Common Diabetes Drug Linked To Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Common diabetes drug linked to vitamin B12 deficiency

Metformin therapy used to treat type 2 diabetes is associated with vitamin B12 deficiency, according to research published in the journal Diabetes Care.
Researchers from Emory University in Atlanta analyzed data from about 8,500 adults aged 50 years and older with and without type 2 diabetes.
The study found that 5.8 percent of patients with diabetes using metformin had a biochemical deficiency of vitamin B12. This compares with 2.4 percent of people with diabetes not using metformin and 3.3 percent of people without diabetes.
Researchers found that the patients with diabetes who consumed vitamin B12 supplements did not reduce their biochemical B12 deficiency. However, those without diabetes who took B12 supplements reduced their B12 deficiency by two-thirds.
Symptoms
People with vitamin B12 deficiency experience fatigue, weakness, constipation, loss of appetite, and weight loss. Sometimes they have numbness and tingling in the hand and feet. Other symptoms include poor balance, depression, confusion, dementia, poor memory and soreness of the mouth or tongue.
The most common causes of vitamin B12 deficiency in the general public include vitamin B12 malabsorption from food, pernicious anemia, postsurgical malabsorption, and dietary deficiency. However, the cause of vitamin B12 deficiency is unknown in many cases, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Vitamin B12 in the diet is found in animal products like fish, meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products. Beef liver, clams, trout, and salmon and some of good food sources of vitamin B12.
The vitamin is usually not foun Continue reading

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9 Alarming Symptoms Of Diabetes That Should Not Be Ignored

Diabetes is a scary disease with a variety of alarming symptoms.
According to the Center for Disease Control And Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, around 30.3 million people in the United States suffer from diabetes.
That means that almost 10% of our national population is diabetic.
So what exactly is diabetes? According to the Mayo Clinic, “If you have diabetes, no matter what type, it means you have too much glucose in your blood, although the causes may differ. Too much glucose can lead to serious health problems.”
There are two types of chronic diabetes: type 1 and type 2.
In type 1 diabetes, the body doesn’t produce enough insulin, which means the body can’t process sugar properly. Generally, type 1 diabetes appears during childhood or adolescence.
In type 2 diabetes, the body resists insulin or doesn’t produce enough of it. Usually, type 2 diabetes is caused by genetics, but inactivity and excess weight gain may contribute.
Although they’re different, both types of diabetes have some of the same symptoms.
Thumbnail Photo: Flickr / Victor
Symptom #1: Increased Urination
One of the common symptoms of diabetes is increased urination, also known as polyuria.
When sugar builds up in your blood due to diabetes, your kidneys have to work harder to filter out and absorb all the sugar.
If your kidneys become overworked and can’t keep up, the sugar is expelled in your urine — and the sugar drags fluids from the rest of your body with it, explains the Mayo Clinic.
Symptom #2: Increased Thirst
Urinating more Continue reading

American Girl's New Diabetes Kit Is Making Real Girls' Dreams Come True

When she was 11 years-old, Anja Busse was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Like many girls her age, Busse loved American Girl dolls. And like many girls, Busse wanted her dolls to mirror her real-life, awesome self.
"I have two American Girl dolls, but there's no diabetic supplies so they look just like me," Busse, now 13, said in a powerful video from January 2014. "It's very weird for me because I want my dolls to be just like me."
So, Busse started a petition asking American Girl to sell an insulin pump and diabetic accessories. Two years and over 4,000 signatures later, American Girl finally listened up. As of Jan. 1, the Diabetes Care Kit for Dolls is available for purchase in stores and online for $24.
Busse and her mom, Ingrid, delivered the happy news on their Facebook page, Diabetic American Girl, in late December:
"I know if they do this, it'll make thousands of diabetic girls happy," Busse said in her initial 2014 video. She was 100% right. The proof is in the comments:
There's an entire Facebook album, titled "Dolls With Diabetes," demonstrating how much girls appreciate the new addition to American Girl's catalog. Hats off to Busse and her supporters for making this much-needed doll accessory a reality!
H/T Huffington Post Continue reading

Say Goodbye to Diabetes, Obesity, and Tumors with Frozen Lemons!

Lemons are known for a host of health benefits, ranging from providing the body with vitamin C to boosting the immune system to normalizing cholesterol levels. Perhaps no other citrus fruit is as common as it is beneficial to our bodies. Whether it’s the juice you consume or the peel, you know you’re doing your body a favor by ingesting some lemons.
But did you know that even terrible diseases like cancer and obesity can be prevented by lemons? Lemon peels are packed wtih antioxidants such as limonoids that destroy and remove toxic waste from the body. This includes the destroying cancer cells from 12 different cancers like cancers of the colon, breast, prostate, lungs, and pancreas. With that in mind, the natural lemony goodness sure looks like a better alternative to chemotherapy!
Lemons boost the body and cleanses it too!
Need proof? Dr. Marlyn Glenville, a nutritionist and expert on women’s health explains the benefits of fruit peels:
Most of the antioxidants included in fruit are included in the peel or the pith rather than in the pulp. Smoothie is far better than a juice, since you can consume the whole fruit including the peel, and you will not throw away a single nutrient from the fruit.
However, did you know that the power of the lemon can be amplified when they’re frozen?
Lemons are known to be bitter and hard to consume as they are, but when they’re frozen and then added to food and drinks, the bitterness dissipates. In addition, freezing lemons allows you to store them for longer, so no fruit is wasted!
Frozen lemons give you the same nutrient boost an Continue reading

Low-Fat Dairy May Increase the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

A recent study found that people who opted for full-fat dairy products were 50 percent less likely than low-fat fans to develop the disease.
For more than a generation, government dietary guidelines have urged Americans to avoid full-fat dairy products. The thinking behind that recommendation is beginning to change, however, and it may shift even more based on recent research suggesting that dairy fat could actually lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.
The study, published in March in the journal Circulation, began in the 1980s. Researchers at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health collected blood samples from 3,333 subjects and measured their biomarkers for dairy fat. Over the next 20 years, they monitored which of the subjects developed type 2 diabetes.
Study author Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, MPH, reports that after controlling for demographics, diet, and other lifestyle factors, those who consumed the most dairy fat in those intervening two decades “had about a 50 percent lower risk of diabetes.”
Mozaffarian explains the link by pointing to evidence that “when people consume low-fat dairy, they eat more carbohydrates” to counterbalance, likely because low-fat dairy isn’t as satiating as full-fat options. As a result, these people tend to consume more calories — often in the form of highly processed carbs, which trigger a metabolic response that can lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
The study only proves correlation — not causation — between full-fat dairy consumption and lowered diabetes risk. More research will be needed to support the l Continue reading