Diabetes And How It Affects Feet

Diabetes and how it affects feet

If you have diabetes, you have probably noticed that it affects your health in many ways. But it can be easy to overlook one spot that often escapes close attention: your feet.
Understand the problem
Just a small foot sore can lead to a diabetic ulcer and even amputation if not treated properly and in a timely manner. So if you have diabetes, every cut or sore should be taken seriously.
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“Diabetes can lead to pressure or small blood vessel disease in your feet, causing nerve damage and circulation problems,” says Baker Machhadieh, MD, with Kettering Physician Network Endocrinology and Diabetes in Hamilton. “A loss of feeling — often in the feet or legs — means minor injuries can go unnoticed, allowing infection to set in.”
A diabetic foot ulcer can occur almost anywhere on the foot. But very often they appear on the ball, the bottom of the big toe, or the top or sides of the foot. It can be caused by ill-fitting shoes pressing or rubbing against the skin, or it can be triggered by an injury.
The good news is most diabetic ulcers and foot sores are preventable.
Practice prevention
Dr. Machhadieh says the first line of defense against ulcers and other foot problems is controlling your blood sugar levels and keeping your feet clean and well cared for. Here are other steps you can take:
• Wash your feet daily with mild soap in warm — not hot — water.
• Don’t let your feet dry out and crack.
• Rub lotion on your feet daily but not between your toes.
• Wear shoes that fit well but are not too snug.
• Continue reading

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Are People With Diabetes More Prone to Aggression?

Relationship Between Blood Glucose Level and Self-Control
Blood sugar can make people do crazy things. According to a recent scientific study on the link between low blood glucose level and relationship clashes (Bushman et al, 2014), being hungry makes an individual generally cranky and act more hostile to others. In the study, couples who are hungry tend to have a much higher tendency to exhibit aggression towards each other and become more impulsive in their reactions.
This phenomenon is often referred to “hangry” (meaning feeling angry when you are hungry). If this irritable state can happen to any healthy person who experiences a change in their blood glucose level, imagine the ordeals individuals with diabetes frequently go through on a daily basis. However, do not jump to the conclusion that diabetes leads to aggression. In fact, scientists find a more direct correlation between blood glucose level and self-control.
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In a way, you can visualize self-control as a muscle that requires a lot of energy to sustain so that it does not become ineffective quickly. This energy source comes from the glucose in the blood. So what kind of activities can wear out this “muscle”? Any daily activities that require self-discipline such as forcing yourself to get out of bed early to exercise, resisting from having a soda drink or another cookie with your meal, stopping yourself from smoking, dealing with stressful situations at work and at home, and abstaining yourself from road rage.
As you can see, self-control plays a crucial part i Continue reading

Diabetes: New compounds may lower blood sugar but prevent weight gain

Researchers are one step closer to a new drug that could lower blood glucose levels in patients with insulin resistance, but without the potentially harmful side effects.
Insulin resistance is a known risk factor for type 2 diabetes. It arises when the body's cells are no longer able to respond to insulin, which is the hormone that regulates blood glucose.
As a result, blood glucose levels can become too high, and this may lead to type 2 diabetes. There are medications that can help to prevent the progression to type 2 diabetes in patients with insulin resistance, such as thiazolidinediones.
But unfortunately, these medications can promote weight gain and a number of other health problems.
Dr. Domenico Accili — director of the Columbia University Diabetes Research Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, NY — and colleagues have identified a number of compounds that may be just as effective as current insulin resistance medications on the market, but which do not lead to weight gain.
The researchers recently reported their findings in the journal Cell.
FOXO1 and insulin resistance
The reason why currently available medications for insulin resistance can cause weight gain is because they target and block a protein called FOXO1.
While inhibiting FOXO1 reduces glucose production in the liver — thereby reducing blood glucose levels — it also increases the production of lipids, or fat.
"Thus, treatment of insulin resistance with a broadly acting FOXO1 inhibitor can lead to a host of unwanted side effects, such as weight gain," says Dr. Accili. "Unfo Continue reading

Here's Exactly What I Ate To Cure My Type 2 Diabetes & High Cholesterol

Mary Jenkins is 51 and lives in Kanab, Utah. Last December, before starting her new diet, she weighed 225 pounds. She has since lost 50 pounds—and the weight is still coming off. This is her story.
I was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, so I lived off a Southern-fried diet for most of my life. As a result, I had extremely high blood pressure for over 30 years. I tried every eating plan out there to get it under control: low-carb diets, high-protein diets—all that stuff. None of it worked for me. I was still obese, and my cholesterol levels didn’t improve.
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Then two years ago, my doctor ordered an A1C test. He had a hunch I may have type 2 diabetes as a result of my weight. My score was a seven, which meant his suspicions were correct. (A normal A1C level is below 5.7. ) It got worse: Because I’ve had high blood pressure for so long, he said I could have long-term organ damage now that I also had diabetes. You’d think at that point, he would have sat me down and talked to me about how I could improve my diet, but he didn’t. He just said something like, “Watch your carbs and exercise.” That was it. So I basically kept living as I had before.
My motivation
Then my doctor moved away, and I found another doctor in a larger town nearby. My new physician told me th Continue reading

Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible? Your Guide In 2017

“Is type 2 diabetes reversible, doctor?”
It’s a common question I get asked by many people that I meet.
When I was back in medical school more than 10 years ago, we were all taught that type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease. Which means that it will be there with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and it doesn’t go away. Essentially, it is incurable. And once you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, the best you can do is to try to manage it as best as you can.
Today, the answer is no longer clear cut. Thankfully, in a positive way. Let’s take a deeper look at what the science tells us.
What is Type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is a relatively common metabolic disorder that results in high blood glucose levels in your body. Did you know that over 415 million people today are living with diabetes globally? If you have diabetes, you’re far from being alone.
The condition arises from a combination of high insulin resistance in the tissues of our body and decreased insulin secretion by the pancreas, an internal organ. Insulin is an important hormone that allows our cells to properly absorb and use glucose. Insulin serves to regulate our blood glucose levels and keep it at a constant, normal level.
Some factors that can put you at higher risk of Type 2 diabetes include a strong family history of the disease (genetics), obesity (lifestyle) and age.
If you’re worried that you may have diabetes, you can find out more about the symptoms of diabetes here.
Is Type 2 diabetes reversible?
Even though diabetes is commonly thought of as a chronic disease, our understanding of it Continue reading