Archive for the ‘Diabetes’ Category
Diabetes – Treating Hypoglycaemia
December 24th, 2011 | 
Author: Hypoglycaemia occurs when the level of glucose in the blood falls to 3.3mmol/l or less. Obviously this varies in different people (we’re all different), but this is the now recognised level.
It is not a result of diabetes itself; after all, diabetes is a reflection of high levels of glucose in the blood. The problem is, so many things affect blood glucose levels, that whilst your doctor can prescribe, quite properly, drugs or insulin with the appropriate doses, some unusual exercise or skipping a meal, can cause the medication to lower the blood glucose to such an extent, that a “hypo” occurs.
These events are usually mild in nature, and easily rectified with a couple of glucose tablets or a sugary drink with about 15 grams of glucose in it. Generally you should then wait 20 minutes, particularly if you are operating machinery, including a car, and then take your blood glucose level again.
However, one of the side effects of a “hypo” is a slight loss of concentration or intellectual focus. It is therefore a good idea to tell friends and family about your condition, with particular reference as to what to do in the event of a “hypo”.
Diabetic Snacks For Kids
Many parents’ worst nightmare is to have any type of disease diagnosed for any of their children. Diabetes happens to be one of those conditions where everyone has heard of it but very few actually understand it unless they must live with it on a day to day basis.
Because the news media, doctors or friends and family tend to talk about the “horror stories”, many people just do not realize it is a highly manageable condition with some time, energy and some education. Managing diabetes is like the pieces of a puzzle. Take all the pieces, arrange them in the correct order as if it was a set of building blocks and when finished, the end result yields a complete “design of excellence.”
Because your child’s nutrition habits has now become very important for the rest of their life, learning and finding some safe options for their snacks is of major importance. Every diabetic child has got to be taught the importance of eating well but also eating safe. This is especially true since diabetes is often described as a “silent killer.” This term references the fact high blood sugar levels over time will damage many of their internal organs. The pitfall here is very little to no outward symptoms are recognizable until it is actually too late to reverse the damage.
Diabetes and Nephropathy
Nephropathy is the medical term for kidney disease. Kidney disease is one of the possible long term consequences of diabetes.
Approximately 30% of people with type 2 diabetes develop some degree of kidney disease, and the same figure applies to patients receiving dialysis treatment.
It used to be thought that people with type 1 diabetes were the group most at risk, but over the years research has found that the chances of developing kidney disease are the same for both type 1 and type 2.
The job of the kidneys is to filter the blood, removing unwanted matter and passing it out of the body in urine. One of the symptoms of diabetes is the need to urinate frequently. This is because the kidneys are filtering out the excess blood glucose that is not being absorbed due to a lack of insulin or insulin resistance.
If you have high blood pressure as well as diabetes, this increases your risk of kidney disease significantly.
Diabetes – Symptoms of Hypoglycaemia
Hypoglycaemia is the term applied when the glucose levels in the blood are low. In diabetics, because, diabetes is raised levels of blood sugar, hypoglycaemia can occur because of medication bringing sugar levels too low.
Glucose is what gives the body energy, and is absorbed by the cells of the body. Insulin is the gatekeeper to the body’s cells, being the hormone that lets the glucose into the cells. When a person has no insulin, as in type 1 diabetes, no energy is provided to the body.
In type 2 diabetes, the person is “insulin resistant” and needs either drugs to make the insulin the body generates work harder, or extra insulin to allow the glucose to be properly absorbed.
Although your doctor will have prescribed drugs and perhaps insulin to combat high levels of blood sugar, it is not a precise science. Exercising or missing a meal for example can cause your blood sugars to drop dramatically, resulting in a “hypo”.
All people are all different, and diabetes is no exception. However, it is thought that, in general, a blood sugar level of 3.3mmol/l or less is a hypoglycaemic state for most people.
Type 2 Diabetes and Insulin – It's Not the End
Have you ever noticed that when some people discover you have a problem, they just can’t wait to tell you what’s good for you? They come out with all sorts of theories as to how you must do this, that or the other, with no regard for accuracy or indeed the personal feelings of whoever it is they are giving the benefit of their vast wisdom!
The author of this article was put on insulin some 2 years ago, and has been amazed at the general level ignorance as to what this means.
The author, and others like him who are insulin injecting type 2 diabetics, live a very near normal life. OK, we have to inject ourselves regularly but with the advances in insulin means that for many, this is only twice a day, with a special pen device which makes it easy and painless.
Also, although it’s true that a bar of chocolate is not good for you, a small amount is fine, so you don’t have to succumb completely to the food police just because you have diabetes and you’re injecting insulin.
You do however, have to pay very close attention to your blood sugars by regular checking during the day.