Foot Care and Diabetes

One of the symptoms for diabetes is when you start getting sores on your feet. To avoid amputations and infections, you would need to take precautionary measures. Amputations usually happen when you start losing feeling under your feet. Because you don’t feel anything, it is quite easy for you to get cuts and sores without even knowing that it has occurred. That is why it is imperative to take a look under your feet on a daily basis to ensure that under your feet is void of cuts, sores or even a scratch. The best way you can go about managing diabetes conditions such as this is by protecting your feet every day by wearing socks or shoes.

When taking a shower, turn the dial to warm water so that your feet can get a tempered bath. Never soak your feet; your skin can immediately become broken from the dryness. This can lead to cracks and ultimately sores.

To avoid this, dry your feet thoroughly after getting out of the shower making sure you pay particular attention to drying the areas between your toes. Feet should be kept moisten all the time.

Massaging your legs will help with blood circulation; you can also do feet and leg exercises as well to get your blood flowing. Of course, the above-mentioned precautions should be coupled with regular visits to your podiatrist.

Living With Diabetes – Listen to Your Body

If you’re living with diabetes, your doctor may schedule periodic appointments to monitor your condition and check your blood glucose level. If carefully managed, people with diabetes can live relatively healthy lives. But if a person with diabetes maintains a poor diet or makes other unhealthy lifestyle choices, this can spell trouble.

While you may take your medication as directed by your doctor and adhere to periodic lab work, managing diabetes also involves knowing your body and recognizing changes that can indicate problems.

If you’re living with diabetes, it is important that you closely monitor your thirst. It’s normal to feel thirsty after a workout or after you’ve eaten a salty meal. Furthermore, if you haven’t had a beverage in hours, it’s also normal to feel unusually thirsty. But if you cannot pinpoint the cause of extreme thirst, and you’re feeling unusually weak or tired, make a doctor’s appointment. This can indicate changes in your blood glucose level, and if not corrected, this can trigger complications with your diabetes.

Top Symptoms for Diabetes

Your doctor can order a blood glucose test to see whether you have diabetes. Diabetes is a serious medical condition in which the body has difficulty processing or breaking down sugar. Poorly managed diabetes increases your risk of blindness, stroke and coma, but the sooner you’re diagnosed with diabetes, the sooner you can start managing your disease.

If you have a family history of diabetes, it is important that you keep an eye out for symptoms for diabetes. You can develop diabetes as a child or an adult. If you recognize the early signs, you can bring these symptoms to your doctor s attention and receive the necessary medical treatment.

Here are three classic symptoms for diabetes:

1. Frequent urination is common when there is too much glucose present in your body. If you have not increased your consumption of liquids, yet you have frequent urges to urinate, speak with your doctor. This can be an early sign of diabetes.

2. Frequent thirst is one of many symptoms for diabetes. This is usually described as the inability to quench your thirst. This symptom is triggered by frequent urination.

3. Constant and unusual weakness or fatigue is another sign of diabetes. If you go to bed tired and wake up tired, consult a doctor and ask him to check your blood glucose level.

Recognizing the Symptoms for Diabetes

The challenges of detecting the symptoms for diabetes can be many but understanding the disease, and its symptoms can help those who are afflicted live normal lives. It all starts with glucose and the fact that there is not enough in the body’s cells. Instead, there is an overload of glucose in the blood.

There are two types of diabetes. For Type 1, the challenge is that the abundance of glucose in the blood is due to the fact that insulin produced by the cells have broken down and been decimated. For Type 2, the cells have, somehow, become resistant to the insulin that gets produced.

Recognizing the symptoms for diabetes can be challenging if one is not alert to one’s own body reactions.

The major symptoms include:
- Too much urination due to an increase in the glucose. The kidneys are constantly filling up due to no insulin and too much glucose. The kidneys are unable to effectively filter the glucose back into the blood.
- A loss of weight without dieting or exercising and weakness are definite symptoms for diabetes. The pancreas begins to break down in its ability to produce insulin. The body’s cells are not getting their energy from glucose so the cells begin to feed on fat and muscle.
- Constantly being thirsty. The kidneys are pulling out as much water as they can, and many trips to the bathroom eventually cause a continuous dehydration.
 

Other symptoms for diabetes include:
- tingling in the extremities
- dry and itchy skin
-blurry vision
- constant and prevailing fatigue

 

Blood Tests Can Identify Onset of Type 1 Diabetes as Much as a Decade Before Symptoms Appear

As America grapples with an ever-growing diabetes epidemic, more researchers are looking at the “other” diabetes — Type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes affects close to three million Americans, and is far more difficult to manage than Type 2 Diabetes. Type 1 diabetes has been growing at an annual rate of three percent, and experts are not sure why, although the typical theories abound: lack of exercise, poor diet, and other lifestyle choices.

However, the greatest factor in determining if an individual gets Type 1 diabetes is their family history: people who have a family member with Type 1 diabetes have a 15-times greater risk of developing it compared to the general public.

Fortunately, a simple blood test can identify the onset of Type 1 diabetes — sometimes as much as ten years before symptoms appear — which is far more preferable than finding out you’re diabetic after slipping into a “critical insulin deficiency” (e.g. a “diabetic coma.”)

While typical symptoms for diabetes include increased thirst and frequent urination, individuals — especially those with family members with Type 1 diabetes — shouldn’t take any chances. Get tested today.

Risk Symptoms of Gestational Diabetes

If you are at high risk for diabetes, or show signs such as sugar in your urine, your caregiver will likely recommend a glucose-screen test at your first prenatal visit and again at 24 to 28 weeks if the first result is negative.

There aren’t really symptoms for gestational diabetes, but you are considered high risk for the condition if you have sugar in your urine, you are obese, have had gestational diabetes in a past pregnancy, and/or have a family history of diabetes.

Some practitioners may also screen patients who have previously given birth to a large baby, had a baby with a birth defect, you are more than 35 years old, or if you have high blood pressure.

If you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, there are some things you can do to keep your glucose levels on track. These include:

• Eat a well-balanced diet, with meals and snacks planned in advance based on your height and weight
• Don’t skip meals and avoid sugary items such as candy, cakes and soda
• Maintain a moderate exercise level to help your body process glucose
• It may be necessary to take insulin

Prevent or Delay Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is often hereditary. If the disorder runs in your family, it’s important to eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, and watch for symptoms. Here are some of the symptoms for diabetes:

• Increased hunger
• Unexplained weight loss
• Frequent urination

A new study, the Diabetes Prevention Program, by the National Institutes of Health, has found that people at increased risk for Type 2 diabetes, can prevent or delay the onset of the disease by losing 5 to 7 percent of their body weight through increased physical activity and a reduced fat and lower-calorie diet.

Suggested tips including moving more by walking, taking the stairs, doing in-home exercises, playing games and taking bike rides, as well as eating more colorful vegetables and fruits, whole grain foods, low-fat foods and avoiding unhealthy snacks.

The National Institute of Health has resource materials for people interested in taking steps to prevent Type 2 diabetes, as well as those who are currently managing the disease. For more information visit http://ndep.nih.gov/index.aspx.

What Diabetes Affects Seemingly Health People – And What to Do About It

A common misconception is that diabetes primarily strikes individuals who eat poorly, fail to exercise, and are overweight. And while those are three major risk factors for developing diabetes, the fact remains that many otherwise healthy individuals are nonetheless diagnosed with the disease.

This unfortunate reality underscores the importance of always being aware of the symptoms of diabetes. Such symptoms may include rapid and unexplained weight loss, unquenchable thirst, and constant fatigue. Again, even if you eat properly and exercise, you may be at risk for diabetes, so if these symptoms apply, meet with a doctor immediately.

For those who have been diagnosed, one of the most important and immediate steps to take is to reduce carbohydrate intake. This can be somewhat complicated because fruits such as apples, oranges, and cherries which are otherwise good for you – have carbohydrates. So reduce your fruit (and bread) portions and minimize – if not eliminate – pasta from your diet.

While these changes seem stark, millions of healthy diabetics can attest that it’s by no means insurmountable.

Millions of Americans are Diabetic, But Don’t Know It. Here’s How to Find Out if You’re One of Them.

While many people may not want to acknowledge it, if they engage in poor eating habits, high sugar intake, and are overweight, they may not only be candidates for Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, they already may be diabetic but not know it yet.

The fact remains that while there are tens of millions of Americans diagnosed with diabetes, there are also millions who are already afflicted with the diseases, but aren’t diagnosed. Therefore, it is important for individuals to be aware of the symptoms of diabetes and contact a physician immediately should any apply.

Common symptoms include an unexplained increase in urination and thirst, an unusual boost in one’s appetite (as the body cells lack sufficient energy), and severe weight loss. In addition, diabetics suffer from an inability for glucose to enter cells; this can lead to extreme mental fatigue and blurry vision. This increased glucose level also damages blood vessels, contributing to tingling and numbness legs, hands, or feet.

In some cases, these symptoms may be due to less drastic scenarios, like extreme stress or anxiety.t However, in other instances, it may be symptoms of a far more serious condition that demands immediate medical attention.

Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes

Each year more than 13,000 youths are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Also known as juvenile diabetes, type 1 diabetes is a condition in which a child’s immune system destroys pancreatic cells that make the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar. Only 5 percent of people with diabetes have this form of the disease.

Type 1 diabetes requires consistent care, including monitoring of blood sugar and regular insulin injections daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. But even young children diagnosed with the disease can learn to manage the condition and live long, happy lives. Early detection and treatment is important.

The symptoms for type 1 diabetes usually develop quickly. Here’s what to look for:

• Increased thirst and frequent urination
• Extreme hunger
• Fatigue
• Blurred vision
• Irritability or unusual behavior
• Weight loss
• Yeast infection or diaper rash in babies

Talk to your child’s pediatrician if you feel your child may be exhibiting any of the symptoms of type 1 diabetes. Early detection of diabetes symptoms and treatment for diabetes may decrease the development of the complications of childhood diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes and the Importance of Effective Glucose Management During Pregnancy

By now, hopefully most Americans know that diabetes can develop in otherwise-healthy individuals over time, brought on by high sugar intake and weight gain. In some instances, the diagnosis can come out of nowhere; however, in most cases, it’s a gradual process.

People who consume high quantities of sugar, fatty foods, and rarely exercise need to be aware of the risk and improve their lifestyle before the symptoms of diabetes start to appear.

The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes, quite literally comes out of nowhere; women who previously exhibited no symptoms of diabetes start to exhibit high glucose levels during pregnancy. And unlike Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, there are few symptoms for gestational diabetes.

This ailment afflicts roughly 3-10 percent of pregnancies, leading some medical experts to conclude it’s a natural occurrence. But that’s of little consolation to mothers who have it: babies born to mothers with the disease tend to be abnormally large, have low blood sugars, and jaundice. Fortunately, gestational diabetes can be treated by effectively managing one’s blood sugar levels.

Therefore, if you are pregnant, it is critical to talk to your doctor about this and to closely watch your diet.

Diabetes in the Very Young

Fortunately the same diabetes symptoms that occur in older children and adults are the ones that are present in children too young to speak or describe why they aren’t feeling well. This is why as parents we need to be vigilant about any symptom that may trigger a red flag.

If your child has an inordinate amount of wet diapers or a diaper rash that just doesn’t seem to go away with standard treatment and keeps recurring, if your child is more hungry or thirsty than usual or seems more fussy and unable to settle themselves and if they sleep more than they usually do, these could be diabetes symptoms.

By themselves they seem innocuous; however, those parents who take their child to the doctor just be on the safe side will be very thankful that they did. Your pediatrician will have your child see a pediatric endocrinologist.

There are many diabetes supplies to help manage your child’s diabetes. The most important will be the glucose monitor to help you identify when your child’s blood sugars become too high or too low. There are different types of monitors and meters so you will have to find one that works best for your child.

Your job is going to be to find that balance each day, before and after every meal. Enlist the help of a nutritionist to find meals and snacks with a low glycemic index. Together with your pediatrician and your endocrinologist, you will be formulating a team of support to help with your child’s treatments and finding new ways to incorporate these changes into your family’s new way of life.

Next Page »