Diabetic Treatment Options

Treatment for diabetes can include insulin, oral medications, exercise and diet depending on the type of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is typically treated with a combination of insulin, exercise and diet. Type 2 diabetes generally focuses on weight loss prior to diet and exercise treatment methods. The primary goal of treatment is to keep your blood glucose at an optimal level.

Approximately 24 million Americans are living with diabetes. Type 1 diabetes prevents the body from producing insulin, which is used to help us convert sugar into energy. Without insulin, sugar builds up in blood which can cause life-threatening complications. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes whereas the body does not produce enough insulin or the body’s cells ignore the insulin.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved Tradjenta tablets as a supplement to diet and exercise, to manage blood glucose levels for those living with Type 2 diabetes. This drug increases the amount of hormones that stimulate the release of insulin after meals.

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.

Living with Diabetes

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.

Understanding the Difference Between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes

It would not be an understatement to say that America is facing an epidemic in terms of the growth of Type 2 diabetes.

And if there’s any good news to be found in this development, it is the fact that Type 2 diabetes can be effectively managed through exercise and diet. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for Type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is far less common yet far more serious than Type 2 diabetes. Without proper diabetes care, Type 1 diabetics who fail to effectively manage their blood sugars may face blindness or even amputation. In addition, recent research found that Type 1 diabetics face an increased risk of heart disease if they fail to manage their glucose levels.

Type 1 diabetes is best described as an autoimmune condition in which white blood cells attack the pancreas and render it unable to produce insulin. Lacking insulin, cells cannot be enriched with glucose, which helps regulate the body’s metabolism. As a result, Type 1 diabetes must check provide their bodies with insulin and check their levels multiple times a day.

And fortunately, many recent medical advances such as insulin pumps have helped to make the lives of Type 1 diabetics manageable and routine.

Understanding the Parental Stress of Having a Child With Diabetes

Keeping an ever-vigilant watch on your child’s health and development is part of a loving, caring parent’s job. But when a condition develops that is beyond their control it can leave a parent panic stricken, overwhelmed and even guilty.

If your child develops type 1 diabetes it means that their pancreas is not longer producing the insulin he needs to survive. Parents need to understand that it was nothing they did or didn’t do, that it just happens. But with the advances in today’s medical care and in the understanding of childhood diabetes, children are living happy and fulfilled lives and their parents are settling into what is considered a “new normal” in their child’s care.

Type 1 diabetes comes on pretty fast. Over a period of a couple weeks a parent will notice that their once vibrant and outgoing child becomes more lethargic and irritable. Weight loss is a symptom which contributes to this. Even though your child appears to be eating, his body is not using the energy from the sugar properly and his muscles and other tissues simply shrink. Increased appetite is also a symptom of diabetes along with increased thirst. A child with type 1 diabetes is often thirsty and frequently urinates because as the increase in sugar builds up in his system, his body will compensate by pulling fluid from his system leaving him constantly feeling thirsty.  In some cases the fluid will be pulled from the eye and the child will experience blurred vision.

If your child is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes you will learn to count carbohydrates, monitor his blood sugar, give him any prescribed diabetes medication and learn to give injections when necessary.  It does require constant vigilant care but again that is part of a parent’s job; managing diabetes with your child becomes your new normal.

It is important to see your child’s physician immediately if your child is experiencing these symptoms. The faster they are diagnosed the faster his diabetes care will begin and the faster they will be on the healing track and acting just like every other kid!

All Types Of Diabetes!!

Though most people know only type 1 and type 2 diabetes, there are other minor variants of diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes :

* It’s genetic inheritance – Risk increases 20 – 50% if an identical twin is affected. More common with certain class II HLAs.

 * Complete dependency on insulin treatment – Most of the patients need insulin in their daily life. The dose should be adjusted according to their demands, exercise and other stress factors.

* Young age onset – Around puberty.

* Autoimmune destruction of beta cells in pancreas (Body defense cells called lymphocytes destroy own body cells) – Lymphocytes of the patient are sensitized to his/her own beta cells destroying them.

* Development of ketoacidosis – Most serious complication of type 1 diabetes. As most patients depend on exogenous insulin for their blood sugar control, there should be fine balance between the demand and the supply. If there is more demand for insulin (like surgeries,exercise, pregnancy) and less supply (like missing insulin injections), they easily prone to high glucose levels and ketosis.

Type 2 diabetes :

* It’s genetic inheritance – 50 – 90% of risk if an identical twin is involved.

* Insulin resistance – Main pathology behind this type of diabetes. There are many genetic defects in insulin receptors that causes insulin resistance.

* Partial insulin deficiency – Still some insulin secretion will be preserved, atleast in most of the patients. Beta cell mass is reduced to 50% of normal at the time of diagnosis.

* Age over 40 years

* No autoimmunity – No role for autoimmunity as in type 1 diabetes.

* Development of Hyperosmolar nonketotic coma instead of ketoacidosis – This complication is common in type 2 than type 1. Due to hyperglycemia and impaired water intake in elderly diabetics.

* Insulin treatment sometimes – Usually oral antidiabetic drugs are given to control blood glucose. Some of these drugs enhances the insulin secretion from beta cells. Insulin is last resort if diet, exercise, oral drugs fail.

* Often obese – Central obesity appears to trigger the disease in persons who are genetically susceptible.

Maturity onset diabetes of the Young (MODY) :

* Primary defect is impaired glucose induced secretion of insulin.

* Age is usually less than 25 years.

* This is inherited by a mechanism called autosomal dominance.

* No autoimmunity (as in type 1)

* No insulin resistance (as in type 2)

* No obesity (as in type 2)

MODY is different category. It won’t lead to type 2 diabetes in old age.

Gestational diabetes :

Placenta in preganancy produces anti-insulin hormones that counteract the actions of insulin. So pregnant woman can not maintain normal glucose levels in blood exhibiting glucose tolerance. Fortunately, the condition disappears once the baby was delivered.

Risk factors are obesity, happens when more than 30 years of age, positive family history, unexplained still birth, polyhydromnios (excess amniotic fluid)

Other types of diabetes (secondary causes):

* Diabetes associated with insulin gene or insulin receptor genes.

* Pancreatic diseases like chronic pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis,hemochromatosis.

* Endocrine disorders like acromegaly, cushing’s syndrome, hyperthyroidsm.

* Exogenous administration of glucocorticoids.

[tags]gestational diabetes, mody, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, diabetes, diabetic[/tags]

Heredity and Type 1 Diabetes, Do I Get It?

Often doctors hear the question – ‘Doctor, my father has it. What are my chances? Do I get it?’ This question is very difficult to answer in most of the diseases unless there are certain proven facts that have been standardized with clinical trials and reports.

Diabetic susceptibility:
Type 1 diabetes is characterized by

* Its genetic inheritance

* Complete dependency on insulin treatment

* Young age onset

* Autoimmune destruction of beta cells in pancreas (Body defense cells called lymphocytes destroy own body cells)

* Development of ketoacidosis

Role of Autoimmunity :

Lymphocytes target beta cells in pancreas and destroy them slowly. So after sometime there will be no insulin in the body and the person develops diabetes. What triggers this self-destruction is not quite known but any external viral or toxic factor alters beta cells and makes them foreign to lymphocytes. So lymphocytes think that those are not own cells and destroy them.

Supporting this autoimmune theory there are antibodies detected in the person’s blood against beta cells, lymphocytes found in the pancreas causing insulitis and this type 1 autoimmunity is associated with other autoimmune diseases.

Role of Genetic Inheritance :

Type 1 diabetes has complex pattern of inheritance with susceptibility genes mapped to at least 20 loci. Most important is class II HLA locus. Certain HLAs are strongly associated with diabetes type 1.

95% of type 1 diabetics have HLA-DR3, HLA-DR4 or both. HLA-DQ genes are even more specific markers for type 1 diabetes (HLA-DQB1*302).

Family members of a diabetic are at increased risk for developing type 1 diabetes. Child of a mother with diabetes type 1 has a risk of 3%, where as the risk is 6% if father is diabetic type 1.

The risk between siblings is based on number of haplotypes shared between them. If one haplotype is shared risk is 6% and with two haplotypes risk increased to 25%. Risk with identical twins is 25 – 50%.

Role of Environmental factors :

There are many viral infections are thought to be triggering factors for the development of autoimmunity. Examples are coxsackie virus type B, mumps, measles, cytomegalovirus, rubella and infectious mononucleosis.

All these are not thought to be directly destroying the beta cells. But one proposed theory is : When virus infects pancreatic cells, the resulting cell damage cause release of beta cell antigens. Lymphocytes exposed to these antigens get sensitized and destroy beta cells.

Another proposed theory is viral cells produce antigens that mimic beta cell antigens so lymphocytes sensitized to these viral antigens destroys beta cells too along with viral cells.

Saying all that, there are experimental evidence to support these two theories and actual evidence that confirms them is lacking.

Above three factors works in classic type 1 diabetes in 90% of the cases. But in less than 10% of cases no reason will be found. And these type 1 diabetics are included under ‘Idiopathic’ group. Recently

it was reported that a mutation in the gene that is essential for the development of pancreatic islets is involved in these group of patients.

[tags]diabetes, diabetic, diabetic heredity, type 1 diabetes[/tags]

Type 1 Diabetes Information

If you have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, there is a good chance that you have been dealing with this chronic disease for years. The reason that this type of diabetes is also known as juvenile diabetes is because in many cases, the illness is diagnosed in the childhood years. However, it is possible to develop this type of diabetes at any point during your life. This is not a situation that arises due to obesity or poor diet choices. In fact, there is little that you can do to prevent the onset of this kind of diabetes.

It is often associated with heredity, and is also thought to be brought on through a variety of viruses. Type 1 diabetes occurs when your immune system turns on the insulin producing cells within the pancreas. This organ produces insulin, which acts as a sort of key to open the way for sugar to be absorbed into the cells of your body. Sugar in the form of glucose is necessary for your body’s energy supply. When insulin is not present to help sugar get absorbed into the cells of your body, this sugar can build up in your bloodstream. The result can be a whole host of physical issues that you might experience with diabetes.

Symptoms:

There are many symptoms of type 1 diabetes, but none of them may seem particularly serious on the surface. However, diabetes that is left unchecked and untreated can cause severe and even life-threatening problems. This is why it is important to identify the symptoms of type 1 diabetes, so that if you suspect you might have this disease, you can seek your doctor’s advice and assistance as soon as possible. Symptoms of diabetes might include an increased thirst and need to urinate.

Extreme hunger is also a sign of diabetes, particularly when it is accompanied by a sudden weight loss. Fatigue and irritability can also be symptoms of diabetes, because they may be a sign that your body is being depleted of much needed energy. Finally, some people with type 1 diabetes might experience blurred vision, since the tissue of your eyes can also be affected by this disease. If you are suffering from any of these symptoms, it would be wise to make an appointment with your doctor to determine if type 1 diabetes really is the reason behind your symptoms.

Tests and Treatment:

Your doctor can run tests to determine if you do indeed have type 1 diabetes. If it is found that you are suffering from this disease, there are a number of options that you can utilize to effectively control your illness. Unfortunately, there is no cure for diabetes at this point in time. However, there have been great advancement made in the area of disease management, and many who are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes can now live long and healthy lives. The first step is in getting a timely diagnosis so that you can begin to manage your illness as soon as possible.

[tags]type 1 diabetes, diabetic, diabetes[/tags]

Know the Different Diabetes Types

Diabetes occurs when the body is either not producing enough or any insulin. As a result, the blood sugar level in the body becomes too higher, and diabetes happens. It is a chronic and incurable disease. Insulin is necessary in the body because it is a hormone that helps the cells of the body use the glucose in food, and cells need this energy in order to function properly.

Types Of Diabetes:

There are a few different types of diabetes, three in particular: Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is least common, and is an auto-immune disease in which the body’s immune system is basically hurting itself, by destroying the insulin-producing beta cells in the process. It can appear at any age, although it tends to develop in younger aged people, typically those under the age of 30.

Type 2 diabetes is much more common, affecting 85-90% of all people with the disease. It is characterized by insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. There are many symptoms of this type of diabetes, including increased thirst, increased urination, fatigue, nausea, weight loss in spite of an increased appetite, vomiting, blurred vision, impotence in men, breath odor, cessation of menses, and poor skin texture.

Third type of diabetes, known as gestational diabetes, commonly occurs in pregnant women. Although there is no known cause of gestational diabetes, there are some risk factors that are considered as being potential triggers of the disease, including increasing maternal age and obesity.

Treatment:

No matter what type of diabetes you suffer from, the methods of treatment typically remain the same. Though it varies depending on your particular condition, namely the severity and how long you have been suffering from it. Diabetes medication is one of the most common methods of treatment, and after your diagnosis with the disease, your doctor will prescribe you with a specific drug regimen.

However you also have the option of alternative methods of treatment, with all natural products rather than the more conventional prescription medications. But make sure that you take this into consideration and choose the type that is going to work best for you. Also simply maintaining a healthy lifestyle in general helps you control and manage your condition, which includes having a healthy, well-balanced diet and getting lots of cardiovascular exercise.

[tags]diabetes, diabetes types, diabetic, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes[/tags]

Diabetes Treatment Depends On Patient Needs

Diabetes can be caused by a number of factors. Appropriate diabetes treatment will be necessary to make living with the disease easier and more convenient regardless of the root cause. For Type 1 diabetes treatment has not changed from the need for insulin injections. Those suffering type 1 diabetes cannot produce their own insulin and without the injections, generally daily, accumulate too much sugar in the blood, leading to major complications.

Type 2 diabetes, also known as adult onset diabetes, may require different diabetes treatment methods, including prescribed medication along with a specific diet and exercise. In most cases, along with diabetes treatment, treatment for high blood pressure and high cholesterol is also required. If the patient is overweight, exercising for weight loss will usually be part of the treatment as reducing weight helps to lower their cholesterol as well as make dealing with diabetes easier.

Too often people with diabetes treatment have to make better choices in the types of food they eat. Unfortunately, misinformation abounds on the Internet that can lead people to purchase products that will have little or no effect on their future with diabetes.

Medication Dosages And Adjustments:

There are different prescriptions for helping people with their diabetes treatment including those that activate the body into producing more insulin. In some cases the insulin produced is unable to lead the blood glucose to the cells that need the extra energy and in others, the glucose may not be responding to the insulin.

There are medications to help with each problem and the doctors usually begin diabetes treatment based on family and personal history. As the treatment plan progresses if enough improvement is not seen , altering the dosage or using a combination of treatments may be necessary to insure the patient carry through the problems of diabetes. By keeping close watch on their blood glucose level several times a day and working with their doctor, medication can be changed when needed to keep them healthy.

There is no known cure for diabetes. Though there have been claims of being able to reverse the effects of diabetes, which remain unproven to mainstream medical providers. Treatment through diet, exercise and proper levels of medication is the only known way to deal with diabetes. A right and effective treatment plan should be a cooperative effort between the patient, their doctor and possibly a nutrition specialist.

[tags]diabetes treatment, diabetes, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, diabetic[/tags]