12 Ways To Manage Diabetes During Pregnancy

12 ways to manage diabetes during pregnancy

A healthy pregnancy is a priority for every mother-to-be, but for women who have diabetes, including those who are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, their health care can become more complex.
Women with diabetes who are diagnosed prior to pregnancy have a higher risk for complications, including miscarriage and birth defects. As the pregnancy progresses, women with diabetes are at risk for high blood pressure, preeclampsia, eclampsia, preterm and prolonged labor, cesarean section and its associated complications.
Up to 9.2 percent of women have gestational diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and for these women in particular, their babies have a higher risk for high birth weight and shoulder dystocia, a complication during delivery. Babies born with low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) will likely have to be in the NICU for a few days after birth.
The good news is that with a plan, healthy strategies and support, you can control your diabetes, have a healthy pregnancy, and deliver a healthy baby.
Follow these expert tips:
1. See your doctor before you get pregnant.
If you have diabetes and plan to conceive, you should talk to your doctor to make sure your A1C levels are normal, talk about medication if it’s necessary or ask for a referral to a nutritionist. Women with Type 1 diabetes should ask their doctors about a kidney function test, a thyroid test and an eye exam because other conditions can worsen, said Dr. Lois Jovanovic, an endocrinologist and clinical professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of S Continue reading

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Type 1 Diabetes vs. Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes affects over 29 million people in the United States, and 1 in 4 of those affected are unaware that they have diabetes.[1] Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in younger people and occurs when the body cannot produce enough insulin. In type 2 diabetes, the body cannot use the insulin it produces. This disease, frequently related to obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, and genetics, is most often diagnosed in adults, but incidence rates are increasing among teens in America.[2][3]
Comparison chart
Type 1 Diabetes versus Type 2 Diabetes comparison chart
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 2 Diabetes
Definition
Beta cells in pancreas are being attacked by body's own cells and therefore can't produce insulin to take sugar out of the blood stream. Insulin is not produced.
Diet related insulin release is so large and frequent that receptor cells have become less sensitive to the insulin. This insulin resistance results in less sugar being removed from the blood.
Diagnosis
Genetic, environmental and auto-immune factors, idiopathic
Genetic, obesity (central adipose), physical inactivity, high/low birth weight, GDM, poor placental growth, metabolic syndrome
Warning Signs
Increased thirst & urination, constant hunger, weight loss, blurred vision and extreme tiredness, glycouria
Feeling tired or ill, frequent urination (especially at night), unusual thirst, weight loss, blurred vision, frequent infections and slow wound healing, asymptomatic
Commonly Afflicted Groups
Children/teens
Adults, elderly, certain ethnic groups
Prone ethnic groups
All
more common in African American, Latino/Hispanic, Na Continue reading

What's the Difference Between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes?

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes share the problem of high levels of blood sugar. The inability to control blood sugar causes the symptoms and the complications of both types of diabetes. But type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are two different diseases in many ways. According to the latest (2014) estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 29.1 million people, or 9.3 percent of the U.S. population, have diabetes. Type 1 diabetes affects just 5 percent of those adults, with type 2 diabetes affecting up to 95 percent. Here’s what else you need to know to be health-savvy in the age of the diabetes epidemic.
What Causes Diabetes?
"Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease — the body's immune system attacks the cells in the pancreas that make insulin," a hormone, says Andjela Drincic, MD, associate professor of internal medicine in the division of diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The exact cause is not known, but it's probably a combination of the genes a person is born with and something in the environment that triggers the genes to become active.
"The cause of type 2 diabetes is multifactorial," says Dr. Drincic. "People inherit genes that make them susceptible to type 2, but lifestyle factors, like obesity and inactivity, are also important. In type 2 diabetes, at least in the early stages, there is enough insulin, but the body becomes resistant to it." Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include a family history of the disease, a poor diet, a sedentary lifestyle, and obesity. African-Americans Continue reading

12 Ways to Avoid Diabetes

Nearly 25 percent of Americans are thought to have prediabetes -- a condition of slightly elevated blood sugar levels that often develops into diabetes within 10 years -- but only 4 percent of people know it. What's worse, of those who are aware, less than half really tried to reduce their risk by losing weight, eating less, and exercising more.
These are just a few of the good-for-you habits that can reverse prediabetes and ensure you never get the real thing, which can mean a lifetime of drugs and blood sugar monitoring, an increased risk of heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and other scary health threats. Read on for 12 simple tricks everyone can start today.
More from Prevention:
12 Ways to Avoid Diabetes
Shedding even 10 pounds can significantly slash your risk.
Even extremely overweight people were 70 percent less likely to develop diabetes when they lost just 5 percent of their weight -- even if they didn't exercise. If you weigh 175 pounds, that's a little less than 9 pounds! Use our calorie calculator to see how many calories you consume -- and how many you need to shave off your diet -- if you want to lose a little.
12 Ways to Avoid Diabetes
Eating greens with a vinaigrette before a starchy entrée may help control your blood sugar levels.
In an Arizona State University study, people with type 2 diabetes or a precursor condition called insulin resistance had lower blood sugar levels if they consumed about 2 tablespoons of vinegar just before a high-carb meal. "Vinegar contains acetic acid, which may inactivate certain starch-digesting enzymes, slowing carbohydra Continue reading

10 Causes of High Triglycerides in Diabetes

It's not surprising to have high triglyceride levels if you have type 2 diabetes. About 80% of people with diabetes struggle with this problem. Elevated triglyceride levels are also a component of metabolic syndrome, a group of disorders that increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. Other symptoms of this syndrome include high blood sugar, high blood pressure, low HDL (good cholesterol), and excess belly fat.
Definition
Triglycerides are fat molecules that make up most of your body fat and the fat found in food. Along with cholesterol, they are one of the lipids that circulate in your blood. The medical term for having elevated levels of triglycerides is hypertriglyceridemia
.
In fasting laboratory tests, a normal triglyceride level is below 150 mg/dL. Borderline high is 150 to 199 mg/dL. High is considered 200 to 499 mg/dL. Very high is over 500 mg/dL.
High triglyceride levels can increase your risk for heart disease, stroke, and nerve damage. There is a link between chronically elevated triglyceride levels and atherosclerosis
, as well as insulin resistance.
Causes of High Triglycerides
There are many causes for high triglyceride levels. The list below includes common causes for people who have type 2 diabetes and related problems:
Poorly controlled type 2 diabetes: When your diabetes is not under good control, you likely have high levels of both glucose (blood sugar) and insulin in your body.
Insulin helps convert glucose into glycogen (the stored form of glucose) and helps to store glycogen in the liver. When the liver becomes too saturated with Continue reading