What You Need To Know About Diabetes

Across the globe, the rate of diabetes has skyrocketed — quadrupled, in fact — in the last few decades. As of 2012, over 9% of the U.S. population has diabetes — and more than 8.1 million people who have it don't know it, according to the American Diabetes Association. We spoke with Dorothy Fink, MD, an endocrinologist at NYU Langone Medical Center, to find out what you need to know about the condition, including its main warning signs.
What's the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes?
To understand the two diseases, you have to first understand what's supposed to happen. After eating — if you're healthy — your digestive system will break down food into basic sugars (a.k.a. glucose) that it can use as fuel. In order for it to do that, though, your pancreas has to release the hormone insulin, which acts like a key for each of your cells, unlocking them so the glucose can enter and be used for fuel. But in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, there is a kink in this system.
Dr. Fink explains that type 1 diabetes is caused by an autoimmune response, which means that antibodies from a patient's own immune system start to attack the pancreas, damaging it and preventing it from producing insulin. Without the insulin, the body's cells can't use the glucose, so it builds up in the blood, causing the "high blood sugar" that can be dangerous. People with type 1 usually have to rely on insulin injections to make sure their bodies can regulate their blood sugar and their cells get the fuel they need.
Patients with type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, can still make insulin Continue reading

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Continuous Versus Flash Glucose Monitoring To Reduce Hypoglycemia In Type 1 Diabetes

Continuous glucose monitoring may reduce hypoglycemia fear.
The Dexcom G5 system was approved by the FDA in 2016 and was later permitted for use to replace finger-stick testing to determine insulin dose. The REPLACE-BG study proved its safety and effectiveness in adults with well-controlled type 1 diabetes at low risk for severe hypoglycemia. The FreeStyle Libre Pro System was also approved last year by the US FDA for use by physicians for monitoring glucose in patients with diabetes. It is the third “blinded” professional CGM system on the US market, joining the Dexcom G4 Platinum Professional Real-Time CGM and the Medtronic iPro2 Professional CGM, but it does not require finger-stick calibration, has no reusable components requiring disinfection, provides a longer period of data capture (14 days, compared with 7 for the Dexcom and 3 for Medtronic), and has a lower cost.
Previously studies revealed that CGMs could increase the time spent in and above glucose target range along with reduction in time below that same range in type 1 diabetes. Almost one-fourth of the adult patients had experienced reduction in awareness of hypoglycemia putting them at high-risk for severe hypoglycemia. In a recent UK study, real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) has shown significant improvement in identifying and reducing the time spent in hypoglycemia in comparison to the flash glucose monitoring (FGM) in type 1 diabetes patients with impaired hypoglycemia awareness. According to Dr. Monika Reddy, the study showed that both CGM and FGM devices: G5 by Dexcom and Freestyle Libre b Continue reading

Controlling Type 2 Diabetes Through Diet – Expert’s Panel

Diabetes management can be efficiently done by following the right diet, being active, getting enough sleep, perhaps, in some cases, taking medication as prescribed by your doctor. So many factors have to be taken into consideration when it comes to regulating your blood sugar levels in order to avoid the lows and the highs.
It is recommended by experts that one keep their blood sugars in control by diet, as in, eating healthy. For that, you have to make some healthy choices.
But with so many internet articles and blogs about diabetes and eating healthy out there, who do you listen to? Who should you trust? What do you eat? What should you avoid? One small mistake and you can pay with your life, in some cases.
We have compiled tips and suggestions from 29 respected experts who share with you their rules on how you can control your type 2 with diet. Read on to find out what they are.
1. Karen R. Koenig, LCSW, M.Ed
I encourage my clients with Type 2 Diabetes to do the following: stop dieting and labeling foods “good” or “bad” and, instead, think of them as having high or low health benefits. The diet mentality only promotes rebound eating. The goal is to develop an internal, rather than an external, locus of control. I also encourage them to learn how to become “normal” or intuitive eaters by connecting to appetite cues for hunger, fullness and satisfaction, and eating with awareness, which often means without distractions.
They also need to develop effective practices to manage stress and distress without turning to food. All this can be done with an eating disor Continue reading

Losing weight is hard, but it's not any harder if you have type 2 diabetes

A study has found weight loss could reverse type 2 diabetes. The UK clinical trial showed that 46% of people who followed a low-calorie diet, among other measures, for 12 months were able to stop their type 2 diabetes medications.
This confirms a position outlined in a previous paper that people can beat diabetes into remission if they lost about 15 kilograms. Another study showed that prediabetes (a blood sugar level that is high, but lower than necessary for diabetes diagnosis) can be prevented by losing as little as 2kg.
If weight loss isn’t already hard enough, many people think it’s more difficult if you have diabetes. One small study perhaps sowed the seed for this defeatist idea. A dozen overweight diabetic subjects and their overweight non-diabetic spouses were treated together in a behavioural weight-control program. After 20 weeks, the diabetic group lost 7.4kg on average while their non-diabetic spouses lost 13.4kg.
But there’s more to this story than meets the eye. In fact, losing weight with type 2 diabetes is no harder than it is without it.
Where does this idea comes from?
Type 2 diabetes triples the risk of heart attack and stroke, and is the leading cause of blindness, amputations and kidney failure. Treatment with modern drugs improves the outlook, but complications still develop and life expectancy is substantially reduced, especially for younger people. So beating it into remission is the ultimate goal of management.
If weight loss helps reach that goal, people need to know if it’s harder to achieve than without diabetes. From all the information Continue reading

Diabetes And Weight Loss for Type 2

Obesity and diabetes are intimately linked. In particular, abdominal obesity can be a major culprit in the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Research shows that if you are overweight and have been diagnosed with Diabetes Type 2, losing weight will significantly lower your blood sugar levels and also improve your overall health. So, yes. Diabetes and weight loss makes immense sense. But, could there be a “right” and a “wrong” way to achieve your weight loss goals?
Diabetes And Weight Loss Dilemma
The most important thing to understand is this – any weight loss is good. According to Cathy Nonas, MS, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and a professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, “No matter how heavy you are, you will significantly lower your blood sugar if you lose some weight.” The Finnish Prevention Study and a study by Diabetes Prevention Program (see References at the end of the article for details) both prove that lifestyle changes that instigate a weight reduction of 5% (or more) decrease the overall risk of diabetes by as much as 58% in high-risk patients.
For those living with diabetes, studies have shown that a loss of 5–10% of body weight can improve fitness levels, reduce HbA1c levels, improve cardiovascular health, and decrease use of diabetes, hypertension, and lipid-lowering medications. That’s not all; diabetics who successfully lose weight also lower their risk of depression and sleep apnea.
People diagnosed with diabetes get a bundle of advice when it comes to weight loss. From magazine Continue reading