When Youre Afraid To Test: The Root Of Diabetes Test Anxiety

When Youre Afraid to Test: The Root of Diabetes Test Anxiety

Getting to the Root of Glucose Testing Anxiety
Medically reviewed by Suzanne Falck, MD on September 20, 2017 Written by Stephanie Watson
Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, testing your blood sugar is critical to managing the disease. Measuring your glucose levels multiple times a day is the only way to know if your sugars are too low or too high.
To some people with diabetes, testing is a minor inconvenience. To others, its very stressful. Testing anxiety can get so extreme that some people avoid doing it altogether. When you skip glucose tests, you put yourself at risk for uncontrolled blood sugar and all the complications that come with it.
Testing anxiety is more than a fear of needles, although worry over the fingerstick is a big barrier for some. Above and beyond the pain, some people get woozy at the thought of sticking a needle into their finger. About 10 percent of adults have needle phobia, while others have a phobia of seeing blood. They have a real physical response to needles that can range from a rapid heartbeat to fainting.
Licensed clinical psychologist and certified diabetes educator William Polonsky, PhD, has come up with several other reasons why people with diabetes avoid checking their blood sugar. For one, regular testing reminds people they have diabetes, which can be stressful.
Polonsky writes , some people feel so upset about living with diabetes that they work hard to avoid ever thinking about it. If you feel this way, the act of monitoring can become an in-your-face reminder that yes, you still have diabetes, so you dont do it.
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Simple New Test Might Be a Better Way to Diagnose Gestational Diabetes

Simple New Test Might Be a Better Way to Diagnose Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes , or GDM, is relatively common among pregnant women in fact, almost 1 in 10 pregnant women in the U.S. experience it. Thats why your practitioner will administer a glucose screening to assess your risk of gestational diabetes at around week 24 to 28 of pregnancy.
But as lots of moms whove had their glucose screenings know, the test and follow-ups can be time-consuming and not super-pleasant (hello, saccharine Tang syrup). Whats worse: The results are not always accurate. In fact, its not uncommon to get a false positive on the screening, or to pass with flying colors and later get a GDM diagnosis.
A new test involving just one simple, quick blood draw may soon be available at your doctors office, and a recent study suggests that it both accurately diagnoses GDM and identifies babies at risk of being born large for gestational age a common complication of gestational diabetes just as well as the current GD testing methodsand maybe even better.
How glucose tolerance screening & tests work today
Current glucose screening and glucose tolerance tests are fairly simple, but easily skewed: Moms-to-be are asked to drink a sugary solution at home, and then get to the doctors office on time to be tested within a one-hour window. The mothers may drink or not drink the solution, or they may not drink it all because its nauseating. And instead of getting to the lab one hour after drinking it, they might get there an hour and a half later. All of this makes the test relatively inaccurate Continue reading

10 Foods That Fight Back Against Diabetes

10 Foods That Fight Back Against Diabetes
Nutrition is a critical part of diabetes care. Balancing the right amount of carbohydrates, fat, protein along with fiber, vitamins and minerals, helps up to maintain a healthy diet and a healthy lifestyleFor people with diabetes, there is at least one extra consideration for our nutritional needs and that is the question of how our blood sugar levels will respond to different diets. Diabetes.co.uk
To start with, our readers should know whether they have a genetic predisposition to diabetes. While scientists and researchers are still determining the strength of the diabetes/genetics link, knowing your family history is half the battle. Type 2 diabetes is known to have a strong genetic connection.
The other half of the battle are modifiable lifestyle risk factors, and yes, this includes your diet. In fact, lifestyle may be more influential than genetics, especially for Type 2 diabetes, which by far is the most common.
In this article, we discuss ten foods that can fight back against diabetes. Well also discuss some of the science behind it.
Blueberries are considered a superfood, food that is extremely nutrient-dense. Blueberries are potent diabetes-fighters; a natural chemical found in blueberries shrinks fat cells and stimulates the release of a hormone that helps regulate blood glucose levels. A protein hormone called adiponectin, which blueberries are a rich source of, can maintain low blood sugar while increasing our bodys sensitivity to insulin.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death for people with diabetes, w Continue reading

New Chemical Found In Ayahuasca May Completely Reverse Diabetes

New Chemical Found In Ayahuasca May Completely Reverse Diabetes
Currently hundreds of millions of people across the world are the victims of diabetes. In the United States alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that there are approximately 20 million diabetics. Potential cures and methods to reverse diabetes are showing promising results, and among them is the chemical harmine commonly found in several plants around the world. It is also the main ingredient in the psychoactive compound known as ayahuasca.
Diabetes is an autoimmune sickness which prevents the human pancreas from producing insulin. Insulin is the hormone that enables the body to receive energy from foods. Diabetes occurs when the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, called beta cells. Apparently, the cause for this condition is still not quite understood, but researchers believe that genetic and environmental factors influence too. Modern day mainstream science claims there is no cure for diabetes.
Again, around 380 million people in the world suffer from types 1 and 2 diabetes. Both types are ultimately the result of insufficient functional pancreatic insulin-producing beta cells. It is actually insulin-producing beta cells where harmine manifests the most promising results.
New research study posted in the journalNature Medicine led to interesting results. The research, funded by JDRF and the National Institutes of Health was conducted by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City. The findings Continue reading

Immune System Research Could Bring New Treatments for MS, Diabetes

In autoimmune disorders, malfunctioning immune cells turn against the body.
These cells attack the protective sheaths that surround neurons in the brain, which can eventually lead to a host of symptoms and conditions like paralysis, and in some cases be fatal.
Now, imagine if these wayward cells could be influenced to control the disease, rather than fuel it.
Research presented today at a meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) shows that it’s possible — and could be a game-changer — when it comes to treating autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) and type 1 diabetes.
Read more: Get the facts on autoimmune diseases »
Current methods imprecise
While current immunotherapies can yield positive results, they tend to deal in broad strokes.
This approach can affect and potentially compromise the entire immune system, rather than dealing with just the cells that are causing problems.
Christopher Jewell, PhD, associate professor in the bioengineering department at the University of Maryland, and lead researcher on the study released today, told Healthline that his team set out to develop a form of immunotherapy that specifically targeted the problematic cells, leaving the rest of the immune system alone.
“We are working on autoimmune disease, where the body’s immune system mistakenly recognizes and attacks its own cells or tissues,” Jewell wrote in an email. “In multiple sclerosis, myelin — the matrix that insulates neurons — gets attacked by malfunctioning immune cells entering the brain. Existing therapies have been beneficial for patients, but Continue reading