Pregnant women with Diabetes should Monitor their Weight

It is important for pregnant women with diabetes to monitor their weight.
I just got a message from a diabetic friend that she's pregnant, so i did my research and send her this:

You should monitor your weight and food intake.

Drastic increase in weight approximately 6.5 pounds per month contributes to insulin resistance' while weight gain of only half a pound per week (or less than 2 pounds per month ) is a sign that you and your baby are not receiving sufficient nourishment.

you should receive a total of40% to 50% of your daily caloric count from carbohydrates make sure these are spread throughout the day. Low carb intake may result in hypoglycemia, while too much carb intake will elevate your blood sugar levels. Time and plan your day's first and last meals no more than 10 hours apart to avoid low blood sugar.

Choose food rich in complex carbs such as high-fiber breads, oatmeal, whole wheat and brown rice. Avoid refined sugars and sweets as well as instant noodles and processed breakfast cereals.

Protein should compromise 20% to 25% of your daily diet, limiting fat too only 30% (monounsaturated and Omega-3) Limit your sodium intake to less than 1/10 tsp per meal.
Evey pregnant women should watch what they eat, because they are eating for two. But Diabetic women should be more concern about their weight and food consumption.

Risk Factor on developing Gestational Diabetes

About 3 percent to 5 percent of pregnant women who have never had elevated blood glucose levels may develop gestational diabetes, a form of diabetes that occurs only during their pregnancy. As a part of prenatal care, pregnant women should be screened for gestational diabetes between he 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy. Many women who had gestational diabetes also eventually develop type 2 diabetes. Babies born to mothers who had gestational diabetes during their pregnancy have a condition called macrosomia, which risks damage to their shoulders during birth. Such newborns may have very low blood glucose levels at birth. They are also at higher risk of developing breathing problems, obesity, and type II diabetes as adults.

Here are the risk factors on developing gestational diabetes:

• History of diabetes in a first-degree relative. The risk is more than 1.5 times greater than in women without a history.

• Weight gain in early adulthood. A high BMI at age 18 greatly increases the risk.

• High body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy. A pre-pregnancy BMI of 25 to 29.9 doubles the risk. The risk triplets with BMI of 30 or more.

• Advancing age. Women older than 40 are more than twice as likely to develop it as women ages 25 to 29.

• Nonwhite ethnicity. The risk is 1.45 times greater for Hispanics, 1.75 times greater for African Americans and 2.32 times greater for Asians

• Previously having a stillbirth of unknown cause.

• Previously bearing a child who weighed more than nine pounds.

• Cigarette smoking.

Diabetes linked to Kidney Problems

Diabetes is a disastrous problem that affects kidneys, blood vessels, intestines and every other organ in the body. It is a condition in which the body is unable to produce or properly use insulin. Insulin, a hormone that is necessary for converting starches, sugar and other food into energy. The cause of diabetes is unknown and there is no known cure. It can early on also be controlled and managed through proper diet. And you should know, effective management may be achieved under a doctor's care.

It was estimated that there were 20.8 million children and adults who are afflicted with the disease. That is just about 7% of the population. Of that figure, 14.6 million people had been diagnosed, but 6.2 million people were thought to have diabetes but it had not been discovered yet. In addition, just about fifty four million folks are pre-diabetic with 1 1/2 million new disease found in people older than 20, showing up annually.

Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney disease. In fact, hypertension and diabetes are the two primary causes of kidney disease. This causes an estimated 70 percent of kidney failure with diabetes accounting of 44 percent of kidney failure cases. The early stages of kidney disease have no symptoms . It injures your body and by the time it is finally detected, the disease is so far advanced that it quite often is too far to prevent failure of the kidneys. Once your kidneys fail, you have two options: kidney transplant or dialysis. If you do not receive one of these, you will die.

How Diabetes causes Kidney Disease

When the kidneys are working properly, the glomeruli (tiny filters that are in the kidneys) keep all proteins inside of your body. Protein is essential for a variety of operations within your body and are required to keep you healthy. Diabetes creates too high of a concentration of glucose in the blood which damages the glomeruli. The result is that they can no longer keep the protein in the body and it seeps into the urine from the kidneys.

When kidneys are damaged they no longer function efficiently and do not cleanse our waste as they should. When this occurs, the waste and fluids build up in the blood instead of being expelled in the urine. The longer this happens, the worse the damage becomes until the kidneys eventually cease to function.

The Progression of Renal Disease

It can require years for diabetic kidney disease to develop. Some diabetics experience hyper filtration in the first few years of their having diabetes. This means that the glomeruli actually function at a much higher capacity than normal. Once damage starts, however, it continues. As a person develops kidney disease, they will have a blood protein named albumin that finally starts to leak into the urine in small amounts. At this time, the glomeruli are really functioning normally.

The progression of the disease leads to more protein leaking into the urine and the glomeruli begin to progressively fail as the filtering begins to drop. Waste is retained in the serum causing the filtration failure. As a result, the kidneys stop functioning.

How to Prevent Kidney Problems if you have Diabetes

Having diabetes, you can often prevent kidney problems. Use these steps to keep your kidneys healthy: * Control your diabetes by eating the right foods and a good exercise regimen * Take your medicine as prescribed * Have your physician test your blood and urine routinely for kidney problems * If testing shows that you do have kidney problems, ask your doctor about medications like ARBs (angiotensin II receptor blockers) and ACE inhibitors that can help keep your kidneys healthy.

A diagnosis of diabetes does not have to result in kidney disease. As long as you stay on top of your condition, manage it well and follow your provider's orders, there is no reason that you can't live a long, healthy, happy life - without kidney disease.

Diabetes (type 1): The facts we should know

Traditionally thought to be a quite uncommon disease, Type I diabetes affects just about one out of every 250 people, both adults and young, living in the US today. Although the term "juvenile" has long been associated with this type of the disease, as in Type I juvenile onset diabetes, the illness may actually occur at any time in life, and appears equally among both men and women.

There are thousands things that can go wrong with your body. Consider this short list:

• Beta hydroxylase deficiency -
• Dwarfism stiff joint ocular abnormalities -
• Anonychia -
• Dystrophinopathy -
• Arthrogryposis spinal muscular atrophy -
• Chronic hiccup -
• Cantu Sanchez Corona Fragoso syndrome -
• Costochondritis -
• Cantu Sanchez Corona Hernandes syndrome -
• Alopecia -
• Erysipelas

Fortunately, even most doctors have not heard of some of these. But even though it is considered fairly uncommon, you probably know someone with Type I Diabetes.

Symptoms

While the symptoms of Type I diabetes tend to be subtle in most cases, if not treated, they will eventually become fairly severe. Some of the most common symptoms include:

Blurry vision - Frequent urination - Frequent skin, vaginal, or urinary tract infections - Dry mouth, even after drinking - Increased hunger, even just after eating - Increased thirst - Heavy or labored breathing for no apparent reason

Some of the more serious signs associated with Type I diabetes that demand an emergent need for medical attention may include:

Abdominal pain Shaking, trembling Fruity or sweet smelling breath Loss of consciousness, rarely in extreme cases

Causes

Scientists still aren't aware of some of the factors leading one to have Type I diabetes. But, they do know that a tendency to the condition may be inherited from one or both parents. Researchers have discovered that Type I diabetes may also be caused by something in the environment that causes a problematic reaction within the body's immune system. However, they are not sure as to the exact origin of these triggers.

Diagnosis

For an accurate diagnosis of Type I diabetes, a doctor must check for abnormal blood sugar levels by performing a blood test, or also testing for the presence of glucose or keystone in the urine. With today's knowledge, there is no way to test for impending Type I diabetes, or a method to prevent one from developing this type of diabetes.

Treatment

There are many, of all ages, who enjoy long, quite healthy lives despite having Type I diabetes. It's imperative to keep blood sugar levels under tight control, which may be achieved by eating the right foods, getting enough exercise, and the correct insulin therapy consistently one or more times a day. Anyone with this form of the disease must have insulin injections in order to properly manage their blood sugar level, which will also have to be tested regularly.

Without treatment, Type I diabetes may evolve into or cause several serious conditions, some of which may be life-threatening. Kidney damage is a quite common problem in those with the disease with a condition known as nephropathy. Other possible complications include retinopathy, which causes a loss of vision, heart disease, poor blood circulation and gastrointestinal disorders which may also result without medical treatment.

Although a serious disease, Type I diabetes is a disease that can still be successfully managed with the right medical care.

Diabetic: Know the glycemic index of the food you eat (blood sugar)

Many still thinks that table sugar or anything with it, for example soft drinks is the worst kind of food for diabetic person. There are, however others as bad or worse than table sugar. I was surprised when the doctor of my uncle (who is diagnose with diabetes) said that watermelon is one such example watermelon is my favorite fruit I'm glad that I don't have diabetes, I can eat all watermelon I like.

The doctor also said that what is important is to adjust the diet of a diabetic person to mange the weight because there is a close relationship between the incidence of diabetes and greater body weight. The doctor also said that diabetic people has to look closely at the glycemic index (GI) of the carbohydrates in the food they eat. It is important for people who are diabetic, to keep the blood sugar under control. The glycemic index of food in each 50g of carbohydrates is a measure of the food's ability to elevate blood sugar in the two or three hours after eating. Some are broken down more quickly in the intestine than the others, causing the blood sugar level to rise rapidly, and sometimes to dangerous levels. These carbohydrates have a high GI. Carbohydrates that are low in GI enter the bloodstream slowly and are the preferred type. They provide sustained energy and help maintain stable blood sugar levels. However he also said that do not eat this food too much, too much of anything is unhealthy. Eating an excess low GI food could cause an increase in body weight. Also stick to a low fat diet and exercise regularly.

Below are list of foods categorized according to glycemic index (GI):

Foods High in GI

white rice
raisins
white bread
watermelon
honey
cheerios
cornflakes
cooked carrots
cane maple and corn syrup
baked potato
glucose

Foods with Moderate GI

whole wheat bread
apple juices
bananas
sweet potato
brown rice
corn
popcorn
grapes
oatmeal
spaghetti/noodles
orange and orange juices

Foods with Low GI

barley
grapefruit
kidney beans
lentils
green peas
milk and milk products
pears
yogurt
plums
figs
peanuts
peaches
apples

Diabetes check, have you check yourself?

Image via WikipediaDiabetes mellitus, or the sugar and sweets disease. Every time we eat or drink, glucose ( a form of sugar in foods) levels in the blood rise. This in itself, isn't bad since your pancreas, produces hormone called insulin, Insulin enables glucose to enter the body's cells which, in turn use the sugar as an energy source. Without the insulin your elevated blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) will persist and cause serious health complications. Diabetes mellitus has two types, The insulin dependent type (Type 1) is the less common but more severe form. It usually appears in young people under the age of 35 and most commonly between the ages 10 and 16. The insulin producing cells of the pancreas are destroyed, probably as a result of an immune response to a viral infection and insulin production ceases almost completely. Without regular injections of insulin, the sufferer lapses into a comma and dies. The more common non insulin dependent type of diabetes or (Type 2), on the other hand, starts slowly and develops mainly on people over 40 and who are overweight. Nine out of ten diabetics suffer from non insulin dependent type. It is a silent disease and is always discovered accidentally during a routine medical examination or only after complications develop. Insulin is produced but not enough to meet the body's needs. Often the body develop resistance to insulin.

Ask yourself these questions to know if you have sugar problems:

• Do you pee a lot?
• Are you always thirsty and always hungry?
• Are you losing weight?
• Do you have vaginal itchiness?
• Is a member of your family diabetic?
• Are you overweight?
• Do your children have large birth weight?

So this is what happening, when our blood sugar increases it may cause a number of problems including wound infections, blindness, and kidney infections. A person with diabetes also increases his risk for heart disease by two or four times, and have has two to four times more chances of having a stroke. Unfortunately, there is no cure for diabetes, It is thus important to guard against becoming diabetic, because prevention is the key to diabetes.

Here's what to do, have a healthy diet. Lower your intake of saturated fats or fat from animal sources. Eat more fiber. Type 2 diabetes is a preventable disease, and can be avoided by eating and living healthy.

Exercise, Do so for for at least 30 minutes, five to seven times a week, If you're on the heavy side, lose weight. Studies have shown that losing five to 10 percent of your weight and eating healthy can swing the probability of you not developing diabetes by as much as 58 percent.

Sugar: Cancer suspect food

Image via WikipediaEverybody needs a little bit of sweetness specially in some of our foods, but too much sugar are link to cancer, diabetes,heart conditions and other life threatening conditions. When we eat food (carbohydrates), it is true that the body sorts out all the elements and eventually breaks down the constituents into simple sugars (glucose and fructose). Glucose is the major sugar present in blood and body tissues. This is a essential sugar because all cells, specially brain cells, depend on glucose. But there is no RDA or recommended daily allowance for any kind of sugar , including glucose. We are not required to eat a measure of glucose everyday. The specialized enzymes of the digestive tract are equipped to convert carbohydrates into the basic glucose slowly into blood stream during the metabolic process, along with other needed nutrients.

One of the most common misconceptions today is that a white sugar (which is not glucose, but sucrose) provides quick energy and is a good food. The catch is that sugar is not absorbed and metabolized in the body in the same efficient way as the complex carbohydrates are. When we eat sugar, it is rapidly absorbed and passed on the liver where it is converted to triglycerides. The triglycerides are released onto the bloodstream and end up being stored as fats deposits in the veins and tissues and it means high cholesterol build up. High cholesterol and triglycerides are implicated in the development of cancer and other life threatening conditions.

Cancer is fearful disease because terminal patients die so slowly and painfully. It is the most common cause of death. Nutrition, lifestyle and everyday environments create the most common cancer risks. This risk can be reduced by dietary and lifestyle changes
So think twice before you put sugar and sweets in your mouth, Taking care of yourself is like living in a sweet life.