The Dawn Phenomenon And Somogi Effect In Diabetes

The Dawn Phenomenon and Somogi Effect in Diabetes

Morning blood sugar levels. It's a topic we always get questions around.
Namely, why on earth are my morning levels so HIGH when I've eaten nothing since yesterday. Surely they are meant to be their lowest first thing in the morning?
While it's easy to assume that this would be the case, there's more to the picture than you know.
In particular with type 2 diabetes, there are two factors that raise blood sugar overnight. These are known as the Dawn Phenomenon and the Somogyi Effect.
By the time you finish reading this, you should have a much better understanding of why these morning highs occur.
Glucose Happens 24/7
As you may (or may not) be aware of, the body's cells need fuel to function and that fuel is mainly glucose. Glucose fuels the cells in your organs, in the brain and in the muscles and tissues. And they need fuel 24/7.
While you're sleeping or if you were to fast, your organs still need to function so the body has other ways it can produce glucose, other than via the direct food you eat.
Glycogenolysis – some of the excess carbs you eat gets stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen. When these stores are needed, the process of glycogenolysis occurs, breaking the stores down so that more glucose is circulated in the blood to fuel the body.
Gluconeogenesis – your body is also capable of creating glucose from non-carbohydrate sources such as amino acids in a process called gluconeogenesis.
The body will always try to maintain blood glucose within a certain range in the body. This happens in both diabetics and non diabetics alike. With both kinds of glucose pr Continue reading

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10 Low-Carb Beverages To Drink When You Have Diabetes

Just because you control your diabetes with a low-carb diet doesn’t mean that you don’t have lots of choices of great drinks. In fact, all of the treats here will fit your healthy lifestyle and still satisfy your taste buds.
Water is so common that we take it for granted – until we run out of it. Besides air, nothing is more necessary for life. But don’t settle for unfiltered tap water or waste money on bottles of it. A home filter removes impurities and greatly improves the taste by taking out the chlorine. Keeping a bottle of water in the fridge or adding ice cubes can give it some variety.
You can buy sparkling water at all the food stores, but you can make it sparkle at home without buying bottles or carting them home. For years I’ve added fizz to my water and to my life with a Sodastream CO2 carbonator. Even better is enhancing its flavor with zero carb SweetLeaf Water Drops or by simply adding a slice of lemon.
Is drinking coffee bad for people with diabetes? Or does it help? Hundreds of studies seem to show one extreme or the other. But many experts now say that drinking one to three cups to day is either neutral or helpful. If you like it white, instead of adding milk or half & half (too many carbs), you can switch to whipping cream, which is zero carbs. Instead of sugar, you can use carb-free stevia.
After water, more people drink tea than anything else. I’m one of them (along with my morning coffee), and I prefer some of the black teas that don’t need milk to bring out the flavor, especially those from the Assam and Darjeeling regions of India. Green Continue reading

Can you get a headache from sugar?

Rapid swings in blood sugar levels caused by eating too much sugar or too little sugar can sometimes cause headaches.
Headaches can range from annoying to debilitating, so understanding what triggers a headache can significantly improve a person's quality of life.
For some people who experience migraines, sugary foods may be a trigger.
Can sugar give you a headache?
Both too much and too little sugar can cause a headache. Consuming too much sugar can cause high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia). Consuming too little sugar can cause low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia).
Low blood sugar can cause a range of symptoms, including headaches and muscle pain. People who take insulin have a higher risk of having low blood sugar levels.
People who consume too much sugar, who are insulin resistant, or who have diabetes are more vulnerable to high blood sugar. If a person consumes a lot of sugar at once, then does not have any more in the period that follows, they may experience a sugar crash, which can cause a headache.
Sugar may trigger hormonal changes, particularly in the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormonal shifts change the way blood vessels in the brain behave, potentially triggering a headache.
It is not the sugar itself that causes a person to develop a sugar headache. What triggers a headache is a rapid shift in blood sugar, due either to consuming too much sugar or not eating enough. These changes in blood sugar can induce a headache and other symptoms, which some people call a sugar hangover.
Some medical conditions make people more prone to sugar-relat Continue reading

South Indian Diabetic Diet

Type 2 diabetes mellitus, is fast gaining the status of a potential epidemic in India. Per the figures quoted by the Director General of Health Services (2013), the urban slums, particularly Chennai (1 out of every 3 tested) have shown an alarming increase in the incidences of diabetes. Sedentary lifestyle, poor hygiene, poor eating habits, etc. have been factors in this alarming trend. South Indians are at a bigger risk because of their overdependence on rice (staple food), tubers, choice of cooking oil, genetic predisposition, etc.
Given the preference of South Indians for rice, diabetics in this geography need to be cautious about their diet. A diabetic patient needs to restrict his or her calorie consumption to 1500 to 1800 calories per day. This calorie consumption should come primarily from high fibre, low sugar, low-fat foods.
Thumb rules for diabetes diet
Completely and strictly avoid sweets that contain artificial sweeteners, chocolates, ice-creams, jellies, etc.
Stay away from fatty foods such as ghee, butter, red meat, etc.
Eat smaller portions at frequent intervals during the day instead of large meals with long breaks in between.
Indulge in some form physical exercise routine such as cycling, walking, jogging, etc.
Avoid smoking or excessive alcohol consumption.
South Indian diet – Do’s and Don’ts
Before you decide what you should and should not eat, it is always better to consult your doctor or your dietician. You should get a list of food items that have a high glycemic index so that you can avoid them. Usage of low fat and whole grains should be on you Continue reading

Comparative Effectiveness and Costs of Insulin Pump Therapy for Diabetes

Ronald T. Ackermann, MD, MPH; Amisha Wallia, MD, MS; Raymond Kang, MA; Andrew Cooper, MPH; Theodore A. Prospect, FSA, MAAA; Lewis G. Sandy, MD, MBA; and Deneen Vojta, MD
Evaluation of healthcare utilization and costs over 3 years for adults with insulin-requiring diabetes who transition from multiple daily insulin injections to insulin infusion pumps.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII), or “insulin pump” therapy, is an alternative to multiple daily insulin injections (MDII) for management of diabetes. This study evaluates patterns of healthcare utilization, costs, and blood glucose control for patients with diabetes who initiate CSII.
Study Design: Pre-post with propensity-matched comparison design involving commercially insured US adults (aged 18-64 years) with insulin-requiring diabetes who transitioned from MDII to CSII between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2012 (“CSII initiators”; n = 2539), or who continued using MDI (n = 2539).
Methods: Medical claims and laboratory results files obtained from a large US-wide health payer were used to construct direct medical expenditures, hospital use, healthcare encounters for hypoglycemia, and mean concentration of glycated hemoglobin (A1C). We fit difference-in-differences regression models to compare healthcare expenditures for 3 years following the switch to CSII. Stratified analyses were performed for prespecified patient subgroups.
Results: Over 3 years, mean per-person total healthcare expenditures were $1714 (95% confidence interval [CI], $1184-$2244) higher per quarter for CSII initiat Continue reading