This week an administrator in one of my buildings asked me to talk to a female resident about her diet. I will call this resident "Ethel". Ethel chronically complains to me and the staff about her food. She said the food from the nursing home kitchen is too "greasy" and "spicy". She also stated she had two strokes and it was because of the nursing home food. What she did not tell me on my prior visits was she had a staff member buying her food. The staff member provided me Ethel's shopping list. The list included Pepper Jack cheese, Vienna sausage and fried pork rinds. When I approached Ethel about her shopping list, Ethel responded, "Pork Rinds are healthy. Besides, I only started eating them with the colored gal here. She's my friend" I shot back with my usual dry humor, "Ethel what color is she"? Ethel yelled, "You know what color she is, she's your color!" I did not want to upset her so I asked if I could also explain the situation to her friend. Ethel told me her friend died six months ago from a stroke. I realized at that point Ethel was not exactly "connecting the dots."

Ethel's lack of understanding is justifiable. She has a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a limited amount of education. Anyone in the 21st century who refers to another grown woman as a "colored gal" is not obviously receptive to change. Furthermore, pork rinds are advertised as low carbohydrate food and we all know low carbohydrate food equals healthy food, right? Now, I would like to discuss some other lies we tell:

1. Size does not matter.

Let me explain my position. You should feel good about yourself no matter how much you weigh. I have no problem if you want to wear a bikini on the beach and weigh 400 pounds. This is not a matter of your self-esteem; it is a matter of your health. If you have a BMI (body mass index) greater than 25, you are at risk of developing type II diabetes. If you already have type II diabetes, losing 5% to 7% of your body weight (10 to 14 pounds if you weigh 200 pounds) can improve your blood sugar. You do not have to look like Kate Moss to control your diabetes.

2. Only people who go to the gym get proper exercise.

The National Weight Control Registry is an organization that monitors individuals who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept the weight off longer than one year. The average weight loss of the participants is 66 pounds and the average time of maintaining their weight is five years. According to the registry, walking is the number one exercise. Most of the participants walk daily. You can start slowly by walking for 10 minutes several times a day. You can also burn calories by cleaning your house, gardening or washing your car. You can even exercise in your chair. Just move!

3. Eating at restaurants is cheaper than cooking.

Eating at McDonald's or the nearest buffet may be more convenient than cooking at home but it is definitely not cheaper. In addition, processed food is not cheaper than whole food. You can make more chips from a bag of potatoes as opposed to buying a bag of potato chips; however I would not recommend it. The old credo "time is money" does not apply either. Think of how much time and money are wasted with extra doctor visits or medications because you did not take control of your health. Plus, think of time lost because you die earlier than you intended.



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The main idea of the Atkins diet is to improve one's eating habits. It is focused on having a balanced intake of proteins and carbohydrates. In reality, this is not what's happening to most people. Most are going for the much easier to prepare processed foods which contains high content of sugar and carbohydrates. With this, high rates of people with diabetes and related conditions occur nowadays. This is regardless of diabetes having worsened in stages and can be easily identified.

How does diabetes develop? One factor is the glycemic index which is the index of carbohydrates taken in and produces reactions to create insulin. Carbohydrates with high glycemic index will release a lot of insulin. Refined sugar is an example of food that has high glycemic index.

Children digest high carb foods easily because young bodies have a more active metabolism than adults. This is the reason why weight gain and mood swings are doubtful during our younger years. But as we age, effects are getting more visible. One clear example of this is the high percentage of adults being obese as they reach their middle age.

Obesity is caused by insulin resistance. People experiencing this are not able to utilize their insulin for proper exclusion of glucose from the bloodstream. This also injures the pancreas where a lot of insulin is released. This causes the blood sugar level to decrease.

Prolonged intake of foods high in carbohydrate will cause diabetes. Fat is created by the insulin produced in the body, once weight boosts up; it leads to late onset diabetes. Diagnosis can detect a pre-diabetic condition. It must be taken care of right away or it might lead to an irrecoverable diabetic state.

It is easy to diagnose diabetes. Insulin test can be done to detect this disease. If confirmed, the patient is then given a low carb diet like the Atkins diet. This diet helps manage the blood sugar.

The Atkins diet is consisting of important carbohydrates with fats and proteins. These keeps the body feels satisfied and full to prevent cravings for food. Thus, helps the pancreas to function well and avoid further problems that will be caused by diabetes. Atkins diet helps keep the blood sugar level at a desirable rate which keeps you away from a dangerous disease like diabetes.

See the only Master Cleanse diet used by Hollywood Celebrities such as Beyonce to lose 20 Pounds!



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Diabetes medications are necessary for chronic illnesses like diabetes but many seniors have to stop taking them when they go beyond their drug plan's annual spending limits. The drug spending caps made some seniors stop taking key medicines. This finding has been reported by a Rand Corporation research.

This study which observed how seniors registered with a national private health plan reacted, gives insight into what responses seniors have under the Medicare's new drug plan. This will leave about a third of those registered without coverage for diabetes medications for some part of the year when the quota is reached.

Geoffrey Joyce, Rand's lead author of this study, said that prescription use falls considerably when the patients reach their limit. So this is troubling because most of the drugs studied by Rand, a nonprofit research organization, prevent complications. Therefore there will be unfavorable health effects for seniors who reach their limit.

This research examined the use of prescription drug from 2003 to 2005 of more than 60,000 patients enrolled in the plan for retirees. The prescription drug examined included diabetes medications. There were two plans offered with a drug benefit limit of $1000 or $2500 and another with no limit.

For each plan the enrollee had to pay part of each drug purchase. Of those enrolled, the study found about 6% to 13% reached their limit in each of the years. Half of these went without benefits for more than three months. The trouble is that when the benefits resume at the beginning of a new plan year, a considerable number of seniors do not restart their treatment including the use of diabetes medications.

These findings were reported in the September/October issue of the journal "Health Affairs". Dana Goldman, the director of health economics at Rand and this study's senior author, said that this is worrying for although drug limits are a cost-saving measure, the results of the study show that in the long run this may result in more medical costs due to more hospital admissions.

Medicare Benefits are of two parts: Parts A and B, It is highly recommended for diabetics to get Medicare Part B. However, neither covers diabetes pills. Medicare Part C is not available everywhere and it covers almost the same as what Parts A and B cover. Yet one is required to get Parts A and B before qualifying. It was good that by January 1, 2006, it is no longer available in its old form.

By December 2003, the Medicare Modernization Act was passed. This allowed people on Medicare to enroll in Medicare-Approved Drug Discount card which allowed them to save money until the Part D prescription drug benefit began in January 2006.

It is hoped that the policy makers will take this into consideration. Coverage for preventive care like how to prevent diabetes is key and in 2005 Medicare started offering screening test. This way people can work on reversing diabetes through lifestyle changes. Hopefully then they may not have any need for diabetes medications.



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The types of diabetes that most people know of are type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Today, we are going to look into another "not so popular" but a common type of diabetes for pregnant mothers - gestational diabetes. Apart from explaining briefly what gestational diabetes is all about, we are going to dive into gestational diabetes symptoms as well.

Gestational Diabetes Overview

It occurs when a pregnant mother's body forms insulin resistance due to the higher production rate of hormones like estrogen and cortisol. Under a normal situation, the amount of insulin produced by a pregnant mother will be much higher than a normal person in order to counter the resistance.

In the case of a gestational diabetes, the amount of insulin produced by the mother is not enough to combat the overwhelming hormone production. Pregnant mothers have a high risk of contracting the disease during the 19th to 24th week of pregnancy. Gestational diabetes is manageable through various glucose levels monitoring.

For the baby, however, something called macrosomia will develop. The baby will have a larger size compared to others due to the high glucose level that prompts the fetus to produce its own insulin that turns the excess glucose into fat. Hypoglycemia is also very likely to happen to the baby but all these are manageable if gestational diabetes symptoms are spotted early on.

Gestational Diabetes Symptoms

The symptoms faced by these mothers are usually same as those face by a diabetes patient. Some of the common symptoms include frequent urination, fatigue, extreme weight loss even with nutritional menu, vision problems and nausea. However, since this type of diabetes is not as serious as type 1 and type 2, the symptoms are not as significant and patients might not even have any symptoms.

Spotting the Symptoms of Gestational Diabetes

Since the symptoms may be vague, doctors will have to depend on the accuracy of blood glucose tests. These tests are normally carried out in the 23rd to 26th week during pregnancy. If the results are positive, doctors will put the mother under monitoring and will do their best to lower the glucose level.

Some women have a very low risk of contracting the disease. Women who are younger than 25 years old, have a normal weight prior to pregnancy, with no genetic traits of diabetes and no history of excessive glucose levels are normally free from the clutches of the disease and glucose level tests are not required.



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Human health and Mechanical life:

By years rolling on, it is getting mechanized in all walks of life. This is due to the vast development of latest technologies in various areas influencing human life. In one angle, the enhancement of technical support makes human life lazier as well as easier. Naturally the love for sophisticated life is increasing proportionally everyday with everybody. In another angle, sophisticated life style is the worst machinery resulting in several bodily diseases. Among them, Blood pressure and blood sugar are significantly serious ones. The main reason is want of sufficient knowledge about the actual nature of diabetes and controlling blood sugar.

What is normal blood sugar level?

It is simply beating the same track repeatedly to mention that it is 70 - 100 as fasting blood sugar level and 100 - 140 mgms as random. But anyhow it is not exclusive since there are some factors influencing normal blood sugar.

Tips to diabetics with high blood sugar:

Diabetes can be overcome by following tips for controlling blood sugar.

1. Consulting a physician and taking medicines to reduce blood sugar
2. Planning and fixing the life style and taking balanced diet.
3. Self study and avoiding unnecessary fear.
4. Observing other diabetic patients and getting clues
5. Saying good bye to mechanized way of life
6. Physical exercise to boost up the heart function
7. Awareness of the problem and avoiding unnecessary fears and imaginations
8. Blood sugar level should be compared with age
9. Know that sugar level depends on dosage and quality of tablets taken
10. Know that sugar level in random test depends on the time passed after taking food, quantity and quality of food


Success rate to maintain normal sugar levels:

If a diabetic patient is simply to depend on medical care alone, the level of success rate to maintain normal blood sugar levels is not so appreciable. If the patient plans well his ways, it helps to fix the cause and effect in which the success rate to maintain normal fasting blood sugar level as well as random blood sugar level is a little higher. If he takes efforts to study his health condition by introspection with reference to each and every action taken by him and the consequences, it helps more to maintain his own health against diabetes. Along with these, close observation and sharing of experiences regarding the diabetic problems of others also gives him confidence that he is better than others.

Psychological support to reduce high blood sugar level:

Psychologically one should think to feel better than others. Unnecessary fears created by medical warnings like "Diabetes cannot be cured totally but can be maintained only", " You cannot overcome the hereditary effects of diabetes from parents", " Diabetes follows and has its end until the last day of life", "Diabetes is a silent killer", "Periodical test should be taken at least once in three months". It is true to certain extent only and not to worry much. There are diabetics who have overcome its intensity and maintain normal health even without paying for consultants and medicines but simply by following the tips in guiding how to maintain normal blood sugar levels sticking to the restricted and balanced food habits.



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The word "diabetes" from Greek means "outflow"; so actually it means "out flowing of glucose" or "losing glucose" which shows that one of the basic symptoms of the disease is the loss of glucose with urine.

The history of diabetes goes back to 100 BS when it was first defined as the separate disease. In 100 BS a physician Aretains said that diabetes is a mysterious disease. These words are fair nowadays because the cause of the disease and its complications are still not explained. It is also still unclear how to treat the disease - the symptoms can be removed or eliminated but not the disease itself.

In XVII Tomas Willis was the first to find out the sweet taste of urine of patients with diabetes. His discovery was used by physicians to make a diagnosis. In 1889 Paul Langergans in his research work with microscopical structure of pancreatic gland saw the group of morphologically same cells called 'islets of Langergans' but he wasn't able to explain their function and significance in the human body.

Mering and Mincovsky in 1889 in their experiments caused the developing of diabetes in animals by resecting pancreatic gland.

In 1921, Banty and Best extracted insulin from pancreatic tissues. This substance stopped the symptoms in diabetic dogs. Since then insulin has been the main cure of the disease.

In 1922 insulin was used to treat a man with diabetes.

In 1960 the chemical structure of human insulin was determined.

And in 1979 the human insulin was created using the method if genetic engineering.



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Shopping on a budget is never easy, but it can be more challenging if you are a diabetic. With the cost of living always going up, the importance of shopping wisely increases too. In order to keep costs down it is imperative that you know what you can eat and what substitutes you can use so that you can look around for the best bargains while maintaining a healthy eating regime that you can enjoy.

Although frozen and tinned vegetables can help as you can keep them the food larder and use them as additions and top ups to your food, the most important thing is to plan your meals. This way you can decide exactly what foods you need for your meals and shop accordingly. If you have a garden or access to a vegetable plot, now might be a good time to grow your own vegetables. This will help with your exercise needs as well as ensuring you have a cheap but nutritious supply of healthy vegetables when ever you need them. Careful planning can ensure a reasonable all year supply of different aspects of the food chain, especially if you have access to a greenhouse or conservatory.

Foods containing carbohydrates such as potatoes and bread, are the most recommended foods for Type II diabetes. It may mean changing your lifestyle but the benefits can be huge. If you plan carefully, you can follow a fairly regular diet that few of your friends would realize was a diabetic diet. In fact, a diabetic diet is a well balanced and healthy diet with all the main food groups and nutrients included. It is eating in moderation rather than in gluttony and coupled with exercise is one that many of our friends may well want to copy.

Eating The Right Foods Can Preserve Your Life

When the disease is first diagnosed, it can be a shock and the apparent end of "normal" life. However, it can also be used to start a healthy lifestyle and begin enjoying life to the full. Many people with diabetes will have been feeling unwell and as soon as they start to follow a healthier diet, much of this will change.

It is often a good idea to consult a dietician, who will offer suggestions and support to explain the kinds of foods you should be eating and the ones to reduce or avoid. This will help to relieve the initial emotional strain and stress of the diagnosis. It will also serve as a template for future eating habits. It is really important to follow such a diet as it will help to regulate your body's functions and enable it to maintain a more stable blood sugar level which is essential. You will probably find you are eating more raw fruit and vegetables, which are low in fat as well as salt, and supply sugar in its more natural state which is easier for the body to process.

There is also a buddy system available which many find extremely helpful. This is especially so for those who are living on their own. It is really important to view this situation as the chance to start to live and enjoy a healthier lifestyle, a springboard to a new and better future.


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