Exercising With Type 2 Diabetes

Exercising with Type 2 Diabetes

Manage Glucose, Lose Weight, and Reduce Complications
If your doctor has diagnosed you with Type 2 diabetes, then she has probably already told you about the importance of adding exercise to your treatment plan. Physical activity can help you improve your blood sugar control, lose weight, and reduce your risk of heart disease, peripheral artery disease and nerve problems that are often associated with diabetes. In many cases, the right combination of diet and exercise can even help eliminate the need for medication for people with Type 2 diabetes.
But before you get started, you need to understand how exercise influences blood glucose regulation, and how to avoid potential problems, minimize risks, and recognize when you may need to get additional information or support from your health care provider. *The general information in this article is not a substitute for talking to your health care provider before you begin an exercise program, or if you experience any problems in connection with your exercise.
How Exercise Benefits People with Type 2 Diabetes
In addition to boosting your energy levels, mood, and capacity to burn calories for weight loss, regular exercise can lead to the following benefits:
Improved blood sugar control by enhancing insulin sensitivity. Exercising on a regular basis makes muscles use insulin better. When muscles are able to use insulin better, they are able to pull more glucose from the bloodstream to use for energy. The more vigorously you exercise, the more glucose you’ll use, and the longer the positive effects on your blood glucose levels wi Continue reading

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Best insulin injection sites: Absorption time and rotation

Insulin is a hormone that helps manage diabetes when it is injected into the body.
It can't be taken as a pill or oral medication. This is because the enzymes in the stomach will break down the insulin before it reaches the bloodstream.
Insulin injections are one of many ways to treat and manage diabetes. Others include dietary and lifestyle changes, and oral medications.
For people who require insulin injections, there are different types of insulin available. It is important to understand and follow the instructions that the doctor provides about how and where to inject insulin.
Common injection sites
Insulin is injected into the layer of fat directly under this skin, known as subcutaneous tissue.
It is injected with a small needle or a device that looks like a pen. There are several different sites where insulin can be injected, including:
Abdomen
The abdomen is a common site for insulin injection that many people with diabetes choose to use.
To give an injection into the abdomen, take a pinch of the fatty tissue from either side between the waist and the hipbones. It should be about 2 inches away from the belly button.
This site is easy to access and some people report that it causes less discomfort than other sites.
Upper Arms
The upper arm is another site where insulin injections can be given.
The needle should be placed into the back of the arm (tricep area), about halfway between the elbow and the shoulder.
The main disadvantage of this site is that it is very difficult to use for self-administration and may require somebody else to do it. It may be more comfortable Continue reading

How You Can Reverse Type 2 Diabetes, According to Experts

At 72, George King Sr. developed Type 2 diabetes and was put on multiple medications to keep his blood sugar in check. But he didn’t take the news sitting down. He started walking twice a day and modified his diet to include more vegetables and complex carbohydrates. The result? For the following 15 years, he no longer had to take medication.
None of this surprises his son, George King Jr., MD, who serves as research director and chief scientific officer of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and is author of the book Reverse Your Diabetes in 12 Weeks.
“We know that five to 10 percent of people who change their diets, lose weight and increase activity can get off all medications, and stay off them for 10 to 20 years,” King says. “Those numbers tell me that it’s definitely possible to reverse Type 2—you just need to find the correct path.”
Neal Barnard, MD, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and author of Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes agrees, but adds a caveat: Results depend on how long you’ve had the disease.
Diabetes is a condition in which the pancreas cannot properly produce insulin to regulate levels of glucose in your body. Over time, this can cause the pancreas’s beta cells to burn out, making it harder and harder to compensate for the body’s inability to use insulin effectively.
“People with diabetes for a short time have a better chance of getting rid of diabetes than someone who has had the disease for 30 years,” says Barnard. (King’s father, for example, did resume taking medication at Continue reading

Why Does My Blood Sugar Go Up Without Eating?

It’s commonly seen when you don’t have food for the longest time your blood sugar shoots up. There are number of reasons for the increase in blood level. Take a time test of diabetes and keep a record and that will reveal that morning levels are always high. Let’s analyze the reasons for such changes.
What are the factors that are responsible for the high blood sugar level in mornings?
– While you are fasting, then your body releases its glucose. The insulin released from the liver is not enough to absorb the blood sugar. So, the body exhibits excess blood sugar level.
– In case if type 2 diabetes, the hormone that works to keep your body stable works overnight. There is four type of hormone that works together, and ultimately it leads to a higher amount in sugar level. The four hormones that are responsible for controlling blood sugar are-Insulin, Amylin, Incretins, and Glucagon
– While sleeping, diabetic people record high blood sugar. The liver and muscles get the signal from extra glucagon, a hormone in humans. The reason is that while sleeping, the liver receives the glucose from there itself and thereby raising the bar of blood sugar. Hormonal imbalance gets the glucose from the liver.
– Reversal of type 2 diabetes is not possible, but if the combination of actions occurs then the hormonal activity can sort put high blood sugar problem.
– Addition, altering, and change of medicines may increase blood sugar level. Many people take medication to test the insulin level in blood. In type 2 diabetes, many people add insulin to control fasting and glucose le Continue reading

Is There a Conspiracy Preventing a Diabetes Cure?

For as long as there has been research to cure diabetes, there have been people who believe that a cure will never happen because treating this disease is simply far too profitable. Those who believe in this so-called "conspiracy theory" are convinced that pharma companies have a vested interest in keeping diabetes around as long as possible because peddling their treatments is far bigger business than a cure could ever be.
We all know that diabetes is a multi-billion dollar industry, including sales of insulin, oral agents and injectibles like
Victoza, and medical devices such as insulin pumps, glucose monitors and their pricey test strips, and new continuous glucose monitors. Type 2 diabetes is increasing exponentially, but even type 1 diabetes is growing at a dramatic rate, which means more and more consumers.
The latest flare-up over a possible "conspiracy" occurred in August, when a news article about controversial researcher Dr. Denise Faustman circulated around the diabetes community. In the article, Faustman says that when she approached pharmaceutical companies for funding, she was told "there wasn't enough money to be made in a cure that used an inexpensive, generically available vaccine."
But is that even true?
Certainly, there are legitimate financial considerations these companies' research & development decisions. But does that mean they never work on cure research? Would pharma really sweep a possible cure under the rug to protect their own interests -- especially if it turned out to be a cheap vaccine?
Who's to say?
We decided it would be fascinating to tap Continue reading