Diabetes Health Talk

Says Jackson: ‘An old dawg can learn new tricks!’

Diagnosed in 1999 with Diabetes Type 2 took the entertainer by surprise, he said in a recent interview with Diabetes Forecast, the consumer magazine of the American Diabetes Association. Staying healthy after ten years of living with diabetes.

Jackson, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1999, was shocked when he learned that he had a chronic disease. “They were sneaky symptoms,” he says. “Of course, I didn’t take into consideration that a history of type 2 diabetes ran in my family, because you always think that happens to somebody else, not you.” But soon after his diagnosis, Jackson took charge. He turned his diet around from the “Southern-fried” foods he was accustomed to, began to exercise regularly, and after much careful consideration, had gastric bypass surgery. As a result of these changes, Jackson has set out to talk to people about lifestyle changes that can prevent diabetes and its complications.

“I still check my blood sugar three or four times a day,” Jackson comments. “I have to surround myself with healthy alternatives — in the office, studio, on set, whatever — so I’m not reaching for something bad, because the habits are still there, I grew up with them.” Jackson has written a new book about his experience with type 2 diabetes that discusses the psychological aspects of weight loss, which he feels are more important that people normally realize. “I’ve been on 80 million diets, lost a bunch of weight and gained it all back,” he states. “There’s more going on here than just food.”

Jackson has seen multiple successes in achieving better health as well as his professional career. Between managing his diabetes, sitting at the judges’ table on American Idol, producing “America’s Best Dance Crew,” and publishing a memoir, he has accomplished a lot since his diagnosis, making many personal changes while building on his career. “It’s like I say in [my] book: ‘An old dawg can learn new tricks!’”

Thisis new, bad blood sugar caused by bad air, according to Researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center said they have found a strong connection between diabetes and air pollution.

Dr. Sanjay Rajagopalan said air pollution not only affects your lungs, it also causes problems in other organs. His research team exposed mice to the same dirty air that many of us breathe every day.

“Every mouse that we exposed to high-fat diet, along with exposure to inhaled particulates, had marked worsening of diabetes,” Rajagopalan said.

Rajagopalan also noted that diabetes rates are highest in urban areas, which often have the worst air.

The study is very telling, that most diabetics live in cities and suburbs. More study needs to be done to verify the claim, but it is interesting to note.

I”ve lived in both smaller towns and bigger cities and haven’t noticed a rise in diabetes, but then again, I wasn’t keeping track. I only developed diabetes after receiving my transplant.

If you live in a dense urban or suburban area, its all the more reason to take care of yourself. Take your blood sugar, adjust your insulin or take your medication, eat low-carb, low-sodium and low-sugar foods and exercise. Some of my favorite vegetables are zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, tomatoes, beets, carrots and the like. Farmers markets are great. You know where they come from and they’re not covered with pesticides.

My food plan is low-carb, high fiber vegetables, beef, chicken and tuna. I walk every day (or compensate in my apt).

Children have delayed Type 1 diabetes when both parents have Type 2, studies have shown.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition in which the body mistakenly attacks insulin-producing cells, and it usually starts in childhood; type 2 diabetes is a metabolic derangement, often tied to obesity later in life.

Few studies have looked at how a family history of type 2 diabetes impacts the offspring with type 1 disease, according to a report in the medical journal Diabetes Care.

To investigate, Dr. Per-Henrik Groop, from Helsinki University Hospital, and colleagues analyzed data from 1860 patients with type 1 diabetes. About a third of the subjects had parents with type 2 diabetes.

On average, the onset of type 1 diabetes occurred at 17.2 years of age in the group with a family history compared with 16.1 years in the group without parental diabetes.

There’s no clear-cut answer to why this occurs, though, scientists say.

As with both types of diabetes, watch what you eat, exercise and take your medications as prescribed by your doctor or health care provider.

By eating low carb, low starch, low sugar foods, you deprive the body of the ability to raise your blood sugar, and you’re feeding your body healthy, nutritious foods it needs anyway. You’ll feel better, not only because your blood sugars will lower, but also because you’ll start losing weight. I know I do, since I’ve been eating more fiber-rich vegetables, like Eggplant, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Carrots, Bell Peppers and the like. You can make so much with just a few ingredients.

There haven’t been any more studies about Delayed Type 1 diabetics who have parents with Type 2 Diabetes.

The medical journal Nutrition and Metabolism has backed the low carb diet that may allow diabetics with type-2 diabetes to stop medication altogether.

Here’s the study, in a nutshell: low carb diets reduce blood sugar. Here’s the long explantion.

Dr. Eric C. Westman, of Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues compared the effectiveness of the two diets in 84 obese patients with type 2 diabetes. They were assigned to a low carbohydrate (less than 20 grams per day) ketogenic diet or to low-glycemic reduced-calorie diet for 24-weeks. Those on the low-carb ketogenic diet had no restrictions on their daily calorie intake.

The participants on the low-carb ketogenic diet had greater improvements in A1C, a measure of long-term blood glucose control, than those in the low-glycemic reduced-calorie diet group.

Those in the low-carb ketogenic diet group also lost more weight and had an increase in “good” HDL cholesterol compared with those in the other diet group.

It was possible for 95.2 percent of those in the low-carb ketogenic diet group and 62.1 percent on the low-glycemic reduced-calorie diet to eliminate or reduce their diabetes medications.

“Lifestyle modification using low carbohydrate interventions is effective for improving and reversing type 2 diabetes,” the researchers conclude.

The most popular low-carb ketogenic diet is Atkins. David Draper has the best advice and I would submit this for those who are wanting to lose weight, lower their blood sugars. His number one rule for proper nutrition.

RULE # 1- Stay away from fats, excessive salt and simple sugars. This eliminates 99% of the fast foods, munchies and soft drinks. Who needs them? In a few short weeks, you won’t want them, wonder why you ate them and feel sick if you do!

Easy to incorporate into your life, these tips will help you lead a healthier life with Diabetes.

Easy lifestyle choices. That’s the phrase from health professionals for diabetes prevention. Making healthier choices like eating more fiber-rich vegetables and whole grains with less saturated fat, starches, cholesterol, and empty carbohydrates. Walking is one of the best and most easily attainable lifestyle change one can make in the fight against diabetes, according to doctors who treat those with Diabetes type-2. Here are more healthy lifestyle tips:

1. Get more physical activity

Whether you lose weight or not, physical activity lowers blood sugar and boosts your sensitivity to insulin — which helps keep your blood sugar within a normal range.

2. Get plenty of fiber

It’s rough, it’s tough — and it may reduce the risk of diabetes by improving your blood sugar control. Fiber intake is also associated with a lower risk of heart disease. It may even promote weight loss by helping you feel full. Foods high in fiber include fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

3. Go for whole grains

Although it’s not clear why, whole grains may reduce your risk of diabetes and help maintain blood sugar levels. Try to make at least half your grains whole grains.

4. Lose extra weight

If you’re overweight, diabetes prevention may hinge on weight loss. Every pound you lose can improve your health.

5. Skip fad diets and make healthier choices

Low-carb, low-glycemic load or other fad diets may help you lose weight at first, but their effectiveness at preventing diabetes isn’t known; nor are their long-term effects.

Talk to your doctor or health care provider before starting any health change. Now, go out there and get healthy!

Oat cereal may curb or reduce onset of Diabetes, scientists in Scotland are studying.

According to the research, they are looking to develop new dietary plans which could improve diabetes control, delay the need for people with type 2 diabetes to start tablets or insulin to control their blood sugar, and potentially reduce the risk of some of the complications of diabetes, said UHI Professor Sandra MacRury, who works at the school’s Department of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Science.

Many oat-based cereals are on the market, so if this study turns out evidence Oat cereal will curb, delay or reduce diabetes type-2, I may start buying Oat cereal again.

Oat cereal has already been proven to reduce cardiovascular disease, cholesterol and fat in the blood. The only issue is many cereals are high carb, which I’m avoiding. A low-carb diet, in my case, has led to weight loss and reduced blood sugars. Anything that helps me reduce blood sugars is ok in my book.

If there is an oat cereal or product that will reduce blood sugars and be low-carb at the same time, you can bet i’ll be looking into it seriously.

Orowheat makes a light carb bread, called “Orowheat Light” that is only a 5.5 carbs per slice, so a sandwich at lunch or toast in the morning is only 11 carbs. Thats much better than other breads, being twice or 2 1/2 times that carb count. Another low carb product I buy is Dreamfields Pasta. It’s only 5 carbs per serving, compared to 30-45 carbs per serving of all other pastas.

Love my bread and pasta!

In a study performed by the Veterans Administration, closely monitored Glucose Levels do not hinder cardiovascular problems.

In the study, there was no statistical difference between the two groups: one that was closely monitored for glucose control and the second that was not. Each group had equal numbers that passed from cardiovascular disease at the same rate. According to the article, In fact, the number of sudden deaths in the intensive-therapy group was three-times that of the standard-therapy group, and more people who received intensive therapy experienced severe adverse events.

Intensive therapy had no significant impact on a patient’s progression to eye problems like diabetic retinopathy or macular edema, or on a patient’s development of neuropathy.

The study’s doctors state it is important to monitor your glucose and follow a regimen for diabetes.

By eating healthy, taking your medications, exercising, you can reduce your chances of cardiovascular disease caused by diabetes. Always ask your health care provider or doctor before undergoing any health care changes, such as medications (that includes vitamins, minerals, herbs and supplements), any exercise routine or monitoring device. Diabetes can be monitored so one can lead a healthy, productive life.

Another way to live a healthier life is to cut out bad habits, such as smoking, eating a high saturated fat and high carbohydrate diet and being sedentary. Reversing these lifestyle choices that lead to diabetes and cardiovascular failure will enable you to live a healthier life.

Always notify your doctor or health care provider if anything changes in your management of diabetes, such as a change in glucose levels, skipped or missing medication or a change in eating habits and exercise. These will help your doctor to better manage your diabetes and help you to avoid cardiovascular disease.

Is there a youth with diabetes in your life? If they are overwieght, chances are, they have tried using their diabetes type-1 or type-2 to lose weight.

More and more teenagers with diabetes type-1 or type-2 are skipping insulin shots or pills, fasting, using diet aids, vomiting or using laxatives in order to shed a few pounds. While they may be successful in shedding weight, many may not know the danger they are putting their health in.

They may be causing themselves heart, kidney, liver or eye problems or failure. Their heart and other organs must work harder to compensate by not taking care of themselves. Closely monitor their medications, if you must, to ensure they are taking the proper dosages at the proper times.

If they are concerned about weight loss, sit down and calmly discuss proper nutrition, exercise. Try not to turn it to a lecture, because that’s the surest way to lose their attention. What most people respond to is some listening to them and gently showing them proper eating and exercise habits. Will it happen overnight? No. But, it will happen, over time, by showing proper eating habits, fixing fresh foods with herbs and spices.

Find an activitiy that appeals to them: walking is the best activity known to humankind. There are many health benefits, and weight loss is among them. In 2007, I lost 41 pounds by cutting out fried, fatty, high colesterol foods and walking from 30-60 minutes every day. It’s just one pound a week (the FDA’s recommended weightloss).

Brisk walking, limiting TV seems to benefit this high-risk group

Less TV and more exercise may help reduce incidence of type 2 diabetes, especially among black women, a new report shows.

Researchers from Boston University’s Slone Epidemiology Center made that conclusion based on a survey of black women, a high-risk group for the disease. The findings were published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology .

The research linked vigorous activity with a reduced risk of diabetes. Those who walked briskly for at least five hours a week had less chance of developing diabetes than those who didn’t walk.

“Our results confirm that vigorous activity is protective against type 2 diabetes in African-American women,” study author Julie Palmer, a professor of epidemiology at Boston University’s School of Public Health and senior epidemiologist at the Slone Center, said in a university news release. “A key public health finding is that brisk walking reduced risk. That is important, because many women don’t have the time or place to engage in ‘vigorous’ physical activity, but most women can find time to walk.”

Watching an appreciable amount of television, regardless of the women’s level of physical activity, was linked to a greater risk of diabetes, the study found.

You’re Wellbeing:

Make it a priority to take good care of your body. The time you spend now on eye care, foot care and skin care, as well as your heart health and oral health, could delay or prevent the onset of dangerous diabetes complications later in life. In addition, one of the best things you can do for your body is to stop smoking.

Heart Disease and Stroke
People with diabetes have extra reason to be mindful of heart and blood vessel disease. Diabetes carries an increased risk for heart attack, stroke, and complications related to poor circulation.

Skin Care
As many as one-third of people with diabetes will have a skin disorder caused or affected by diabetes at some time in their lives. In fact, such problems are sometimes the first sign that a person has diabetes. Luckily, most skin conditions can be prevented or easily treated if caught early.

Foot Care
People with diabetes can develop many different foot problems. Foot problems most often happen when there is nerve damage in the feet or when blood flow is poor. Learn how to protect your feet by following some basic guidelines.

Eye Care
Diabetes can cause eye problems and may lead to blindness. People with diabetes do have a higher risk of blindness than people without diabetes. Early detection and treatment of eye problems can save your sight.

The statistics for Type 2 diabetes are staggering. There are about 20 million Americans with Type 2 diabetes, a high sugar condition caused by poor nutrition, being obese, and a lack of exercise—factors that can all mostly be prevented.

Type 2 diabetes is now an epidemic, and if not corrected in this generation, it will probably be responsible for most of the strokes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease that we will encounter in our sixties and seventies. Type 2 diabetes is especially common among African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and certain Asian populations.

Most people develop Type 2 diabetes because they are overweight. Basically the human body does two things: it takes in calories, and it burns calories. When you consistently bring in more calories than you burn off, all those extra calories turn into fat. That fat first gets stored in the abdomen and the intestines, and then it begins to infiltrate the muscle mass of our body. And what you end up with looks very much like a marbleized piece of sirloin that you see at the butcher shop. That marbleization is one of the hallmarks of people with Type 2 diabetes.

If you keep piling on the extra calories, the pancreas, whose function begins to slow down anyway with age, is no longer able to meet the demand for large quantities of insulin needed to metabolize all that sugar in the blood.

If you were to lose weight, a significant amount of weight, I mean, your Type 2 diabetes could disappear almost overnight.

The list of damage diabetes does to the body is virtually endless. If you are a diabetic, you must learn to prevent complications and stay ahead of the game. Being a diabetic is a full-time job, and there are several measures you will have to take to ensure you keep your health on track.

You will constantly have to monitor your cardiovascular risks by monitoring your blood pressure and keeping it under control.

You will have to watch your cholesterol levels.

You will have to visit your ophthalmologist regularly to ensure you don’t development retinopathy.

You will need very comprehensive dental and foot care.

But, most important, you will have to monitor and control your sugar levels. Several times a day you must take a glucose reading either by using Accu-Chek or doing a finger prick. You will look at your morning sugar and at your sugar two hours after you eat. For the most part you want your morning sugar to be less than 100 milligrams per deciliter, and you want your postdinner values, usually two hours after you eat, to be 120 and 130 milligrams per deciliter.

Measure of glucose levels fell more compared to high-fiber diet

For people who have type 2 diabetes, a low-glycemic index diet is significantly better than a high-fiber diet for keeping blood glucose levels down, researchers report.

Glycemic index, or GI, refers to how rapidly a food causes blood sugar to rise. High-GI foods, like white bread and potatoes, tend to spur a quick surge in blood sugar, while low-GI foods, such as lentils, soybeans, yogurt and many high-fiber grains, produce a more gradual increase in blood sugar.

The current study in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association involved 210 individuals with type 2 diabetes treated with anti-diabetes medications who were randomly allocated to go on to either a low-GI diet or a high-fiber diet for 6 months. The main outcome measured was the change in A1C in the blood, which reflects glucose levels over the long term.

A1C fell 0.50 percent on the low-GI diet compared with only 0.18 percent on the high-fiber diet, Dr. David J. A. Jenkins, from the University of Toronto, and co-researchers report.

Furthermore, levels of HDL (”good”) cholesterol levels rose with the low-GI diet but they fell with the high-fiber diet.

“Low-glycemic index diets may be useful as part of the strategy to improve glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes taking (glucose-lowering) medications,” the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, Dec. 17, 2008.

Broccoli lovers, know this: Your favorite veggie is loving you right back, with ample amounts of this stroke-stomping, diabetes-deterring nutrient — vitamin C.

High blood levels of vitamin C could cut stroke risk by as much as 42 percent and reduce your odds of developing type 2 diabetes by a whopping 62 percent.

“C” the Stats
Yep, that’s exactly what happened in two recent studies involving middle-aged and older adults. As blood levels of C went up, risks went down. Researchers suspect that the vitamin’s strong antioxidant qualities may be the reason for its protective effects. And there’s no better way to raise your blood levels of C than to start filling your body with C-rich winter foods like broccoli, brussels sprouts, and oranges.

One Vital Vitamin

Slashing stroke and diabetes risk is just part of what vitamin C does. Here are a few of its many other roles:

Sight saver. Along with beta carotene, vitamin E, and zinc, C lowers the odds of age-related macular degeneration

Breath buddy. Your lungs love vitamin C.

Does Your Gum Have Vitamin C?

Snapping and popping gum remain image busters — just ask Britney Spears watchers. But here’s a good excuse for discreet chewing: less blood at the dentist’s office.

If your gums bleed a lot during cleaning — a sign of subpar dental health — your dentist may urge you to floss more. But chew gum more? It could help. In a recent study, gum chewers experienced less gingivitis-like bleeding than nonchewers, but only if their gum of choice was enriched with vitamin C. Better yet, they didn’t have to chew for a long time to get the benefit.

Dentists have been concerned that too much direct contact between tooth enamel and vitamin C leads to a breakdown in tooth structure, but there was no problem with erosion in this study. And gum chewers didn’t need to chew long — only for about 15 minutes — to release nearly all of the vitamin C in their sample gum. But they did chew daily — about five times each day, in fact — to achieve the benefits.

The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has announced the early cancellation of one part of a major diabetes and cardiovascular disease study after discovering that patients undergoing that treatment were more likely to die from heart attacks and strokes.

The Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) study included 10,251 adults with Type 2 diabetes who were considered to be at especially high risk of heart attacks and strokes. One of the treatments in the study involved using combinations of FDA-approved diabetes drugs to aggressively lower participants’ blood sugar to levels as close to normal as possible.

“Of these, 257 in the intensive treatment group have died, compared with 203 within the standard treatment group,” the NIH announced. At the time of the experiment’s cancellation, patients had been undergoing treatment for an average of four years.

The NIH said that it does not know what caused the increased risk of death among patients undergoing intensive treatment, but it does not believe that the risk came from any individual drug or combination of drugs. Rather, there appears to be some negative effect on the body from so aggressively lowering blood sugar levels.

“This presents a real dilemma to patients and their physicians,” said Richard Kahn, chief scientific and medical officer for the American Diabetes Association. “How intensive should treatment be? We just don’t know.”

Previously, health experts have believed that the closer to normal a diabetic’s blood sugar can be lowered, the better. The NIH findings have offered a major challenge to that conventional wisdom.

Approximately 21 million people in the United States suffer from Type 2 diabetes, and the numbers increase every year. The elevated blood sugar that is characteristic of the disease is well-established to lead to a host of other health problems, including an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack and stroke.

Sugar has been banned at Georgia elementary school for a decade

School required fitness classes, overhauled menu and banned junk food

More studies required to see if methods would improve student health

Recent research suggests banning soda not curbing kids’ consumption

As schools around the country have begun removing soda and junk food from their premises, the elementary school in Lithonia, Georgia, was ahead of the curve, cutting out sugar 10 years ago under the watch of principal Dr. Yvonne Sanders-Butler.

Sanders-Butler overhauled the school’s menu, nutrition program and vending machines after battling her own weight troubles and surviving a stroke at 39. When she sought to eliminate sugar from the school, many resisted and warned her she was endangering her job.

“If we don’t do something, we’re talking about children that are probably going to lose their life at some point. We have to take a stand,” she said.

Schools are now pulling soda from their vending machines and cafeterias. California schools can sell only water, milk and fruit and sports drinks that contain a specified amount of sweeteners. Beverage distributors such as Cadbury Schweppes, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have agreed to sell only water, unsweetened juice, and flavored and unflavored low-fat and fat-free milk at all elementary and middle schools by the 2009 school year.

Research into the effectiveness of these kinds of interventions in schools is beginning, but recent studies suggest banning soda at school has minimal impact.

A study in Maine compared the soda intake between students at high schools where soda was permitted and schools where it was banned. Researchers found that reducing soda availability did not decrease consumption, according to the 2008 study published in the Society for Nutrition Education.

Another study published this year in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that limiting soft drinks at school decreased consumption by 4 percent.

Removing junk foods from schools may not eliminate the problem.

What happened in Browns Mill was the result of a number of factors, said Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu, former U.S. Surgeon General, who now chairs the Johnson and Johnson Diabetes Institute. He credits the principal for creating “an environment in her school where it became a normal part of the curriculum to learn about what’s important as far as diet.”

“It really focuses on the children and having the children learn how to make healthy decisions for themselves,” he said. “Second, it created an environment within the schools that encouraged the kids to make those decisions. By having healthier foods, by having physical education, by having vending machines, that gives the children the opportunity to make healthy choices.”

Browns Mill fifth-grader Cori Bostic said she would prefer honeydew, watermelon or cantaloupe to cake anyway.

Wincing slightly, the fifth-grader said, “Junk food makes my stomach hurt.”

In people with type 1 diabetes, adequate control of blood sugar over the long haul helps reduce the risk of diabetes-related eye and kidney disease, new data suggest.

The findings stem from a look at 1,441 type 1 diabetic patients followed for roughly 9 years as part of the pivotal Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT).

By analyzing hemoglobin A1C levels over time — a standard indicator of long-term blood sugar control — the researchers observed that increasing variability in hemoglobin A1C heightens the risk of new or worsening diabetic retinopathy (damage to the retina) and diabetic kidney disease.

Specifically, for every 1 percent increase in hemoglobin A1C, they found that the risk of retinopathy increased more than twofold and the risk of diabetic kidney disease increased nearly twofold.

The findings suggest that the long-term stability of blood sugar, and not just the average blood sugar control, predict the risk of these complications, study investigator Dr. Eric S. Kilpatrick of Hull Royal Infirmary in Hull, England, noted in an interview with Reuters Health.

“It is probably another reason to aim for stable good glycemic control rather than only good glycemic control,” Kilpatrick said.

However, blood sugar management “is only part of the story,” he added. It is as important, he said, to ensure that blood pressure and cholesterol levels are “tightly controlled” in order to reduce the complications of diabetes.