Diabetes & Pregnancy

Glucose Meter ........
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with diabetes, one of your first steps will likely be to find a glucose meter.
There are some things to keep in mind as you make your decision because this piece of equipment is likely to be part of your life for the foreseeable future.
... A glucose meter (or glucometer) is a medical device to check the amount of glucose in a drop of blood obtained by pricking the skin with a lancet. Glucose meters are portable and designed for use by ordinary people, especially those with diabetes.
There are now dozens of models of glucose meters. Typical features common to most. The average size is now approximately the size of the palm of the hand, though some are smaller or a bit larger. They are battery-powered.
A consumable element containing chemicals which react with glucose in the drop of blood is used for each measurement. For most models, this element is a plastic test strip with a small spot impregnated with glucose oxidase and other components. Each strip can only be used once.
Best advice is to check with your diabetic team, which one is more suitable for you, and of course which one you can afford. Please note in some counties these are given free by the diabetic nurse so always check this.
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One of the great things about the Internet is that it’s created a global community for discussions of topics such as diabetes. You’ll find there are a number of forums that will allow you to talk to others facing your situation.
It will be very useful for you to spend some time checking these forums as you will be able to learn a lot from other people who are suffering from diabetes as well.
As having a lot of information is always good, and sharing your own experience might ...help someone else.
In simple words the more you share the more you will learn.
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Diabetes: Diabetics Should Not Have a High Carb Diet Due To Blood Pressure
New studies shows the effects of high-carbohydrate and high- monounsaturated fat diets. Patients with type 2 diabetes suffered from modestly raises blood pressure after being exposed to 14 weeks of a high-carbohydrate diet compared to a diet high in monounsaturated fat.
One diet consisted of a high-carbohydrate diet consisting of 55 percent of calories as carbohydrate, 30 percent as fat, and 10 percen...t as monounsaturated fat. The other diet consisted of a high-monounsaturated fat diet deriving 40 percent of calories from carbohydrate, 45 percent from fat, and 25 percent from monounsaturated fat.
The research compared the effect of two same-calorie diets among 42 patients with type 2 diabetes, who consumed each diet for 6 weeks. About 1 week between the two periods. These patients were invited to continue the second diet for 8 weeks more.
Eight of them continued to follow on the high-monounsaturated fat diet and 13 continued to follow on the high-carbohydrate diet.
After the first 6-week periods there were no significant differences between both diets in systolic or diastolic blood pressure, the upper and lower numbers on a standard reading, respectively, or in heart rate.
After the 8-week it showed the blood pressure was 7 points higher than at the end of both 6-week because of the high carbohydrate diet associated, and systolic blood pressure was 6 points higher, and heart rate was higher by 7 to 8 beats per minute.
On the other hand, there was a significant lowering of heart rate compared with the end of the initial 6-week periods during the 8-week extension of the high-monounsaturated fat diet. There was almost no statistical significance between Systolic and diastolic blood pressure that were 3 to 4 points lower after 14 weeks on the high-monounsaturated fat diet.
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Exercise is a critical part of diabetic management and treatment.
Exercise helps you to keep your sugar level under control when the muscles use more glucose and the body become more sensitive to insulin.
Exercise also helps to prevent and minimize common diabetic complications including heart problems, high blood pressure, and circulatory deficiencies.
... All diabetics should include a regular exercise program as part of their overall management plan. If you have not been doing any exercise the best way to start is walking.
When you do any kind of exercise it is very important to keep a close eye on your sugar level because it can very easily drop down.
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Hi Friends, Due to bereavement in the family took some time off but I am back now. To just to refresh your mind here is where I left.
Diabetes and care— there cannot be a better combination of words in the world of diabetes!
Your doctor may examine and advise you for some time on diabetes during your visits to his clinic or his visits to your residence. But you are your own doctor for 24 hours all through the months and years with diabetes. How many times a day do you contemplate about the word diabetes?

Diabetes Care: Diet and Exercising Habits Are a Must For Diabetics ....... If you have just found out you have diabetes don't w worry. You can fight it out with proper care.
Diabetes and care— there cannot be a better combination of words in the world of diabetes!
... Your doctor may examine and advise you for some time on diabetes during your visits to his clinic. Always remember you are your own doctor for 24 hours all through the months and years with diabetes. How many times a day do you contemplate about the word diabetes?
The two words that stand uppermost in diabetes are CARE OF YOUR DIET AND EXERCISE! If you are disciplined in these two areas, half of your battle is won!
Be aware that 50 to 60 percent of your daily calories come carbohydrates, 12 to 20 percent from proteins, and not more than 30 percent from fats.
As for diet, let the balance weigh heavily in favour of fruits, vegetables and lots of fibre. More intake of fibre will help you immensely. Give up your past habit of taking heavy meals.
Take in small quantities, as and when you are hungry. At all the time you must avoid high or low blood glucose levels. As for losing weight, “slow and steady wins the race.” You must consult your doctor, you strictly go by the norms given to you and you lose two pounds per week. Very good! That's good progress.
The risk of heart diseases and liver problems are ever there for diabetics. The food items that are major sources of saturated fats must be avoided. Olive oil is often recommended as a good source of monounsaturated fat, the healthiest type of fat.
You must remember the following points, which are your lifelines:
1. Maintain the normal blood glucose level.
2. You have the possibility of heart and liver diseases. Limit your food items from this point of view.
3. Maintain the desired level of weight.
With all the emphasis on diet, research on the influence of various types of foods on the diabetes patients is still going on unabated. Researchers in this area is still very confused. They are certain about the effects of some items of food. Vague opinions also float. For example, the researchers are sure that cooked foods raise blood glucose higher than the raw foods. Whether foods with sugar raise blood glucose higher than the foods with starch, is still uncertain! Diabetes care will, perhaps, be a hot subject for all time to come—so far, diabetes is alive and kicking!
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What is Type 2 Diabetes?
If you suffer from type 2 it means your body does not produce enough insulin or the cell just simply ignores the insulin. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes.
You need insulin in order for the body to be able to use sugar. The basic fuel for your cells is sugar. Insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose does not go into the cells but builds up in the blood instead it can cause problems.
... The problems it can cause are over time high glucose levels could hurt your heart, kidneys, nerves, and eyes. What are the most common symptoms for adults with Type 2 Diabetes?
The answer is fatigue, blurred vision, thirst, and excessive urination. Do you think you may be diabetic? Check with your doctor. With type 2 diabetes, minor weight loss can greatly improve your blood glucose levels.
So remember if you have diabetes please be under a doctors care. Watch what you eat. Limit your sweets, fats, and alcohol. You can still eat good tasting foods and there are many diabetic food recipes on the internet. Get on a doctor-approved exercise program and keep track of your glucose levels. Learn all you can about your condition so you can take control of it instead of the disease controlling you.
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What is Type 1 Diabetes?
This type of diabetes was previously known as juvenile diabetes and is typically diagnosed in children and young adults.
The body does not produce insulin. What is insulin? It is a hormone needed to convert starches, sugar (glucose) and other foods into energy. Energy is needed for daily life activities.
... Type I Diabetes is a chronic condition with no cure, but the outlook for people living with this disease is far better than it was 20 years ago.
There has been much advancement in medicine, research and patient education reducing disabling complications and extended the expectancies of life for those without diabetes. In other words, people with diabetes 1 can live just as long as people without diabetes with the proper treatment and educating themselves on this disease.
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Diabetes Type 1 and Type 2 Weight Loss Nutrition.
If you have diabetes you have to be very careful about what you eat. You need to take extra care in managing your blood glucose levels. You can do this by eating healthy, watching your diet, taking medication prescribed by a physician and getting proper exercise.
What foods should you eat? There is a food pyramid for people with diabetes. The Diabetes Food Pyramid divides food into six groups.
... At the top of the list is fats sweets and alcohol. Since this is the smallest group this tells you to eat very little from this section.
The next group is milk, meat, meat substitutes, and other proteins. On the pyramid, 2 to 3 servings of milk are suggested and 4 to 6oz of meat/protein is mentioned.
Then you have your vegetables and fruits. Veggies choose at least 3-5 servings per day and fruits choose at least 2-4 servings a day.
The last group which you should eat the most of bread and other starches.
You can check with your doctor to get a copy of the diabetes food pyramid to learn more about the correct servings and portion sizes for you.
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Low-Carb Diets and Diabetes - Best way to control your sugar level.
In a low-carb diet, the carbohydrate intake is limited to about 5 to 10 percent. Protein and fats take precedence over one’s eating habits, to be able to keep sated and avoid bouts of hunger. You Must maintain that feeling of fullness if you want to avoid craving for sweets, and this is a good reason for diabetics to adopt a diet that is low in carbohydrates to control their condition. Following this type of... diet prevents excessive consumption of carbohydrates, which leads to higher levels of blood sugar.
As we all know diabetes is a condition in which the body is unable to properly take in starch and sugar. For a diet to work in favor of a diabetic, it has to be low in fat, high in fiber, and packed with minerals, vitamins, phytochemicals, and antioxidants. Keeping to the kinds of food with a low glycemic index is also important. Foods that are permitted in low-carb diets are meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, fish, and some selected vegetables.
It is important that you should not eliminate carbohydrates altogether from your diet, as carbohydrates in the diet are vital, because they serve as the main resource of energy and nutrients within our bodies. In a diabetic’s diet, carbohydrates in excessive amounts may be frowned at, but authorities recommend a daily dosage of not less than 130 grams. On the other hand, studies have shown that the low-carb diet caused no undesirable effects on the levels of insulin, glucose, blood pressure or cholesterol. It is also worthwhile to note that one can alter a diet according to his or her specific needs. In this regard, before following any diet, be sure to check with your physician to make sure you will be getting all the right nutrients that will help you control your condition. Doing so will also help you pinpoint areas of the regimen that you should alter for a more appropriate eating habit.
The effects of limiting the number of carbohydrates in your diet manifest as loss of weight due to a lesser calorie intake, or the successful maintenance of your ideal weight. Remember that with weight loss, the body’s blood sugar and insulin levels naturally improve. Even just a 10 percent weight loss is a substantial improvement towards being in better control of diabetes.
Weight loss should be your goal of achieving better health to make your condition more bearable, then a carefully planned diet is best paired with an exercise routine that is easy enough to follow. Daily walks and a couple of dozen repetitions with free weights are good low-impact exercises you can adopt. Regular exercise doesn’t only help combat diabetes; it also promotes a sense of well-being that helps you maintain the right attitude towards living a healthier life for good.
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NUTRITION
Perhaps no other disease is as closely linked to nutrition as diabetes. Not only does nutrition play a role in its development, but nutrition is also one of the disease’s most powerful treatments.
Because of this strong and critical connection to nutrition, researchers have carefully studied the use of nutritional supplements in the treatment of the disease.
... They found that many vitamins, such as vitamin C and the B vitamins, minerals such as chromium, as well as herbs.
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Diabetes Mellitus Type 1 – Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment.
In our body special areas in the pancreas gland, (the islets of Langerhans), produce a hormone called insulin. This hormone is a protein of small size. Insulin stimulates muscle cells and other body cells to take up glucose from the blood and convert the glucose to glycogen, a kind of starch, and then store the glycogen. Whatever the body cells needs, it is convert the glycogen to glucose and use it as fuel. In this ...way, insulin keeps the glucose level in the blood at a normal size.
By diabetes type I the cells producing insulin are destroyed. Which means the less glucose is taken up from the blood into the body cells and utilized there, and glucose accumulates in the blood.
THE CAUSES AND MECHANISMS OF DIABETES TYPE I
The cause of the disease is not well known. An auto-immune response attacking the insulin-producing cells in the langerhansian islets may be a cause. Virus infection may be another cause. The disease also is to some extent inherited.
When the glucose uptake into the body cells is reduced, but glucose instead accumulates in the blood, the following physiological effects occur:
1. The body cells do not get enough fuel for the work they Probably.
2. The molecular thickness (osmality) of the blood increases. This causes water to be pulled out from the body tissues and into the blood. The tissues thus get dried out and the urine production increases.
3. The tissues begin to break down protein and fat to get energy, causing weight loss and muscular reduction. The symptoms of diabetes type 1 are a consequence of these mechanisms.
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Diabetes Symptoms- Knowing the Types of Diabetes
Diabetes is a condition featuring unusually high levels of glucose in the bloodstream. Insulin, produced by the pancreas, is used by the body to lower blood glucose levels. If someone’s pancreas doesn’t generate enough insulin, their body will develop diabetes.
A short list of symptoms of diabetes would include severe hunger and thirst, more urge to urinate, and fatigue. But the surest way of knowing whether you have diabe...tes is having a blood sugar test, also known as a Glucose Tolerance Test.
Type 1 diabetes is the more acute form. It is typically treated with special dietary restrictions, exercise and occasionally with insulin. Type 1 diabetes usually will be treated with a special diet, exercise, and a weight loss plan before insulin is added. This form of diabetes is considered an insulin-dependent disease.
A less severe form of diabetes, Type 2 diabetes is first treated with a diabetic diet, exercise, and weight loss. If these measures are not successful in controlling blood sugar and insulin levels, oral medications may be added. Insulin is then finally considered if these also are unsuccessful. Type 2 diabetes normally occurs in adults who are middle age or older, which is why it is sometimes called Late-Onset Diabetes In this case, the pancreas still produces the right levels of insulin but the body has become resistant to it. It is feasible to delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes if it runs in the family. By losing weight, getting the right amount of exercise and controlling your diet, you can manage. If Type 2 diabetes is not treated, eventually the same complications may ensue as those seen with Type 1 diabetes.
Gestational diabetes is seen in pregnant women. Normally it disappears after the birth of the baby, however, treatment for the mother to stabilize the blood glucose levels will decrease the chance of complications to the baby as well as the mother. Juvenile Onset diabetes is another major form of diabetes that affects many children. It is believed to be the onset of Type 1 diabetes. If a child is showing even a few of the symptoms of diabetes, it’s vital that they are checked by a doctor. It is estimated that over two million adolescents are in the pre-diabetes stage. This is mostly due to being overweight. In this condition, blood glucose levels are high but not high enough to be considered diabetes. Teens usually develop this between the ages of 12 and 19.
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Hi Friends, I am off you Kenya to attend a family wedding, will be back on the 16th September. Watch for more inforamtion from 17th onward.information

Pre-diabetes
It means you probably have higher than normal blood sugar levels but, fortunately, not high enough to be classed as being diabetic.
However, it does mean that you are susceptible to developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease if you do nothing about it.
... The more you learn about pre-diabetes the better it will be for you. If you can bring your sugar level down you have more chance of developing type 2. . Resveratrol, just one of the powerful antioxidants in Resvinatrol Complete, is being heralded by scientists and researchers as an anti-aging miracle drug that can help ward off the effects of age-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease, strokes, obesity, diabetes and Alzheimer's.
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Lifestyle changes for coping with Diabetes
Diabetes information is essential for patients who have either type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes. When diagnosed with diabetes, the health implications can be devastating but understanding what the disease is and what changes you can implement to assist in leading a healthy life is important.
Knowing more will help you to control any ill effects. Making a few lifestyle changes and ensuring you have regular doctor check-ups to monitor your progress is important in maintaining a healthy life. This will help you to maintain your good health in long-term.

Keep Your Blood Sugar Level under Control
Controlling blood sugar (glucose) levels is one of the most important aspects of diabetes management. It will make you feel better in the short-term and it will help you to stay fit and healthy in the long term.
The National Committee on Prevention Detection Evaluation, the chromium, and many interesting articles. People who do not have diabetes keep their blood glucose levels within a narrow range for most of the time. The beta cells in the pancreas are able to produce a just right amount of sugar...

DIABETES -
Diabetes is one of the most dreaded diseases. It is a killer disease and it is really very difficult to control. Looking at the official stats diabetes is the fourth biggest giant killer among the deadly diseases in the world. The first thing to understand is how does a person become diabetic?
The answer is When your body is unable to produce insulin that is necessary for its normal functioning, it becomes unable to absorb glucose (sugar).
... Once you have been diagnosed. There is no other alternative for you to eradicate the presence of diabetes in your body. You must learn how to deal with the disease because it can certainly kill you once you do not have a proper diabetes diet included in your everyday food intake.
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