What Every Woman Should Know About Menopause And Diabetes

What every woman should know about menopause and diabetes

When people say you're sweet, it's usually meant as a compliment. But when your blood is too sweet or your blood sugar (glucose) is too high, it's a warning sign for prediabetes or diabetes.
And unless you act quickly, your body won't like it.
According to the American Diabetes Association, in 2012, 29.1 million Americans had diabetes, and more than half were women. And of the more than 29 million with diabetes, 21 million were undiagnosed.
It's not surprising that many women in perimenopause and menopause don't realize they have diabetes — the symptoms can be confused with symptoms of menopause. Frequent urination, night sweats, anxiety, mood swings, foggy thinking, dry itchy skin, and vaginal infections are common to both.
It's important to know if you have prediabetes or diabetes because diabetes is one of the most silently dangerous diseases we face. It's the No. 6 killer of women ages 45 to 54 and the No. 4 killer of women ages 55 to 65.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 10 U.S. adults has diabetes now, and if current trends continue, that figure could rise to 1 in 3 by 2050.
Why is diabetes so dangerous? Chronically high blood sugars silently damage blood vessels and nerves, and that can lead to:
Heart disease
Stroke
Nerve damage (neuropathy) that leads to tingling and pain in feet and hands
Kidney disease
Loss of vision
Feet infections and in some severe cases, amputation
Bone and joint problems
Skin infections and wounds that don't heal
Teeth and gum infections
There are two kinds of diabetes.
Type 1 (sometimes called insulin Continue reading

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Thyroid Disorders and Diabetes

Thyroid disorders are very common in the general U.S. population, affecting up to 27 million Americans, although half that number remains undiagnosed. It is second only to diabetes as the most common condition to affect the endocrine system — a group of glands that secrete hormones that help regulate growth, reproduction, and nutrient use by cells. As a result, it is common for an individual to be affected by both thyroid disease and diabetes.
Since the thyroid gland plays a central role in the regulation of metabolism, abnormal thyroid function can have a major impact on the control of diabetes. In addition, untreated thyroid disorder can increase the risk of certain diabetic complications and can aggravate many diabetes symptoms. Luckily, abnormal thyroid function can easily be diagnosed by simple blood tests, and effective treatment is available. For all of these reasons, periodic screening for thyroid disorder should be considered in all people with diabetes.
What is the thyroid?
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck, just below the Adam’s apple and above the collarbone. It produces two hormones, thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), which enter the bloodstream and affect the metabolism of the heart, liver, muscles, and other organs. The thyroid gland operates as part of a feedback mechanism involving the hypothalamus, an area of the brain, and the pituitary gland, which is located within the brain.
First, the hypothalamus sends a signal to the pituitary through a hormone called TRH (thyrotropin-releasing hormone). When the pituitary gland Continue reading

How to Prevent Alzheimer’s & Type 3 Diabetes

Some experts are calling Alzheimer’s disease (AD) “Type 3 diabetes,” because it relates to problems with insulin function. Preventing this condition combines good diabetes self-management with care for the brain.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions. People with Type 2 diabetes are 50–65% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than people with normal blood sugars. Approximately half of people with Type 2 will go on to develop Alzheimer’s in their lifetime.
Thinking of Type 3 diabetes as another complication of Type 2 gives some ideas on how to prevent it. Here are 10 possible approaches for avoiding Alzheimer’s disease:
1. Diabetes medications might help. Metformin seems to. A study at Tulane University followed 6,000 veterans with diabetes and showed that the longer a person used metformin, the lower his chances of developing Alzheimer’s and other dementias. People who took metformin for more than 4 years had only one quarter the risk of these diseases.
Newer diabetes drugs in the class known as GLP-1 receptor agonists have been found to improve memory and prevent Alzheimer’s changes in mice and preliminary human studies.
2. Food plays a significant role. Unfortunately, different experts have different prescriptions on what to eat.
Dr. Mark Hyman, author of The Blood Sugar Solution, says, “Balance your blood sugar with a whole-foods, low-glycemic diet. You can achieve this by taking out the bad stuff (refined carbs, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, processed foods, dairy, and inflammatory, omega-6 Continue reading

47% in China Likely Have Prediabetes Or Diabetes

Over 10% of China's population has diabetes -- one of the high prevalence rates in the world -- and more than a third are likely to be prediabetic, according to a new nationally representative study.
Led by Limin Wang, MPH, of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing, and colleagues, the analysis reported the estimated standardized prevalence for diabetes among China's population for 2013 was pegged at 10.9% (95% CI 10.4%-11.5), which included diagnosed (4%, 95% CI 3.6%-4.3%) and undiagnosed cases of diabetes.
Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the prevalence of China's prediabetes population was estimated at 35.7% (95% CI 34.1%-37.4%).
Compared to the U.S., which had a combined diabetes and prediabetes estimate of 49%-52% between 2011-2012, China was only slightly lower with a combined 47% prevalence rate in 2013.
Following a nationwide survey conducted in 2010, China's prediabetes prevalence was estimated at 50.1%, while their diabetes prevalence was estimated at 11.6%. However, Wang's group suspected these numbers overestimated the true prevalence, and therefore aimed to do better in their current study.
The research group drew on data from 170,287 adults who participated in the China Chronic Disease and Risk Factors Surveillance study, conducted every three years. The survey included an in-depth questionnaire to gather information on lifestyle risk factors, medical history, and demographics, as well as physical and lab evaluations (similar to NHANES in the U.S.).
All participants not previously diagnosed with diabetes u Continue reading

6 Tips on How to Prevent Feline Diabetes

As the owner of a diabetic cat who, fortunately, has been in remission for a few years now, I get asked about feline diabetes quite a bit. One question a lot of people have is how they can keep their cats from getting the disease. The good news is that for the vast majority of cats, there are six simple steps you can take to prevent your furry friend from getting feline diabetes.
1. The first step in preventing feline diabetes: watch your cat’s weight
As with Type 2 diabetes in humans, the most common risk factor for development of the diabetes in cats is obesity. A recent study revealed that 58 percent of cats are overweight or obese, and that’s a lot of ticking diabetes time bombs. Fat cats may be cute, but the health risks certainly are not. Make sure you feed your cat according to the instructions on his food, and if you are going to feed treats and snacks, make sure you compensate by feeding less at mealtime.
2. Feed your cat a species-appropriate diet
Cats are obligate carnivores. Their bodies evolved to eat a high-protein, low-carbohydrate and grain-free diet. Most vets these days agree that cats do best on a diet of canned food because the protein-carbohydrate balance is more in alignment with what their systems are designed to handle. Talk to your vet to determine the right diet for your cat.
3. Provide exercise and enrichment
Not only will exercise keep your cat’s weight down, it will reduce his stress level as well, so be sure to play with him every day. A bonus of daily play is that it will strengthen the bond between you and your furry friend. Environment Continue reading