How Diabetes Can Impact Your Health, and What You Can do About It

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http://www.mercola.com/2004/mar/13/diabetes_health.htm

 

 

How Diabetes Can Impact Your Health, and What You Can do About It

 

 

 

By Dr. Joseph Mercola

with Rachael Droege

 

Nearly 18 million Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes, 95 percent of who

have type 2 diabetes, and amazingly half are unaware that they even have this

disease. Since the majority of people with diabetes have the type 2 variety,

this is the type that will be addressed in this article. It used to be that this

disease would develop around the age of 45, which is why it used to be referred

to as adult-onset diabetes, however now it is becoming increasingly common at

younger and younger ages, even among children.

 

Along with the millions of Americans with diabetes, another 17 million Americans

have " pre-diabetes, " which is literally months to years away from progressing

into full-blown diabetes. My concern is that being diagnosed with diabetes is

becoming so commonplace that many people don’t realize that this is a

devastating illness that can cause a lifetime of health complications. Even more

concerning is the fact that diabetes is close to 90 percent preventable, which

I’ll discuss later, yet is still on the rise.

 

There are several telltale symptoms of full-blown diabetes including:

 

Frequent urination

Excessive thirst

Extreme hunger

Unexplained weight loss

Increased fatigue

Irritability

Blurry vision

Frequent vaginal yeast infections in women

 

However, the absolute best test for diagnosing diabetes is the eight-hour

fasting blood sugar test. It is absolutely amazing how powerful and sensitive

this test is. I have checked over 10,000 blood tests on my patients and can tell

you quite confidently that the fasting blood sugar should be below 100.

 

Previously I believed the fasting blood sugar should be 87. It now seems that

the numbers should be closer to 80. My definition of pre-diabetes is when that

number rises above 100. Traditional standards state that diabetes is formally

diagnosed at 120.

 

With insulin levels, the lower the better. I like to see them below 5, but 2 or

3 would be far better. Any fasting insulin level over 10 is a major problem and

is a huge risk factor for diabetes.

 

If you have diabetes, or suspect that you do, it is important to take measures

to control it, or even reverse it, as uncontrolled or ignored diabetes can

result in serious complications including:

 

Heart disease

Kidney disease

High blood pressure

Accelerates the aging process

Blindness

Stroke

Nerve damage

Blood flow problems

Loss of feeling, particularly in the lower legs

Burning, sensitivity and coldness of the foot

Higher-risk pregnancies

Coma

Even death

 

Further, diabetes can cause chronic liver disease and cancer of the liver,

according to a study published in the February 2004 issue of the journal

Gastroenterology. Researchers found that among diabetic patients, the incidence

of chronic liver disease and cancer of the liver was about twice the incidence

of patients without diabetes.

 

There is also a strong relationship between type 2 diabetes, obesity and

depression. About 80 percent of people with diabetes are also significantly

overweight and depression together with obesity is a strong risk factor for

diabetes. It is clear that people with diabetes are more likely to be depressed,

but whether it is a result of obesity or diabetes--or both--remains unclear.

 

However, as I said earlier diabetes is close to 90 percent preventable, as it is

often a direct result of dietary and lifestyle factors. The sooner you begin to

treat the diabetes, the easier it will be to control, so it is important to take

action as soon as possible. In other words, if your fasting blood sugar is

approaching the 100 level don’t wait for it to go up before making changes to

your diet and lifestyle. So what changes should you make?

 

The most basic changes would be to restrict all grains and sugars from the diet,

while increasing your exercise. The primary focus on most diabetic diets has

been on the relative amounts and types of carbohydrates and fat to include in

their diet. But the problem with nearly all traditional nutritional studies is

that they do not account for Metabolic Typing differences.

 

While nearly all type 2 diabetics need to swap out their grains for other foods,

as I discuss in my Total Health Program and Cookbook, some people will benefit

from using protein for the substitution, while others will benefit from using

more vegetable-only carbohydrates. Therefore, along with reducing grains and

sugars, determining your Metabolic Type will give you some insight into what

foods you should use to replace the grains and sugars.

 

Exercise works by increasing the sensitivity of insulin receptors so the insulin

that is present works much more effectively and your body doesn’t need to

produce as much.

 

Most people, especially doctors, tend to not appreciate how powerful exercise

is. However, I believe it needs to be viewed like a drug--you have to be very

careful with the dose. If the dose is not high enough, it will not work.

 

Making these changes in your lifestyle will help to optimize your insulin

levels. As some people may know, blood sugar is only the symptom in most

diabetics; the real challenge is to control your insulin levels. Once the

insulin levels are stabilized it is common for the blood sugar to come back to

normal levels. Along with controlling your diabetes, these basic lifestyle

changes will also lead to several inevitable side effects like increasing your

energy and normalizing your weight, so getting started today will likely lead to

an increased quality of life on many different levels.

 

 

Related Articles:

Coffee May Lower Diabetes Risk?

 

Diabetes At Least 90% Preventable

 

Obesity and Diabetes: A Growing Problem Among Americans

 

How One Man Overcame Diabetes and Regained His Health

 

Diabetes Epidemic Could be a Worldwide Catastrophe

 

 

 

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