Pre-Diabetes: Check Engine Warning Light
February 4, 2008
Your car has an early detection system and so does your body. Take 3 minutes to read this article and learn how you can save yourself a life time of aches, pains, and costly medical bills.
Have you ever had the “Check Engine” warning light come on in your car? Most newer cars have a system that monitors the performance of your car. If something is not working properly, the “Check Engine” light usually comes on.
The good news is that this “pre-warning” system can help you avoid costly damage, which may be occurring with your vehicle, by detecting small problems before they become big problems. However, the only way to be certain is to have your car inspected by an expert mechanic when the “Check Engine” light comes on.
Did you know that your body has a “pre-warning” system?
With many diseases, your body will start producing symptoms such as aches, pains, fatigue, frequent thirst, and so on. These symptoms are your body’s “Check Engine” light, warning you about problems.
However, with diabetes, pre-warning signs don’t always show up so easily. The medical community is calling it: Pre-Diabetes.
Pre-Diabetes Awareness: Gamblers Understand the Odds
January 6, 2008
Do you gamble? Play Texas Hold’em poker, casino games, or lotteries? Then understanding your odds of winning is part of the challenge.
Are you planning on living a long and healthy life? A life free of aches and pains? A life full of excitement and adventure? Great, then understanding the odds of developing diabetes will surely cause you to take immediate action.
It is estimated that one in three Americans born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes. Those are terrifying odds.
Already, more than 18 million Americans live with diabetes and that number is growing. What is even more alarming is the fact that 5 million people don’t even know they have diabetes.
A new buzz in the medical community calls it- Pre-Diabetes. Today, roughly 41 million Americans have pre-diabetes which left undetected and untreated, progresses into full-blown diabetes.
The challenge with pre-diabetes is the fact that the condition doesn’t like to reveal itself with noticeable symptoms. Because there are few, if any symptoms, most people will not bother having screening tests performed. With pre-diabetes, noticeable symptoms like frequent thirst and urination may not occur until the disease has progressed and is already causing considerable damage to your body. Most Type 2 diabetics don’t have symptoms because the onset of diabetes is so slow.
Pre-Diabetes - The Calm Before the Storm
December 8, 2007
Remember when the medical world identified pre-hypertension to better monitor your blood pressure? The new buzz: Pre-Diabetes concerns a similar condition pinpointing people who are at severe risk for getting diabetes. Because diabetes silently invades your body, early detection and corrective action are critically important.
The goal with identifying pre-diabetes is to prevent the onset of diabetes from ever happening.
How do you know if you need testing for pre-diabetes? Good question. The truth is- You may not know. It’s our human nature to wait until our body produces a pain or ache before we visit the doctor’s office. With pre-diabetes, noticeable symptoms like frequent thirst and urination may not occur until the disease has progressed and is already causing considerable damage to your body. Most Type 2 diabetics don’t have symptoms because the onset of diabetes is so slow.
Your physician can determine if you have pre-diabetes with two common tests. The fasting plasma glucose test (FPG) and the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Both require an overnight fast.
The good news is that you can likely prevent diabetes with early detection and proper care.
Diabetes Awareness: The Downside… a New Wardrobe?
November 10, 2007
Here is some commonsense thinking:
I can’t understand why anyone who has diabetes wouldn’t exercise and watch what they eat.
The down side is that you may have to get an entire new wardrobe since exercise and healthy eating causes weight and size reduction.
When it happens, people tell you how great you look and that motivates you even more.
Other side effects: you’ll also sleep better and feel more rested than before you started walking and eating better.
I prefer walking outside, especially when the weather is nice. I even designed a walking path about 2.5 miles long around my neighborhood; part flat and part hilly.
You’ll find that a walking program helps more than your body.
“For me, walking time is good thinking time. Nobody is there to interrupt my thoughts. And even when I walk on the treadmill in front of the TV, I find it helps me get ready for the day.”
Exercise and healthy eating…. A powerful duo for diabetics!
Ask your doctor about diabetes and have your blood sugar checked several times a year.
For more information about diabetes, including a Diabetes Quiz and a Free booklet, visit our website at:
Raising Happy Diabetic Kids Part II
October 11, 2007
This is the second article in a series I am writing about how to raise happy diabetic children. You can find the first article titled Help Your Child Develope Self-Confidence in our article archives.
Sometimes the phrase “happy diabetic kids” seems to be an oxymoron. Often it seems all of the dark powers of the diabetes universe are aligned against you. You wonder if there isn’t some evil house elf behind the scenes just making everyone’s life miserable on purpose. Not being graduates of Hogwarts School Of Magic we can’t just wave a magic wand and make it all better. We must prepare for life with diabetes and we must prepare our children. Self-Reliance is a critical skill for diabetic children to master. Think of all of the responsibilities that go into daily diabetes care. We all realize that we must keep the responsibilities we put upon our children age appropriate. Non the less, in most school aged children the ability to take some responsibility for their own care goes a long way in giving them some feelings of control over their diabetes. Last month I mentioned there are three components to raising happy children. Self-Confidence, Self-Reliance and Self-Control. No I still haven’t forgotten Self-Esteem we’ll get there. I’m still of the opinion that with these first three components your child can’t help but develope Self-Esteem.
Improper pH Balance Increases Risk and Damage of Diabetes
September 12, 2007
THE RISK
Blood sugar balance is critical to your body’s proper functioning. Blood sugar (glucose) is the primary source of fuel for the body’s cells and is particularly critical to the brain and the eyes. When glucose isn’t regulated properly through the bloodstream, the body’s cells don’t obtain the energy they need. Excessively high blood sugar (hyperglycemia, or diabetes) or excessively low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) prevents organs from working properly and leads to a decline in health.
The body’s blood sugar level is regulated primarily by the pancreas and the liver. The liver stores excess glucose and releases it when needed. The pancreas secretes insulin that helps carry glucose into the body’s cells, and it secretes glucagon that triggers the release of stored glucose in the liver. When either organ fails to function properly, blood sugar becomes excessively high or low and the cells begin to "starve."
A highly acidic pH level puts the pancreas, liver, and all the body’s organs at risk. Because of the important role played by the liver in removing acid waste from the body, liver function is particularly at risk when acids accumulate. When acidity prevents the liver and pancreas from regulating blood sugar, the risk of diabetes increases.
Raising Happy Diabetic Kids
August 14, 2007
This is the first in a series of articles I am about to embark upon concerning this subject. As my family gets older and matures with this disease I think back to the early days and wonder why aren’t we all on medication for depression? Why don’t we have standing twice a week appointments with a psychiatrist? How did we end up so normal?(whatever that is) As I look back this didn’t happen by accident, nor am I Super Dad, and I didn’t plan it out step by step. It was mostly just paying attention, luck, and decent communication between my girls and me, granted sometimes at the top of our lungs.
The first thing I suggest you do is very important. Remember, our children are who they had in mind when they coined the phrase “monkey see monkey do”. Trust Yourself! It’s okay to do it your way. There’re three components to raising happy kids, diabetic or not. They are Self-Confidence, Self-Reliance, an Self-Control. The more of these components your monkeys see in you, the more of these components you will see in your monkeys! I’m going to put out some ideas here but you’re the boss of your situation. Do it your way.
Diabetes Awareness: Ill Wait til it Hurts
July 17, 2007
By the time many type 2 diabetics (and often their doctors) realize action is necessary, the disease, with its destructive high blood sugars, has been silently damaging their body for years.
Complications to the blood vessels and tissues of your eyes, feet, heart, kidneys, and other organs, are likely well underway.
You visit the doctor because you feel bad, and you wish to feel better. You react to the symptoms of perceived illness. This is understandable, but does not allow much room for prevention or early detection of diabetes.
Of course this idea, "Don’t see the doctor ’til it hurts," comes from our "busier-then-ever" lifestyles. But to blame, to point fingers after the damage has started is as pointless as is the leaping bungee-jumper’s complaint that his equipment has just failed. It’s a little late to talk about why. Some problems are better prevented.
If you have type 2 diabetes, you know most of the time you don’t feel very bad. You might think that because you don’t feel very bad, it isn’t very serious, and you don’t have to do anything about it just now. “I’ll wait ’til it hurts” …You couldn’t be more wrong.
Humulin or Lantus, Which Insulin For Your Child?
June 19, 2007
Humulin or Lantus? When my daughter, who was 8, was first diagnosed the Children’s Hospital that was treating her put her on an insulin program of short acting Humalog NPH and long acting Humalin N. You should have seen me that first day of training after a long night in the emergency room where she was diagnosed. I was a raving lunatic to begin with so my brain was mostly mush at that point. Add to that everything began with “H”. Mix this “H” with that “H” but first charge this “H” with air, then draw this “H” first followed by that “H” but make sure you roll this “H” between your palms and for crying-out-loud don’t shake that “H”. Anyway I guess osmosis worked and all of that information finally seeped in. We were officially diabetic now.
For those of you who may not be familiar with it, Humalog and Humalin (short and long acting insulins) are mixed in the same syringe and injected 3 times a day usually before meals. Your child is allowed a certain amount of carbohydrates for each meal that the doctor figures out based on age, weight, etc., and that’s your number. My daughter’s was 65 carbs max per meal and 35 max per snack. However your child hits their magic number that’s it. Whether it’s 65 slices of ham or half a pop-tart. Plus she had to eat 6 times a day at certain times everyday.
Insulin
May 20, 2007
Insulin has two critical roles in the body that we cannot live without, yet it can be the root of many health problems, including diabetes. Insulin carries sugar (glucose), fat and protein into your cells where they are used for energy and the repair of your cells. When you eat, a certain amount of the food will be converted into glucose and enter the bloodstream. As the sugar levels rise, the body senses it and the pancreas secretes insulin to lower the sugar. This is insulin’s second main function.
If you eat too much of any food, especially carbohydrates (starch and sugar) the levels of glucose in the blood rise to very high levels. In turn this triggers a large release of insulin from the pancreas. Your cells will take what they need and then insulin will begin the process of converting the excess glucose, fat and protein into fat and then put it all away in your fat cells. By combining foods the right way for your body, you will maintain optimum levels of insulin throughout the day.
