Diabetes Awareness
With nearly 8% of the population in some countries now being diabetic we have seen an increase in different types of diabetes described by endocrinology.
We are very interested in how these patterns manifest themselves within our readership
It would be great if you could take part in our poll below and tell us what sort of diabetes you have.
Many thanks in advance
Welcome to the latest in our series of blogs on diabetes.To see the previous blogs please go to https://patienttalk.org/?tag=diabetes.
In this blog we are trying to find out what are the most commonly used treatments and medications used by diabetics. Please take the poll below to share which diabetes treatments you use.
Thanks very much in advance
We will be running a number of blogs about Ramadan and health related issues this month. We will publish one diabetes and fasting in the next few days.
1-7th July 2013 is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Week. At PatientTalk.Org we thought we would use this opportunity to help raise awareness of childhood obesity and, at the same time, spark a discussion of how it might be combatted by our readers.
Firstly a few facts which we think you might find surprising. According to the US Government’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention childhood obesity has doubled in the last thirty years. In fact by 2010 18% of children aged between 6-11 could be classified as obese. The same figure applies to teenagers in America. You can check out the CDC’s web site for more information http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm.
So how does this present a health problem? Well in the short term obese children have an increased risk of high cholesterol or high blood pressure among various cardiovascular conditions. Diabetes and pre-diabetes is also a worry. Until recently a person under 18 developing Type 2 diabetes was considered a rarity but this is no longer so. Sleep apnea is also a problem for younger people. To find out more about sleep apnea please have a look at https://patienttalk.org/?p=421.
In the long term the CDC notes that children with obesity are likely to become adults with obesity. This means they will run an increased risk of “heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis”.
This, of course, leads us to the crux of the matter- how might we end the epidemic of childhood obesity? There have been a large number of suggestions made by government and healthcare providers. These vary from banning “fast food” outlets in close proximity to schools, encouraging more structured family dining and improved medical education in schools.
But would these ideas work? It’s a tough question and we would be very keen to hear you thoughts in the comment box below. In particular it would be great if you could think about the following questions in your responses:-
Thanks very much in advance for your comments.
Welcome to our latest discussion blog on diabetes. In this blog we are looking at how people with Type 2 Diabetes can use diet and exercise to keep their condition under control.
As with all of our blogs of this type we need your help. The objective of this diabetes blog is to allow people with diabetes or their loved ones to share top tips regarding diet and exercise for people with diabetes. In this blog we are focusing on Type Two Diabetes but will look more closely at Type One Diabetes at a later date.
With the increase in prevalence of diabetes throughout the world more attention is being paid to both prevention and non-medication based treatments of Type 2 Diabetes.
Diabetes UK (http://www.diabetes.co.uk/exercise-for-diabetics.html) has some excellent suggestions as to diet and exercise for diabetics and we strongly recommend that you pay their web site a visit.
Looking at their advice there are two key points worth mentioning:-
a) Three square meals a day – (don’t skip). Remember breakfast is an important meal!
b) It is certainly worth consulting a dietician. As with many medical conditions there really is no such thing as “one size fits all” so getting tailor made advice about diet is pretty important.
Overall the recommendations are, as with many diets, to focus on overall health eating. Typically a
low glycaemic diet is recommended. This is a diet where weight loss is achieved by control of blood sugars. That is making sure that blood sugars do not “spike” during the day. This is achieved by eating food which has a low glycaemic index i.e. slow release. The sorts of foods that are low GI include whole grains, beans and lentils, pasta, fruit and sweet corn.
My wife (while not a diabetic) has used a low GI diet with great success to lose weight. You can check out some recipes here – http://www.awtonline.co.uk/a-z_recipes.php.
In terms of exercise it is important to note that it does improve insulin resistance if carried out on a regular basis. For Type 2 adults it has been suggested that 30 minutes five times a week is a minimum required. Even a short break from exercise (say 10 days) can lead to you losing any metabolic benefits. It is important to choose exercise which is sustainable such as walking or maybe cycling to work.
As we said earlier the objective of this diabetes blog is to allow you to share your experience of tacking diabetes type 2 with diet and exercise. You might like to consider the following questions:-
1) How long ago were you diagnosed with diabetes?
2) How easy as it to find an exercise regime which suited you? What was that regimes?
3) What diet do you now follow? Has it been effective in keeping your diabetes in check?
4) Where do you go for suitable diabetes recipes?
5) Have you had to add medication to your diabetes treatment? If so which ones?
Please feel free to use the comments box below to add your thoughts and diabetes experiences. Feel free to share any links which you have found useful in the past.
Many thanks in advance.