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Drunk Versus Diabetes: How Can You Tell?

Drunk versus diabetes: How can you tell?

Drunk versus diabetes: How can you tell?

Dispatch calls your EMS unit to the side of a roadway, where police officers have detained a driver on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol intoxication. You find the female driver handcuffed in the back seat of a police cruiser. She is screaming profanities and hitting her head against the side window.
An officer tells you that she was weaving in and out of traffic at highway speed, and it took several minutes to pull her over. She was noncooperative and it took several officers to subdue her. She sustained a laceration to her head, which the officers want you to evaluate.
The woman continues to swear at you as you open the car door. You note that she is diaphoretic and breathing heavily. You can smell what appears to be the sour, boozy smell of alcohol, even though you are not close to her. You can see that the small laceration near the hairline on her right forehead has already stopped bleeding. Her speech is slurred and she appears to be in no mood to be evaluated. The police officers are ready to take her down to the station to be processed for driving under the influence.
Sound familiar? It should — this is a scene that is played out often in EMS systems. While it may seem initially that these incidents are not medical in nature, they really deserve close attention by the EMS personnel.
In this article we will focus on the challenges of evaluating a patient who is intoxicated versus a patient who is experiencing an acute diabetic emergency. There have been numerous instances where EMS providers have exposed themselves to serious liability secondary to Continue reading

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Can You Reverse Diabetes?

Can You Reverse Diabetes?

Can you change your diabetes fate?
It's key to understand that type 2 diabetes is a progressive illness often preceded by years of elevated blood glucose (also known as blood sugar) levels high enough to be diagnosed as prediabetes. When most people with type 2 diabetes are finally diagnosed, experts believe they've been on this path for five to 10 years and have lost more than half of their natural insulin-making capability in the beta cells of their pancreas.
While you cannot undo your lifestyle habits of the last decade or more, you can take steps to put your diabetes in remission. Don't despair and don't give up.
Research shows that losing weight and keeping it off can help delay the onset of prediabetes, delay progression of prediabetes to type 2 diabetes, or slow the progression of type 2. The keys to diabetes prevention and preventing diabetes complications include: Eat healthfully, exercise often, seek out knowledge and support, and create an environment that fosters healthful living.
Losing even just a few pounds early on when glucose begins to rise can dramatically improve your blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, triglycerides, blood pressure, and more.
"People should get to their ideal weight if they have prediabetes or type 2," says Robert Huizenga, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles and doctor for The Biggest Loser, where he is known as Dr. H. "People should have no excess fat and be athletically fit. Ninety minutes of exercise six days a week and a steady diet of healthy eating is the best prescription to man Continue reading

Take Statins? What You Need to Know about Diabetes Risk

Take Statins? What You Need to Know about Diabetes Risk

Statin medications (statins) are drugs that help lower cholesterol levels in the blood to help prevent coronary heart disease for those at risk or who already have experienced some form of cardiovascular disease. Statins do carry certain risks that need balanced and managed through ongoing physician monitoring. A recent study highlights how important it is to manage diabetes risk factors when taking statins.
New study examines statin-diabetes link
A higher than previously documented risk of Type 2 diabetes with statin use was recently reported in the journal Diabetologia. Various past studies have found a zero to 36 percent higher risk of developing diabetes while taking statins. An average risk of developing diabetes on statins is reported at approximately 9% in meta-analyses.
This latest study determined that men taking statins had a 46 percent higher risk of diabetes than those not on statins. Additionally, statin use was associated with a 24 percent reduction in insulin sensitivity and a 12 percent reduction in insulin secretion. Some previous studies evaluated fasting blood sugar, while this study applied more precise A1C and glucose tolerance tests.
Michael Rocco, MD, Medical Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Stress Testing, Section of Preventive Cardiology at Cleveland Clinic, reviewed the findings (he did not participate in the research). Dr. Rocco noted that the people who developed diabetes while taking statins were older, had a higher Body Mass Index (BMI), and a much higher incidence of cardiovascular disease.
“It does look like people who have increased Continue reading

Glaucoma And Diabetes: Can Diabetes Affect Your Eyes?

Glaucoma And Diabetes: Can Diabetes Affect Your Eyes?

People with diabetes are twice as likely to be at risk of having glaucoma compared to people without diabetes. We will first look at how the eye works, what glaucoma is, followed by the relationship between glaucoma and diabetes.
Clara’s story
Clara’s eyes were feeling tired all of the time. She was attributing the tiredness to her Type 2 diabetes, but she wasn’t too sure about it. That’s why she contacted TheDiabetesCouncil to raise her concerns about the increasing pressure in her eyes.
Her left eye had suddenly become red, and she was experiencing sharp pain in her eyes. She had somewhat of a headache, too. After hearing about Clara’s symptoms, she was advised to see her eye doctor for an examination, as glaucoma was suspected.
Clara got in touch with us to report that she had been to her ophthalmologist, and she had been diagnosed with the most common type of glaucoma, open-angle glaucoma. She was using some drops in both eyes, and she relayed that she was feeling better, and that the pain in her eye and other symptoms have subsided.
To help others in Clara’s situation, we have written this comprehensive guide about glaucoma and diabetes.
How does the eye work?
If you want to understand eye diseases, specifically glaucoma, it’s important to understand how the eye operates.
It’s an incredible, wonderful organ! Without our eyes, we could not see the world around us. The eye is a spherically shaped organ that has a tough outer surface. The covering in the front of the eye is curvy. This covering is called the cornea. The cornea is responsible for focusing l Continue reading

Can diabetics eat bananas?

Can diabetics eat bananas?

When a person has diabetes, they need to carefully consider the contents of each meal. This can be especially true for carbohydrate-containing food, which not only includes desserts and other sweet treats, but bread, pasta, and fresh fruits.
One fruit that traditionally has been on the "avoid" list for those with diabetes is bananas. However, for the most part, bananas eaten in moderation can be safely enjoyed when a person has diabetes.
Bananas grow on banana plants that can have anywhere from 50 to 150 bananas in each bunch of fruit. The individual bananas are sold in varying sizes, from small to extra-large, the size-grading being determined by their length.
Nutritional breakdown
Overall, bananas are low in saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol. They also have a good mix of nutrients, including vitamin B6, potassium, and manganese.
However, some doctors and dietitians may give bananas greater nutritional scrutiny when considering them for people with diabetes, because bananas are high in sugar relative to their calories.
One medium banana has an estimated glycemic load of 11, according to Harvard Health Publishing on glycemic loads. Glycemic load is a measure of a food's impact on blood sugar. A glycemic load of fewer than 10 is considered low, while one above 20 is high.
Can you eat bananas if you have diabetes?
Examples of lower-sugar fruit options include apples, grapes, and pears. Fruits with higher sugar levels include papayas and pineapples.
However, those with diabetes do not have to eliminate bananas from their diet, or any other fruit for that matter. Their oth Continue reading

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