The Link Between Diabetes And Depression

The Link Between Diabetes and Depression

Depression and diabetes are two conditions that can sometimes go hand-in-hand. First, diabetes can increase the risk of depression, according to a growing body of research. In fact, having diabetes doubles the risk of depression, compared to people who don't have the disease. Conversely, depression also can increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, research shows.
It's often a vicious cycle. Depression can get worse as the complications of diabetes get worse, and be depressed can stop people from managing their diabetes as effectively as they need to, which can lead to increased incidence of long-term complications such as retinopathy, neuropathy or nephropathy.
Depression can color everything in a person's life. The ability to do everyday activities can become overwhelming, and this includes taking care of diabetes, such as taking medications, eating right and exercising. Fatigue and lack of enthusiasm can cause people to withdraw from the things they used to like to do. Emotions become flat and thoughts can turn to sadness, anxiety or even suicide.
Unfortunately, a large proportion of people suffering from depression and diabetes never receive help for the depression. Sometimes it's not recognized by healthcare professionals, and sometimes people who are depressed don't communicate to their doctors about their thoughts and feelings or don't realize that they are depressed.
Symptoms of Depression
Recognizing the symptoms of depression is important for getting the help that's needed.
Feeling sad for a prolonged period of time.
Feeling restless or anxious for no apparent reas Continue reading

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A Novel Intervention Including Individualized Nutritional Recommendations Reduces Hemoglobin A1c Level, Medication Use, and Weight in Type 2 Diabetes

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is typically managed with a reduced fat diet plus glucose-lowering medications, the latter often promoting weight gain.
Objective: We evaluated whether individuals with T2D could be taught by either on-site group or remote means to sustain adequate carbohydrate restriction to achieve nutritional ketosis as part of a comprehensive intervention, thereby improving glycemic control, decreasing medication use, and allowing clinically relevant weight loss.
Methods: This study was a nonrandomized, parallel arm, outpatient intervention. Adults with T2D (N=262; mean age 54, SD 8, years; mean body mass index 41, SD 8, kg·m−2; 66.8% (175/262) women) were enrolled in an outpatient protocol providing intensive nutrition and behavioral counseling, digital coaching and education platform, and physician-guided medication management. A total of 238 participants completed the first 10 weeks. Body weight, capillary blood glucose, and beta-hydroxybutyrate (BOHB) levels were recorded daily using a mobile interface. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and related biomarkers of T2D were evaluated at baseline and 10-week follow-up.
Results: Baseline HbA1c level was 7.6% (SD 1.5%) and only 52/262 (19.8%) participants had an HbA1c level of <6.5%. After 10 weeks, HbA1c level was reduced by 1.0% (SD 1.1%; 95% CI 0.9% to 1.1%, P<.001), and the percentage of individuals with an HbA1c level of <6.5% increased to 56.1% (147/262). The majority of participants (234/262, 89.3%) were taking at least one diabetes medication at baseline. By 10 weeks, 133/234 (56.8%) individuals had one o Continue reading

Homeopathic Treatment For Diabetes: Remedies To Control Blood Sugar And Nerve Damage

Diabetes is a growing concern in the world, with an estimated 30.3 million Americans suffering from it. What’s worse is that about 84.1 million Americans are thought to have prediabetes, which means their blood sugar levels are high enough to pose a risk of diabetes.1 Over time, high blood sugar can cause a range of problems from heart disease and eye problems to kidney disease and nerve damage.
So what can you do to deal with diabetes? Conventionally, medication to lower your blood sugar, insulin treatment, as well as lifestyle changes like having a healthy diet and exercising regularly are recommended to help manage this condition. Natural and alternative remedies can be used to fight diabetes as well. For instance, homeopathy, an alternative medical system that originated in Germany over 200 years ago, offers many solutions for dealing with diabetes.2 Here’s a detailed look at what homeopathy recommends.3 4
Homeopathic Treatment Is Tailored To The Individual
In a departure from conventional medicine, homeopathy uses a process known as “individualization” for treatment. According to this concept, a homeopathic doctor will first draw a detailed pathophysiological profile of the patient and then select a remedy based on that. They take a detailed history covering various factors like individual preferences, emotions, family history, sleep habits, and the way a person reacts mentally as well as physically to things. In other words, homeopathy treats the patient not the disease. And since treatments are tailored for each individual, different people suffering from the Continue reading

CNN’s “Fake” Diabetes News

Last spring CNN ran a story on one of its correspondents, Cristina Alesci, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as an adult. And a few days ago I came across the video of Ms. Alesci pleasantly sharing the way she manages diabetes in her busy life. I love seeing a person with type 1 diabetes powering through, which is what Alesci has done since her diagnosis. What I cannot stand is the fact that neither she nor the production team at CNN seems to have fact-checked the story to ensure that type 1 diabetes was represented accurately and clearly. It is a three-and-a-half-minute story about type 1 diabetes which doesn’t even give a definition of the disease.
Those watching the segment with no knowledge of diabetes would have finished it feeling either confused or armed with the wrong information about type 1 diabetes and how it is treated. The segment begins with Alesci’s passion for Italian food, and then her “out of the blue” diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. This could easily perpetuate the idea that eating too much is the cause of diabetes.
One minute into the video, the interviewer, Holly Firfer, asks Alesci to explain being diagnosed so late in life “because usually we see this in kids.” Alesci confirms the statement saying, “that’s exactly right.”
Unfortunately, they are both wrong.
Despite the old misnomer “juvenile diabetes,” most people with type 1 diabetes are adults – around 85%, according to JDRF. JDRF also notes, “Each year, more than 15,000 children and 15,000 adults—approximately 80 people per day—are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in Continue reading

Tiny sensor placed under the skin to replace finger prick tests for diabetes: Smartphone app will alert patients if their blood sugar level drops or is too high

A sensor in the arm may help thousands with diabetes avoid having frequent finger prick tests.
The device, called Eversense, is slightly larger than a pill and is implanted under the skin in a five-minute procedure.
It then continuously monitors blood sugar levels from the fluid that bathes cells just below the skin and transmits the data to a smartphone.
If blood sugar levels drop too low or are too high, the patient receives an alert on their phone, so they can take insulin to reduce the levels or eat something sugary to increase them.
The device also has a vibration alert in case the phone is off or there is no signal.
It stops patients needing regular finger prick tests, which can be painful. It has been approved in Europe, but is not yet available in the UK, though it is being considered by the NHS.
A study presented recently at the Diabetes Technology Meeting in Maryland, U.S., showed it was accurate and effective when tested on 90 adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes for 90 days.
If this type of monitoring was used more widely, it could help to reduce hospital admissions and diabetic complications, according to the charity Diabetes UK.
It is particularly useful for patients with type 1 diabetes —where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells in the pancreas, which then cannot produce insulin. It affects 400,000 Britons — about 10 per cent of all adults with diabetes.
Patients with this type of diabetes currently monitor blood sugar levels by taking between four and ten finger-prick tests a day, which helps them work out how much insulin they need.
But Continue reading