The signs of a diabetes symptom

The signs of a diabetes symptom

The signs of a diabetes symptom

If you have two or more of these pre-diabetes symptoms you should seriously consider getting yourself checked out:

1. If you find you are excessively thirsty, not just after extreme exercise or hot weather.
2. You seem to constantly have a dry mouth - even if you've just had a drink.
3. You find you are having to urinate frequently.
4. You have unexpected weight loss or gain (even though you may be constantly hungry and eating well. Of course you may be eating the wrong things which would probably make your pre-diabetes symptom worse). 
5. You feel lethargic.  You always feel as if you've got no energy; you are weak and tired all the time.
6.  Sometimes your vision is blurry be careful, untreated eye problems caused through diabetes can lead to blindness. You should have regular eye checks, especially as you get older because your eyes can be the early warning signal for many diseases, not just diabetes.
7. You have cuts or sores or bruises (especially on your feet) that are slow to heal.
8. If you experience excessive itching or soreness in the genital area or yeast infections (which can be misdiagnosed as thrush) it may be a sign of too much sugar in your urine.

At risk factors

There are different types of diabetes; pre-diabetes, type 1, type 2, gestational and maturity onset.  And, dependent upon your age, lifestyle and family history you may be more susceptible to developing diabetes. For example you may be more prone to developing diabetes if any of these factors apply to you:

• Your family background is African American, American Indian, Asian American, Pacific Islander, or Hispanic American/Latino.
• You have a parent, brother, or sister with diabetes.
• You are aged over 45 and are overweight you might be at risk of diabetes type 2
• You have had gestational diabetes or have given birth to a baby over 9 pounds in weight.
• You have high blood pressure.
• Your cholesterol levels are not good.

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Steps on how to prevent diabetes

Steps on how to prevent diabetes

Steps on how to prevent diabetes

Diabetes is more prevalent than ever and 95% of cases diagnosed are type two diabetes. Although for some the development of diabetes is inevitable, perhaps due to heriditery and other factors, for the vast majority it can be prevented by taking these seven simple steps. Before diabetes type 2 becomes fully developed you go through a stage known as pre-diabetes.  This is where you start to show some of the symptoms, which if ignored, can lead to full blown diabetes.

Make these seven action points part of your daily routine and you could prevent diabetes happening to you:

1. If you are overweight you risk developing diabetes.  Reduce the amount of food on your plate so you gradually eat less and start to lose weight.  Drink a glass of plain water or a sugar-free drink before your meal to take the edge of any hunger pains.
2. Reduce the amount of fat you are eating; grill or bake foods instead of frying; use low-fat spreads and reduced fat meals.
3. Check the Glycemic Index of the food you are eating - knowing what each food contains helps maintain your blood-sugars, which in turn can prevent the full onset of diabetes. 
4. Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day. If you keep a bottle of water with you and sip frequently you'll be surprised how much you do drink throughout the day.
5. If you are feeling peckish choose a healthy snack rather than a chocolate bar.
6. Use skimmed rather than full-fat milk in hot drinks.
7. Exercise is good for health.  But if you are not use to exercise then start in moderation.  fifteen minutes gentle walking each day will ease you into a regular exercising pattern. 

All of these action points are also the ones that diabetics are advised to take - if you take them now you might possibly prevent irreparable damage to your health.

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Smoking is even more hazardous for diabetics

Smoking is even more hazardous for diabetics

Smoking is even more hazardous for diabetics

There are seven reasons why mixing diabetes with smoking is a very bad idea:

1. You are more likely to get nerve damage (neuropathy).  This is because smoking affects your blood circulation and that in turn means your nerve endings are not getting the nutrients they need.  If this happens to the nerves in your feet it could lead to sores and infections and if not taken care of properly, even amputation. 
2. There is an increased risk – double in fact -of you getting limited mobility in your joints. It's no fun trying to bend, climb stairs or lift something when you have a painful joint.
3. Because of smoking you could develop kidney disease.
4. When you smoke your blood pressure increases.  Increased blood pressure creates a real risk of heart disease.
5. Research has shown that diabetics who smoke increase, 3-fold, the risk of dying of heart (cardiovascular) disease.
6. By smoking you increase your blood-sugar levels.  This makes it more difficult to control your diabetes because your glucose levels  could be fluctuating quite dramatically.  This, in turn, leads to other problems.
7. And it also increases your cholesterol levels, which increases the risk of a heart attack.

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Diabetes foot care

Diabetes foot care

If you have diabetes information about how to manage your condition is vital to your well being. If you don't look after your feet you run the risk of developing sores or infections that could, in the worst case scenario, lead to amputations. 

These is seven diabetes foot care tips to Reduce your risk of infection or amputation:

Diabetes foot care

1. Check your feet daily - especially if you have low sensitivity or no feeling in your feet. Sores, cuts and grazes could go unnoticed and you could develop problems leading to amputations. 
2. Don't go around barefoot, even indoors. It's easy to tread on something or stub your toes and cut yourself. Protect your feet with socks/stockings and shoes/slippers.
3. Be careful if you have corns or calluses. Check with your doctor or podiatrist the best way to care for them. 
4. Wash your feet daily in warm, not hot water. And don't soak your feet (even if you've been standing all day) because it could dry your skin and form cracks or sores.
5. Take extra care to dry your feet completely, especially between your toes. These are natural moisture traps - leaving them damp or wet could create all sorts of problems. 
6. Exercise your legs and feet regularly. Even when sitting you can rotate your ankles; wiggle your toes or move your legs up and down. These all keep your blood circulation flowing and helps to minimize the risk of foot problems. 
7. Get your feet professionally checked, at least once a year, for sensitivity and signs of any problems.  You can usually arrange this when you have your annual check up for your AC1 levels (blood glucose levels over a 3-month period), blood pressure and cholesterol. 

Take constant care of your feet. Get help from a relative or professional; Doctor, diabetic nurse or podiatrist if you are not able to bend when trimming nails or checking for sores.  Taking these simple actions will help you reduce the risk of painful problems.

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Manage your Diet for Diabetes

5 Ways to Manage your Diet for Diabetes

Diet for Diabetes

Since my diagnosis with diabetes at the age of eleven, my own diet has changed dramatically.  I maintain my current healthy weight with a great diet/eating plan. If you do plan on losing more than about a stone in weight then I would visit your doctor for more tips on how to do this without risk.  

I've had diabetes for seven years now, but to tell you that how I maintain weight is perfect would be totally wrong of me.  However, I can advise you to follow my steps because I know what works and what doesn't. Before I really begin I must also say that I have been brought up by great parents who taught me to eat everything, and so I do! If there is something that you don't like, there are loads of other diabetic recipes and ideas that you will eat and appreciate.

I am a university student and I like to buy fresh and organic produce from where I live. I believe that this is important because it can be the most good for your body and contain more nutrients and vitamins than most supermarket produce. I like to source food from my fortnightly farmers market in town, which sells amazing meat and dairy produce and fresh in season fruit and vegetables. This is another important thing to remember, that eating fruit and vegetables in their season means that they will taste better as well as doing you good. I have a lot of influence from Western European cuisine (mainly France and Italy) as you will tell, but I do not profess to be a chef and everything is easy to make and very convenient.

I have read countless diet books and diabetic recipe/diet books, and I came to a conclusion that I think really works. I fused all the good things from the diets (but not from every diet) and sort of put together my own one. I call this my Juvenile Diabetes Healthy Diet!

The "rules" that I would lay down are as follows:

1. Cut back on snacks and then change the type of snacks you eat.

Certainly, my biggest downfall although it wasn't really apparent to me. When I first started at University, I had little or no routine, which meant that filling my day was difficult and popping into the kitchen for a snack, no matter how healthy it felt, was a regular occurrence. This is one of the hardest things to do for some people, but establishing a great routine is essential to great diabetes care. The types of snacks to be eating are unsalted nuts, dried unsweetened fruit, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables (I love fresh red pepper and cucumber), dark chocolate (richer and nicer and you only want two squares usually). 

2. Cut back on white flour and embrace wholemeal carbs.

This is the most essential part of your diet, and the thing that can show the biggest increase in loss of weight. Some diets, in fact, just focus on this point, and are very successful. Wholemeal (especially stone ground wholemeal) is so good for you and has so much more flavour in it that switching is much easier than you think. Most people are really surprised at the ranges you can get in your supermarket, again remember that the bread that is best for you is the one that is freshest with least preservatives or added ingredients. Furthermore, brown or basmati rice is great with a lovely nutty texture. Wholemeal pasta is great and for your potatoes, I would totally recommend the smaller new potatoes.

3. Stop drinking cocktails, start drinking wine. 

Cocktails are full of sugar, colourants and preservatives. As a student I have had loads of practice at going out and not drinking cocktails, so my drink of choice is Malibu and Diet Coke if I feel I have to drink something, and I make it last all night. I can then top up with Diet Coke (which has almost no sugar in it), and it looks as though I am drinking Malibu, who is to know. If you are out at a restaurant, red wine is much better than anything else you can order, (except water of course!) and it has been proven that the anti-oxidants in red wine are great for keeping a healthy heart. The recommended amount is one glass a day with your evening meal. 

4. Start cooking more fruit and vegetables.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are a great way to get all the vitamins and minerals you need. And there are so many different ways in which to cook vegetables, but I find that raw is the best followed closely by steamed. Both ways preserve all their natural goodness as well. I will follow this post with another diabetes recipe's post. 

5. Drink more water.

I know you have heard people say this many times before, but the benefits of drinking more water are endless. A few tips on how to get more water into your day are, firstly, to put bottles of water at all the places you go in the house or work. So keep one in your desk, on your desk, a glass in the kitchen, the bedroom, the sitting room, etc. Try to drink all these glasses up, and you will be well on your way to 8 glasses a day. The trick is to add a glass every few days or so, if you try to drink all that water in one go to you won't be so inclined to drink eight glasses again, trust me! Have a go, it's amazing how great you will feel.

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Diabetes Travel Tips

5 Diabetes Travel Tips

Diabetes Travel Bag

Planning ahead when you travel reduces stress.  This is particularly important for a diabetic.  These 5 diabetes travel tips are simple to implement and crucial to your diabetic management.  They are particularly important if you are traveling abroad.

1)  Have a pre-travel check-up.  Make sure your A1C blood sugar levels; your blood pressure and your cholesterol levels are OK.  Get the appropriate shots for any country you plan to visit.

2)  Wear a diabetes medical ID.  Ideally it should be in the language spoken in the country you're visiting.  Not everyone speaks your language and you don't want medical problems through misunderstandings.

3)  Keep your medication and glucose snacks in your hand-luggage.  Check-in baggage does, unfortunately, go astray. Don't risk your diabetes medication by packing it in your main luggage.

4)  Keep your medication in its original box, complete with pharmacy labels.  It will prevent misunderstandings about why you are carrying drugs and, if you are on insulin, syringes.

5)  Be aware of time zone changes, especially when altering your watch.  Remember when you travel east your day becomes shorter; if you travel west your day becomes longer.  You may need to alter the timings of your medication.

Traveling need not be traumatic. A sensible attitude and a bit of pre-travel planning can make things go far more smoothly.

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