type two diabetes

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Diabetes blog – diet and exercise as a treatment for Diabetes


exerciseWelcome 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 aVegtables 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.

 


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Diabetic Neuropathy – Pain and diabetes – Signs and treatments


 

Sugar and blood glucose

Sugar and blood glucose

Outside the diabetes community the issue of diabetic neuropathy is one that seems to not be given the awareness it needs. It is potentially one of the most serious complications of diabetes.

It is vital that diabetics deal with diabetic neuropathy. According to the US governments ‘The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases’ (NIDDK) diabetic neuropathy is responsible for 86,000 lower limb amputations each year.

We have looked at Neuropathic pain more generally in a previous blog which you can check out here https://patienttalk.org/?p=281. In this blog we are going to look more closely at diabetic neuropathy which affects people with both Type One Diabetes and Type Two Diabetes.


As the name suggests diabetic neuropathy is associated with diabetes. Because it affects the nerves symptoms may appear in any part of the body. Simply put diabetic neuropathy is a family of nerve disorders cause by diabetes. They sign and symptoms can include:-

• Erectile dysfunction in men
• Loss of bladder control
• Burning pain in the limbs
• Pins and needles
• Difficulty in swallowing
• Speech impediments
• Muscle contractions.

How is diabetic neuropathy treated?

Well firstly prevention is always better than a cure. So diabetics are recommended to keep their blood glucose levels as normal as possible. This helps to prevent nerve damage.

But if treatments are needed you can expect to meet some of the following:-

• Pain medications such as anti-depressants and analgesics
• Tens machines and other physical therapy
• Foot care is most important because they are of course part of the body’s extremities. Foot care and ulcer treatment information can be found here http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/complications_feet/index.aspx.

One of the aims of this diabetes blog is to give our readers the opportunity to share your experiences of diabetic neuropathy with others. Please share anything you think may be of interest in the comments boxes below. This might include any links you think will be having value. That being said you may want to focus on the following question?

1. How long have you been a diabetic and what sort of diabetes do you have?
2. Do you suffer from diabetic neuropathy? What were you symptoms?
3. What impact did it have on your lifestyle?
4. What treatments did you receive for diabetic neuropathy and how successful were those treatments?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

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Warning signs of Type 2 diabetes – what you should be looking out for?


In 2010 Diabetes UK produces a concerning report looking at the statistics about diabetes (bothdiabetes Type One and Type Two diabetes) in the UK and globally.  We would strongly suggest that anyone who is involved in any way with the diabetic community downloads a copy which can be found here http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/Reports/Diabetes_in_the_UK_2010.pdf.

The report entitled “Diabetes in the UK” includes a number of key facts:-

  • The global communities of diabetics amountsto 285 million patients and is expected to affect  438million people by 2030
  • Affected people tend of be the more developed countries.  But the countries with the highest prevalence are in the Middle East.
  • In the UK 2.6 million have already received a diagnosis of diabetes and this is expected to grow to over four million in the next 12 years.
  • But Diabetes UK estimates that over 500,000 have diabetes and have not been diagnosed.
  • Even more worryingly the age of people getting diagnosed with diabetes is getting lower.  It may well be that 5% of all diabetics are under the age of 20

We felt it would be a useful service to highlight a number of the early signs and symptoms of diabetes and in particular Type 2 diabetes to help raise awareness of the condition!

 

There are a number of signs common to both Type One and Type Two diabetes.  These include:-

  • Often going to the toilet at night
  • Feeling thirsty much of the time
  • Fatigue.  Get more information here https://patienttalk.org/?p=239
  • Losing weight

 


If you have these symptoms please go and visit your doctor as soon as possible.

If you have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes we would very much like to hear you story.  In particular we would love to hear the answers to the following questions:-

  1. How old were you when you were diagnosed with diabetes?
  2. Does anyone else in your family have diabetes?
  3. What were your first symptoms of diabetes?
  4. How do you treat your diabetes?  How effective are the treatments?
  5. What one piece of advice would you give to somebody who has just been diagnosed with diabetes?

Please use the comments boxes below to tell your story or answer the above questions.  Feel free to add links to any resources you think may be of interest

Thanks in advance