Summer Pregnancy May Raise Gestational Diabetes Risk

Summer pregnancy may raise gestational diabetes risk

Researchers have identified a new possible risk factor for gestational diabetes: Being exposed to hot outdoor temperatures in the month before giving birth.
According to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), in one geographic region in Canada, the rate of gestational diabetes varied more than 3 percentage points between the coldest times of year and the hottest.
Gestational diabetes, a condition that develops during pregnancy, is usually a temporary condition. But women who develop it are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes and other health conditions later on. (One recent study linked gestational diabetes to postpartum depression, for example.)
Gestational diabetes can also raise babies' risks of excessive birth weight, preterm birth, and type 2 diabetes later in life.
Previous studies have suggested that exposure to cold temperatures can improve insulin sensitivity and activate the body's brown fat tissue, which -- unlike other types of fat -- burns calories and seem to protect against metabolic conditions like obesity and diabetes.
For this reason, it's been suggested that cold temperatures might protect against these conditions.
To study this potential connection in pregnant women, researchers looked at medical records of nearly 400,000 women living in the same urban area in Canada, in a region with wide temperature fluctuations throughout the year. Over a 12-year period, those women gave birth to more than 555,000 children.
When the researchers looked at average temperatures in the 30 days before these women gave birth, they found tha Continue reading

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CBT may help reduce anxiety and depression in people with diabetes, but standardised approach needed

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a widely-recognised tool in the arsenal of psychiatrists and psychologists, and appears centre-stage as a treatment option for many mental disorders including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and schizophrenia (Butler, Chapman et al. 2006).
CBT prioritises personal coping strategies for life difficulties and aims to change unhelpful patterns of cognition (thoughts, beliefs and attitudes), the behaviours associated with them, and can help strengthen emotional regulation (Beck 2016).
Whilst its utility in mental disorders has been repeatedly demonstrated, there is a growing field of research examining its ability to help manage chronic physical illnesses such as diabetes mellitus, Crohn’s disease, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis (White 2001, Taylor 2006, Halford 2009).
The use of CBT, a strictly psychological technique and involving no pill-popping, for a chronic physical illness may not at first seem intuitive. However, diabetes doubles the odds of comorbid depression and 12-27% of people with diabetes experience depression at a rate two to three times that of the general population (Anderson, Freedland et al. 2001). Anxiety also occurs in around 14% of people with diabetes, and 40% show elevated levels of sub-syndromal anxiety (Smith, Beland et al. 2013).
One might suggest that a major factor linking all mental disorders is mental distress, which can similarly significantly impair those suffering chronic physical illnesses. Ameliorating mental distress may well be Continue reading

How to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally, The Dangers of Insulin Therapy, and Other Facts

Great Britain, like the United States, has seen a remarkably rapid rise in pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes over the last decade. According to a recent BBC News1 report, more than one-third of British adults are now pre-diabetic.
In 2003, 11.6 percent of Britons had pre-diabetes. By 2011, that figure had more than tripled, reaching 35.3 percent. Researchers warn that this will lead to a massive avalanche of type 2 diabetics in upcoming years, which will have serious consequences for health care and life expectancy.
In the United States, nearly 80 million people, or one in four has some form of diabetes or pre-diabetes. What’s worse, both type 1 and type 2 diabetes among children and teens has also skyrocketed.
The most recent data, reveals that, between 2001 and 2009, incidence of type 1 diabetes among children under the age of 19 rose by 21 percent. Incidence of type 2 diabetes among children aged 10-19 rose by 30 percent during that same timeframe!
Conventional Medicine Has It All Wrong
Statistics such as these point to two very important facts. First, it tells us that diabetes cannot be primarily caused by genetics, and secondly, it literally screams that something we’re doing, consistently and en masse, is horribly wrong, and we need to address it.
In this case, that “something” is a seriously flawed diet and lack of physical activity. Unfortunately, Dr. Ron Rosedale wrote in 2005, doctors cause diabetics to D.I.E from their flawed prescriptions, which stem from a basic lack of insight into the root cause of this disease. D.I.E., here, is a clever acronym for � Continue reading

The dangers of diabetes

Five actions you can take to keep blood sugar at healthy levels
Diabetes affects nearly 30 million people in the United States — a stunning 10 percent of the overall population. And recent research reveals that diabetes is now the third leading cause of death, not the seventh, as was previously thought. Perhaps the most concerning statistic is that one in four persons living with diabetes is unaware that they have the disease.
The American Diabetes Association sponsors Diabetes Alert Day to serve as an annual wake-up call. The organization wants to remind Americans about the seriousness and prevalence of diabetes, particularly when the disease is left un-diagnosed or untreated. This year, Diabetes Alert Day is Tuesday, March 28.
The incidence of type 2 diabetes in this country has tripled in the last twenty years. The adoption of sugary diets and sedentary lifestyles has caused the disease to reach epidemic proportions. On the positive side, this condition doesn’t have to be a death sentence. It’s almost always avoidable, and even reversible, with serious lifestyle changes.
Researchers estimate that, if current trends continue, one in three Americans will have diabetes by the year 2050. Left untreated, diabetes can lead to kidney failure, limb amputations, blindness, and even death. Early diagnosis and treatment is critical to preventing irreversible damage to your health and longevity, so awareness and access to care are the key areas of focus.
Here are the top five ways to keep blood sugar at healthy levels, and to keep type 2 diabetes from impacting you and your lo Continue reading

Hounds of love: how support dogs can help with everything from diabetes to autism

Coco, a chocolate-brown cocker spaniel puppy, had been living with her owner for just three days when it is likely she saved her life for the first time. Now, six months later, it happens daily. Millie Law, who is 12, has a complex form of type 1 diabetes, which gives her no indication when her blood sugar levels are dangerously low or high. Coco, who can use her powerful sense of smell to detect changes on Millie’s breath or sweat, is one of about 7,000 dogs in Britain offering life-changing – and sometimes life-saving – support to children and adults with a growing range of medical conditions and disabilities.
As well as guide dogs for the blind and hearing dogs, specially trained dogs can provide practical support to those with conditions ranging from multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy to the effects of stroke and autism. Others can alert to dangerous situations in type 1 diabetes, epilepsy, Addison’s disease, nut allergy, narcolepsy and some cardiac conditions.
“Coco is a guardian angel,” says Millie’s father, Graham. “Before she arrived, Millie didn’t feel safe. She had several frightening emergency hospital admissions. Now she knows Coco is looking after her wherever she goes.”
Coco is in the process of becoming an accredited diabetic alert dog through the organisation Hypo Hounds. Unusually, this new charity works with and trains pet dogs rather than by matching people with pre-trained dogs. Coco is now eight months, and her training should be complete – with her identifying 80% of Millie’s hypos (blood glucose lows) and hypers (highs) – Continue reading