Controlling diabetes involves managing one’s diet and level of physical activity. This is not something most people enjoy doing. It is easy to cheat on diet and equally easy to skip the exercise. However, if people who have diabetes aren’t proactive, they can invite many undesirable consequences.
In comparison with the non-diabetic population, diabetics are more likely to develop kidney diseases, become blind, have a heart attack or have a stroke.
Six out of every ten diabetics are vulnerable to nerve damage often referred to as diabetic neuropathy. While there are many types of nerve damage such as damage to nerves that control walking, damage to autonomic nerves and damage to sensory nerves, diabetes usually damages sensory nerves.
This nerve damage most often occurs in the legs and feet although sometimes it is felt in the arms. When it happens, the person feels a tingling sensation, pain or numbness or perhaps all three. With less feeling in the limbs, it is easy to injure a foot without being aware of it. Sometimes the nerve damage in the foot causes an ulcer and the foot has to be amputated.
Nephropathy or kidney damage is another complication arising from diabetes. Your kidneys contain blood vessels that filter waste from your blood and excrete it in your urine. By the time any symptoms arise, the disease is usually in an advanced stage. Symptoms are: swelling of ankles, feet, and hands; dry, itchy skin; high blood pressure; fatigue; nausea and vomiting; poor appetite, shortness of breath and fatigue. Since these are also symptoms of other diseases, screening is necessary to identify the presence of kidney disease. Lack of treatment can lead to kidney failure and diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure in the United States.
Diabetes can also cause eye injury or retinopathy.
The blood vessels in the retina are easily damaged by high blood sugar levels. Retinopathy is quite common in patients who have had diabetes for more than twenty years. It is important to have regular eye examinations to identify problems before they become serious. There are various treatments that can improve vision especially in the early stages. However, in some cases this may not happen. Amongst American adults, diabetes is the leading cause of blindness.
Diabetics are at a much higher risk for developing heart problems than the rest of the population. They are particularly vulnerable to asymptomatic heart attacks or heart attacks that occur suddenly without warning. Diabetics can reduce their chances of heart problems by keeping a healthy weight, following a proper diet, and exercising regularly.
Diabetes also interferes with the function of your immune system. It lowers the ability of your immune cells to fight off invaders which increase your risk of developing various infections.
In the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, long-term studies have been conducted to explore the relationship between blood sugar levels and the danger of complications. These studies all concluded that those people who did the best job of managing their blood sugar levels had the least problems with complications. So the key factor is the patient. Those diabetics who take the most active role in tightly controlling their blood sugar levels are most likely to either avoid or reduce the severity of complications.
By: Brenda Williams
Posts Tagged ‘Kidney Damage’
Complications Associated With Diabetes
March 27th, 2010Diabetes and Kidney Damage
March 19th, 2010
Research results indicate that Diabetes is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease. Final stage of kidney disease is kidney failure and is known as nephropathy. According to the Centers for disease Control, over 17 million Americans have diabetes. Unfortunately, one third of them do not even realise that they have the disease. Approximately 45% of patients suffering from chronic kidney disease had diabetes as the major reason for this dreadful disease, where once the kidneys are damaged and unable to perform their filtration of impurities from blood, there is no recourse to medicinal cure, and the available options are dialysis (Filtering functions of kidney being substituted by a machine) or kidney transplant, where the donor and recipient have to undergo major surgery.
The only heartening factor is that kidney failure does not happen quickly after onset of the diabetes, but will take at-least 5 to 7 years or longer.
There are early and later indications to suggest that kidney is getting progressively deteriorated in functions. There are effective remedial actions to slow down the pace of deterioration and maintain the kidney functions.
Both type 1 and type 2 diabetics are likely to suffer from kidney disease/ failure, but it is more in the case of type 1. The symptoms of type 1 diabetes is diagnosed early and treatment plans could be taken early. Unfortunately, type 2 diabetes goes often undiagnosed for years, because the early symptoms are not pronounced. By the time it is diagnosed, there are irrevocable damages done and the chances for kidney damages increase.
Obesity and overweight conditions are linked to insulin resistance and help in onset of type 2 diabetes. When someone is insulin resistant, he will have high blood sugar persistently which manifest into diabetes.
Link between diabetes and kidney disease: Diabetes damages small blood vessels in the body. When the blood vessels in kidney are injured, kidneys lose their capacity to filter the impurities from blood properly. Body retains more water, salt and this results in increase in weight and swelling in the ankles. Urine contains protein. Waste materials start building up in the blood. Besides, diabetes damage nerves in the body. This causes difficulty in emptying bladder. There is a back-up pressure from the stored urine in the bladder, damaging the kidneys. Moreover, the stored urine in bladder causes infection.
The course of kidney disease: The kidney disease takes a longer time leading to kidney failure. Initially, small amounts of protein / albumin leaks into the urine. The filtration function of kidney remains normal during this period. As time passes, more albumin leaks into urine. This stage is known as ‘overt diabetic nephropathy or macroalbuminuria. After this stage, filtration begins to drop. Body retains various wastes as filtration drops. Creatinine is one such waste and blood test for creatinine is used to estimate decline in kidney function. As the damage develops, blood pressure also rises.
There are early and later symptoms of kidney damage which are enumerated below:
Early symptoms:
1. Presence of albumine in urine. ( test on this is recommended each year by diabetics)
2. Weight gain and swelling in the ankles, cramps.
3. Frequent urination, especially during night.
4. Rise in blood pressure
Later symptoms:
1. High level of BUN and creatinine in blood
2. Less need for insulin or anti-diabetic medications due to slow down of kidney in breaking down insulin.
3. Morning sickness, nausea and vomiting.
4. Weakness, paleness and anemia
5. Lower blood count (anemia)
6. Loss of appetite, increasing tiredness, itching, muscle cramps.
What are the possibilities to prevent kidney damage?
1. Good control of diabetes lowers risk of having severe kidney disease.
2. Blood pressure and urine albumin excretion to be checked every year.
3. Ensure enough sleep (at-least 8 hours a day)
4. Regular exercise, followed up with 45 minutes of brisk walk.
5. Avoiding alcohol, smoking.
6. Ensure treatment for urinary tract infections, without delay.
7. Avoid medicines which might damage kidneys (Medicines for anti-inflammation/pain killers)
8. Reduce intake of protein more than the daily recommended allowance.
9. Reduce intake of sodium (Salt and vegetables which are rich in sodium)
10. Use of high blood pressure medicines called angio-tension converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors is proved to slow down the deterioration of kidney function.
The final stage of renal failure, occurs when kidneys are no longer able to support healthy functions, unable to filter the impurities from blood. Onset of kidney failure is normally about 7 years or longer.
SUGGESTIONS:
1. The best course, therefore, is to check overweight and obesity in the first place to prevent insulin resistance and diabetes type-2.
2. Avoid salt and sugar.
3. Stay off from alcohol and smoking.
4. Eat a healthy diet with good nutrition.
5. Keep the mind peaceful, to the extent possible.
6. Avoid taking fast-food, and food/drink rich in carbohydrate.
7. Regular exercise, with brisk walking ( at-least 45 minutes)
8. If you are a diabetic, then the following might help in reducing blood sugar
a. Change the dietary habits to reduce intake of sugar and carbohydrates and increase intake of fiber and vitamins.
b. Enough physical exercise, which should include fast walking
c. Divide intake of food into smaller portions at regular intervals.
d. Avoid salt which increases blood pressure and aggravates problems of diabetes.
e. Intake of magnesium helping in production of insulin.
f. Juice of bitter melon, taken in empty stomach, helps in a great way to control diabetes and reduces blood sugar.
g. Other nutrients: Zinc, Vitamin B complex and Vitamin C which are good in controlling blood sugar
h. Intake of fenugreek with milk which reduces blood sugar and controls diabetes.
i. Consumption of Jamun fruit and powdered jamun seeds.
j. Consumption of garlick will reduce diabetes.
k. Soak tender neem leaves and tulsi leaves in water for 10 minutes and drink. It controls blood sugar.
l. Spinach and cereal fiber help in controlling diabetes.
By: Ramani Iyer
Diabetes – The Controllable Disease
February 8th, 2010
Introduction
Diabetes is a disease that affects how the body uses glucose (say: gloo-kose), a sugar that is the body’s main source of fuel. Diabetes is a chronic condition that needs close attention, but with some practical knowledge, you can become your child’s most important ally in learning to live with the disease.
“The prevalence of diabetes is going up because obesity is going up,” says Judith Fradkin, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. “Generally, the first step in treatment is to make patients believe that diabetes is a disease that can be effectively controlled. The “amount of money it will cost in 10 years to manage diabetes is going to bust the economies” of many countries, says institute president Paul Robertson.
Diabetes
Diabetes, caused by the body’s inability to produce or use insulin effectively to prevent a buildup of sugar in the blood, now afflicts nearly 21 million in the USA and roughly 250 million worldwide. Diabetes can also cause long-term complications in some people, including heart disease, stroke, vision impairment, and kidney damage. Diabetes can also cause other problems in the blood vessels, nerves, and gums.
Blood
During the past decade, medical studies have shown that by reducing high blood pressure and cholesterol and keeping blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible, diabetics can forestall many of the disabling complications that once seemed inevitable. This knowledge, along with simpler, more accurate blood tests and better drugs, has improved treatment, says Buse, an endocrinologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “New drug treatments, more accurate methods for monitoring blood sugar levels and assessing control of diabetes, and practical steps that patients can take are more common than ever, she says. Until 1993, it wasn’t clear that lowering blood sugar prevented or delayed complications, and it’s only within the past decade that doctors learned that managing blood pressure and cholesterol reduced complications, she says.
Type
There are two major forms of diabetes: type 1, an autoimmune disease that results in loss of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and usually occurs in children or young adults, who need daily insulin shots; and type 2, which accounts for 90% of diabetes cases and is associated with obesity and inactivity and reduces the ability to use insulin efficiently.
Type 1 diabetes (formerly called insulin-dependent diabetes or juvenile diabetes) occurs when the person’s own immune system attacks and destroys the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin. Type 1 diabetes occurs at about the same rate in men and women, but it is more common in Whites than in minorities.
Type 2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent diabetes) is different. Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes about 9 out of 10 people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is more common in older people, mainly in people who are overweight.
Conclusion
The best way to prevent diabetes is to make some lifestyle changes and maintain a healthy weight.
By: Richard Ealom
