Diabetes
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Help for Diabetics Diabetes has taken residence in our home, my dear husband has been a diabetic for over 10 year. A diabetic
As Type-2
Adult Onset Diabetes continues to spread at staggering rates, it behooves all
of us to take an honest look at our To find out
if you are at risk, write in the points next to each statement that is true for
you. If a particular statement is not true, My weight is
equal to or above that listed in the chart below (see chart
below) YES-5 ____ I am under 65
years of age and I get little or no exercise during a usual
day. YES-5 ____ I am between
45 and 65 years of
age.
YES-5 ____ I am 65 years
old or older.
YES-9
____ I am a woman
who has had a baby weighing more than nine pounds at
birth. YES-1 ____ I have a
sister or brother with
diabetes.
YES-1 ____ I have a
parent with diabetes.
YES-1 ____
Total Score ___________
If You
Scored 3-9 Points:
You are probably at low risk for having diabetes now. But don't just forget
about it-- especially if you are Hispanic, African American, American Indian,
Asian American or a Pacific Islander. You may be at higher risk in the future. New guidelines recommend that everyone age 45 and older consider being tested
for diabetes every three years. However, people at high risk should consider
being tested more often and at a younger age. If You
Scored 10 Or More Points
: You could be at high risk for diabetes. Only your health care professional
can determine if you have diabetes. The Wholefood Farmacy has an EXCELLENT article on the prevention of Diabetes, please click here to visit. At-Risk Weight Chart
THE FOLLOWING ADDED 1/23/08: Rates of Type 2 (Adult Onset) Diabetes is skyrocketing in
our society. 18 million Americans are now stricken with Type 2 Diabetes,
20% of those over age 65 have it and 1 in 3 who have it don’t even know
they have it. In addition, this difficult chronic disease is now
showing up in young adults and even in school age children. The good news is
that 90% of cases are PREVENTABLE. Prevention starts with understanding the cause. When a
healthy person eats a meal, the body converts carbohydrates into blood
sugar. The brain recognizes the rise in blood sugar levels and signals
the pancreas to produce insulin. Insulin is a chemical messenger that
rings the “dinner bell” telling all 10 trillion cells in the body
to come and feed on the blood sugar. As the cells feed on the blood
sugar, the blood sugar levels come back down. This is how it’s
supposed to work. Carbohydrates come in two forms natural (complex) and
man-made (simple). The man-made carbs are found in processed foods such as
white table sugar, candy, sodas, high fructose corn syrup, and white bread.
Eating man-made carbs causes sudden, unusually high and sustained spikes in
your blood sugar levels. This constant over-stimulation of the pancreas,
year after year after year, causes your “internal machinery” to
wear out prematurely. In some cases, the pancreas gets tired and
can’t produce enough insulin. In other cases, the “dinner
bell” rings so often that the cells get tired of hearing it, and stop
running to get their blood sugar. Either way, when this happens, the
health care industry declares that you have Type 2 Diabetes. And yes, for
only a few hundred bucks a month for testing supplies and medication, they can
keep you alive. Natural sugars, like the sugars found whole foods, are known
as complex carbs. They do not cause those sudden and sustained spikes in your
blood sugar levels, so your “internal machinery” can last a
lifetime. It really is that simple. The first step to preventing diabetes is to know your
risk. The Washington University School of Medicine offers a comprehensive
risk assessment tool on their website. We encourage you to click the link
below and take the test – it only takes a few minutes. http://www.yourdiseaserisk.siteman.wustl.edu/hccpquiz.pl?lang=english&func=start&quiz=diabetes According to the Harvard School of Public Health, making a
few changes can dramatically lower your chances of developing Type 2 Diabetes.
The same changes can also lower the chances of developing heart disease and
some cancers. Control your weight. Excess weight is the single most
important cause of Type 2 Diabetes. Being overweight increases the chances of developing
Type 2 Diabetes seven-fold. Being obese makes you 20 to 40 times more likely to
develop diabetes than someone with a healthy weight. Losing weight can help if your weight is above the
healthy-weight range. Losing 7-10% of your current weight can cut in half your
chances of developing Type 2 Diabetes. Get moving. Inactivity promotes Type 2 Diabetes.
Every two hours you spend watching TV instead of pursuing something more active
increases the changes of developing diabetes by 14%. Working your muscles more
often and making them work harder improves their ability to use insulin and
absorb glucose. This puts less stress on your insulin-making machinery. Long bouts of hot, sweaty exercise aren't necessary to reap
this benefit. Findings from the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals
Follow-up Study suggest that walking briskly for a half hour every day reduces
the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes by 30%. This amount of exercise has a variety of other benefits as
well. And even greater cardiovascular and other benefits can be attained by
more, and more intense, exercise. Tune-up your diet. Two dietary changes can
have a big impact on the risk of Type 2 Diabetes. 1. Choose whole grains and
whole-grain products over highly processed carbohydrates. In other words,
choose whole foods instead of processed foods. 2. Choose good fats instead
of bad fats. The types of fats in your diet can also affect the
development of diabetes. Good fats, such as the polyunsaturated fats found in
tuna, salmon, liquid vegetable oils, and many nuts, can help ward off Type 2
Diabetes. Trans fats do just the opposite. These bad fats are found in
many margarines, packaged baked goods, fried foods in most fast-food
restaurants, and any product that lists "partially hydrogenated vegetable
oil" on the label. If you already have diabetes, eating fish can help
protect you against a heart attack or dying from heart disease. If you smoke, try to quit. Add Type 2 Diabetes to the
long list of health problems linked with smoking. Smokers are 50% to 90% more
likely to develop diabetes than nonsmokers. Alcohol now and then may help. A growing body of
evidence links moderate alcohol consumption with reduced risks of heart
disease. The same may be true for Type 2 Diabetes. Moderate amounts of
alcohol-a drink a day for men, a drink every other day for women-increases the
efficiency of insulin at getting glucose inside cells. And some studies
indicate that moderate alcohol consumption decreases the risk of Type 2
Diabetes. If you already drink alcohol, the key is to keep your consumption in
the moderate range. If you don't drink alcohol, there's no need to start-you
can get the same benefits by losing weight, exercising more, and changing your
eating patterns. The bottom line? They key to preventing Type 2
Diabetes can be boiled down to five words: Stay lean and stay active.
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Updated 4/17/08
