Diabetes Self Care: 10 Ways To Soothe Dry, Itchy Skin

Diabetes Self Care: 10 Ways to Soothe Dry, Itchy Skin

Not only is dry skin uncomfortable, but scratched or cracked skin is also susceptible to bacterial and fungal infections – common medical complications for those with diabetes.
Although eating well and managing your blood sugar is the first line of defense against dry skin, it is often not enough. Taking lukewarm baths or showers using mild, unscented soaps and shampoos may mitigate but not prevent rough, flaky skin.
One remedy is migrating to a more tropical climate where the air is heavy with moisture year-round. If that is not an option, try one (or more) of the following ideas to help soothe and rehydrate your dry skin.
10 Ways to Soothe Dry Skin
Make a point of getting plenty of healthy fats in your diet, including omega-3 fatty acids. Excellent sources of omega-3s are flaxseeds and flaxseed oil, eating fatty fish such as salmon, fish or krill oil supplements, walnuts, tofu, chia seeds, fresh basil, and spinach.
The ideal time to moisturize the skin is after a bath or shower, while the skin is still moist. Frequently recommended lotions are Lubriderm, Cetaphil, Gold Bond, and Curel. For severely dry skin thick, greasy emollients are an option including Aquaphor, Vaseline, Crisco, and SBR Lipocream. Moisturizers containing lactic acid (e.g., Amlactin, Lac-Hydrin) or urea (e.g., Urix, Crmol) may help. Bear grease is likely effective too, but hard to find on store shelves.
During the cold, dry months humidify your home, particularly the rooms where you spend most of your time such as the bedroom and family/living room.
Extra virgin olive oil can help soften dry skin and Continue reading

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Low Magnesium May Play Key Role in Insulin Resistance and Diabetes

Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in your body. If you don’t have enough of it, your body simply cannot function at its best. Insufficient cellular magnesium levels set the stage for deterioration of proper metabolic function that typically snowballs into more significant health problems.
As reported by GreenMedInfo,1 researchers have now detected 3,751 magnesium-binding sites on human proteins, reflecting how important this mineral is to a great many biological processes.
For example, magnesium plays a role in your body’s detoxification processes and therefore is important for minimizing damage from environmental chemicals, heavy metals, and other toxins.
Even glutathione, considered by many to be your body’s most powerful antioxidant, requires magnesium in order to be produced.
Magnesium also plays roles in preventing migraine headaches, cardiovascular disease (including high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes), sudden cardiac death, and even reduces death from all causes.
This important mineral is required by more than 300 different enzymes in your body, which play important roles in the following biochemical processes, many of which are crucial for proper metabolic function:
Creation of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the energy molecules of your body
Proper formation of bones and teeth
Relaxation of blood vessels
Action of your heart muscle
Promotion of proper bowel function
Regulation of blood sugar levels
Low Magnesium Levels Consistently Found in Those with Elevated Insulin
In just the past year, there have been several significant studies ab Continue reading

Jedi the Dog Helps His Little 'Master' Luke Battle Type 1 Diabetes

The force is strong with Jedi, a 3-year-old diabetic alert dog, and his 7-year-old "master," Luke Nuttall.
Luke has been battling type 1 diabetes -- an autoimmune disease with no cure -- ever since he was diagnosed at 2 years old, according to his mother, Dorrie Nuttall, from Glendale, California.
Dorrie, 37, told ABC News that the glucose in Luke's blood can quickly spike or plummet because his pancreas cannot produce insulin.
If Luke's blood sugar gets too low, he starts to lose feeling in his hands and feet, gets dizzy, has pains in his stomach and is at risk of seizure, Dorrie said. And if his blood sugar spikes too high, it can cause damage to his vital organs, she added.
But amazingly, Jedi can smell these spikes and dips, and the black English labrador has been trained since he was a puppy to alert Dorrie to such changes in blood sugar. He brings over a brinsel -- a cloth tube -- to Dorrie and "bows" when Luke's blood sugar is too low and "waves" if it's too high, Dorrie said. (Jedi lifts his paw up or down to signal the change).
Dorrie recently shared a photo on Facebook of Jedi alerting her when Luke's blood sugar had dropped low in the middle of the night. The photo has gone viral with over 373,000 likes and over 182,000 shares as of this afternoon.
"Jedi jumped off the bed, then back on again, though I felt him do this I didn't wake up," she wrote on Facebook. "Then Jedi laid on me. I woke up...without Jedi I would have had no idea that he was dropping out of a safe range."
Though Luke has a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) that sends alerts to her phone and smar Continue reading

Miraculous Detox Drink To Kill Fat, Diabetes And Blood Pressure

This beverage is amazing because it has many healing effects as reducing body fat, against diabetes, lowers the high blood pressure and improves digestion.
RECIPE
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. of fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. raw honey
1 glass of water
Preparation:
Blend all the ingredients in a blender. Consume this beverage fresh immediately after preparing it, in the morning before breakfast. The results will be amazing!
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is beneficial in regulating blood sugar level and also is one of the most effective anti- oxidants.
Honey
We are all familiar with the healthy properties of the honey. It can help with healing wounds, cardiovascular problems, losing weight and with skin, gynecological and lung problems. One teaspoon in the morning can alleviate pain due to sore throat and calm the nerves. Honey is rich in enzymes which improve the digestion and in that way help in the weight loss process.
Apple cider vinegar
It contains chemicals, bacteria and acetic acid as well, which reduce the heart rate up to 6%.
Lemon juice
Lemon juice is rich in Vitamin C which is one of the most important properties. It also has alkalizing effects on the body and controls the pH value.
Source: http://www.fitbodycenter.com Continue reading

Glaucoma And Diabetes: Awareness Can Save Your Sight

People who have diabetes are at higher risk for developing glaucoma, a group of degenerative eye diseases that cause blurred vision, loss of vision and, if left untreated, blindness.
January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month, the perfect time to remind ourselves why a yearly eye exam is important. Although some types of glaucoma trigger distressing symptoms, the most common type, called open-angle, does not. An eye exam is necessary to detect this problem.
Diabetes and Glaucoma
A research study done at the Michigan Kellogg Eye Center revealed the risk of open-angle glaucoma increases 35 percent for people with diabetes alone. Individuals having hypertension alone have a 17 percent higher risk. The likelihood of developing glaucoma rises 48 percent for those with both diabetes and hypertension.
"The study reinforces the importance of regular eye examinations for patients at increased risk of glaucoma, including those with diabetes and hypertension," said researcher Dr. Joshua D. Stein.
Other risk factors for glaucoma are a positive family history, being over 40, Asian-American or African-American heritage, and a history of severe eye injury.
Glaucoma’s Angle: What Glaucoma Is
For us to see, light must go through the curved covering of our eyes, or cornea, and then pass through a pocket called the anterior chamber. The anterior chamber contains a protective fluid called aqueous humor. From there, light travels through the hole (pupil) in our colorful iris, through the vitreous—a fluid filled chamber—and then strikes the back or our eye, or retina.
At the cusp of the Continue reading