ulcer that may become infected. And if you have severe peripheral neuropathy, you may not even know it's there. Left untreated, or if treatment is unsuccessful, severe cases may require amputation.
What should you do? People with diabetes should follow the self-care measures described below.
- Inspect your feet each day. Contact your doctor promptly if you notice any infected toenails, swelling, sores, cuts, bruises, blisters or red spots that do not heal after a day. Also, call your doctor if you experience tingling, numbness or pain in your feet.
- Wear shoes and socks. Always wear footwear even when you're indoors. If you walk barefoot, it's easy to injure your feet without realizing it. Avoid wearing tight socks or garters or elastic bands to hold up socks because they can cut off circulation to your feet.
- Wash your feet daily. Use a gentle soap and warm water. If you have nerve damage and the water is so hot it scalds your skin, you may not notice it.
- Treat calluses and corns gently. If recommended by your doctor, gently file calluses and corns after bathing, using an emery board or pumice stone. Do not use chemicals, razor blades or other harsh methods to remove corns or calluses.
- Dry your feet thoroughly after bathing. Use a nonabrasive towel to gently blot dry your skin. And don't forget to dry the spaces in between your toes.
- Moisturize your feet. Apply a thin layer of skin cream to the top and bottom of each foot after drying your feet. Avoid putting lotion between your toes, where excess moisture can contribute to infection.
- Cut your toenails once a week. Cut the nails straight across without curving in at the edges. Cutting into the corners of the nails can lead to ingrown toenails. Also, avoid cutting your nails too short.
- Carefully wash any cuts or blisters. For cuts, use a mild antiseptic like Bactine and cover the cut with a dry, sterile dressing and paper tape. If you develop a blister, rub an antibiotic cream on it a few times daily until it heals. Never pop a blister.
- Avoid heat and cold. Feet can be damaged easily by cold surfaces or frostbite. Be sure to protect your feet from the cold during winter by wearing extra-warm socks and shoes or boots. Although most people never think of it, sun can be damaging to your feet as well. To avoid a sunburn if you're wearing sandals, apply sunscreen to your feet and keep them out of direct sunlight.
Medical Disclaimer: The information on these pages is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician