How Do People Die From Diabetes?

Q. How do people die from diabetes?
A. People who have diabetes cannot regulate their blood sugar levels and if the disease isn’t tightly controlled, blood sugar can spike to abnormally high levels, a condition called hyperglycemia, or dip below normal, a condition called hypoglycemia. Both conditions are potentially life-threatening and can lead to coma and death if not promptly treated.
But complications resulting from the disease are a more common cause of death. Heart disease strikes people with diabetes at significantly higher rates than people without diabetes, “and we don’t fully know why,” said Dr. Robert Gabbay, chief medical officer at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. People with diabetes develop heart disease at younger ages and are nearly twice as likely to die of heart attack or stroke as people who do not have diabetes.
People with Type 2 diabetes, which is the more common form of the disease, are more likely to have elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity, Dr. Gabbay said, all risk factors for cardiovascular disease. “The good news,” he said, “is that a lot of treatments, like those for lowering cholesterol, are even more effective at lowering risk in people with diabetes than in people without.” Some new classes of diabetes medications used for Type 2 diabetes have also been shown to reduce cardiovascular risk, he said.
People with Type 1 diabetes are also at increased risk for heart disease, though the reasons are less clear.
Both types of diabetes can also lead to other long-term complications, like kidney disease, that may r Continue reading

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Type 2 diabetes and skin health: Conditions and treatment

Skin complications usually occur when blood sugar levels are too high, and they are often the first visible sign of diabetes.
An estimated one-third of people with diabetes experience skin conditions either related to or influenced by the condition.
Medication options exist, but managing blood sugars is normally the best prevention and treatment option.
How does type 2 diabetes affect skin health?
When blood sugar levels are too high for too long, several changes take place in the body that affect skin health.
Blood sugar is removed from the body through the urine. When there is excess blood sugar, the rate of urination increases, which can cause dehydration and dry skin.
High blood sugar levels can also lead to inflammation, which over time dulls or overstimulates the immune response.
High blood sugar levels can also cause nerve and blood vessel damage, reducing circulation. Poor blood flow can alter the skin's structure, especially its collagen. Without healthy collagen networks, the skin can become stiff and in some cases brittle. Collagen is also necessary for proper wound healing.
Skin conditions associated with type 2 diabetes
Several skin conditions are associated with high or uncontrolled blood sugar levels.
While most skin complications associated with diabetes are harmless, the symptoms of some can be painful, persistent, and they may require medical attention.
The best and easiest treatment option for most diabetes-related skin conditions is managing blood sugar levels. In severe cases, however, oral steroids or medicated creams may be used.
Common skin condition Continue reading

Could diabetes spread like mad cow disease?

Prions are insidious proteins that spread like infectious agents and trigger fatal conditions such as mad cow disease. A protein implicated in diabetes, a new study suggests, shares some similarities with these villains. Researchers transmitted diabetes from one mouse to another just by injecting the animals with this protein. The results don’t indicate that diabetes is contagious like a cold, but blood transfusions, or even food, may spread the disease.
The work is “very exciting” and “well-documented” for showing that the protein has some prionlike behavior, says prion biologist Witold Surewicz of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, who wasn’t connected to the research. However, he cautions against jumping to the conclusion that diabetes spreads from person to person. The study raises that possibility, he says, but “it remains to be determined.”
Prions are misfolded proteins that can cause normally folded versions of the same protein to misfold themselves. When this conversion occurs in the brain, the distorted proteins bunch up inside cells and kill them. Although prion diseases are rare in people, they share some similarities with more common illnesses. In Alzheimer’s disease, for instance, globs of a misshapen protein known as β amyloid build up in the brain. Parkinson’s disease and Huntington disease, two other brain maladies, also feature aggregates, or lumps of misfolded proteins.
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Diabetic Diet: Foods That Raise Your Blood Sugar Levels

There is no single diabetes diet, meal plan, or diet that is diabetes-friendly that can serve as a correct meal plan for all patients with diabetes (type 2, gestational, or type 1 diabetes).
Glycemic index, carbohydrate counting, the MyPlate method, and the TLC diet plan are all methods for determining healthy eating habits for diabetes management.
The exact type and times of meals on a diabetic meal plan depend upon a person's age and gender, how much exercise you get and your activity level, and the need to gain, lose, or maintain optimal weight.
Most diabetic meal plans allow the person with diabetes to eat the same foods as the rest of the family, with attention to portion size and timing of meals and snacks.
Eating a high-fiber diet can help improve blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Glycemic index is a way to classify carbohydrates in terms of the amount that they raise blood sugar. High glycemic index foods raise blood sugar more than lower index foods.
Some patients with type 2 use supplements as complementary medicine to treat their disease. However, there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of supplements in treating the disease.
A diabetes meal plan (diabetes diet) is a nutritional guide for people with diabetes that helps them decide when to consume meals and snacks as well as what type of foods to eat. There is no one predetermined diabetes diet that works for all people with diabetes. The goal of any diabetic meal plan is to achieve and maintain good control over the disease, including control of blood glucose and b Continue reading

How to prevent type 2 diabetes: Six useful steps

Type 2 diabetes is a serious but common disease that can harm many organs of the body.
Currently, 40 percent of people in the United States are expected to develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime.
There are ways to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This article will look at six of them.
Overview of diabetes
Diabetes mellitus, or diabetes, refers to a group of metabolic diseases where the body does not adequately produce insulin or use insulin properly. Insulin plays a crucial role in delivering glucose, or sugar, into the cells where it is then used for energy.
People with untreated or poorly managed diabetes have abnormally high levels of glucose in their blood. This can lead to organ damage and other complications.
Too much glucose in the blood is called hyperglycemia. Symptoms include fatigue, blurry vision, hunger, increased thirst, and frequent urination.
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes, accounting for about 90-95 percent of all diagnosed cases. In type 2 diabetes, the body develops a resistance to insulin.
This means the body can't use insulin to absorb blood sugar into the cells to be used for energy. Some people with type 2 diabetes may stop producing enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels within normal ranges.
Type 2 diabetes usually affects people who are older. It emerges more slowly than type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes may not have noticeable symptoms. A person may have type 2 diabetes without knowing it.
Treatment of type 2 diabetes involves diet, exercise, and sometimes medications. Lifestyle changes can a Continue reading