Diabetes Information and Treatment Guide

Gestational diabetes (GD) simply means elevated blood sugar during pregnancy. To understand it, you must first understand the normal changes in pregnancy metabolism (34). When you are pregnant, certain hormones make your insulin less effective at transporting glucose, the body’s fuel, out of your bloodstream into your cells. This increases the amount of circulating glucose, making it available to your baby for growth and development. This “insulin resistance” increases as pregnancy advances. As a result, your blood glucose levels after eating rise linearly throughout pregnancy. By the third trimester, you will tend to have higher blood glucose levels after eating than nonpregnant women (hyperglycemia), despite secreting normal and above normal amounts of insulin. During overnight sleep, the excess insulin has a chance to mop up, which causes morning glucose levels to be lower on average than in nonpregnant women (hypoglycemia). Read the rest of this entry →

Persons who cannot walk, jog or swim due to lack of desire (or unfavourable weather), persons who cannot undertake physical exercise because of a possibility of harming the kidneys or the heart and women who cannot spare special time for outdoor exercise can easily and safely obtain the benefits of exercise through yogasanas and pranayama. Even those persons who go for a walk or a swim in the morning can do yogasanas at some other time of the day when their stomachs are empty. Other forms of exercise and yoga can even be done on alternate days. Read the rest of this entry →

Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal. People with diabetes have problems using food for energy. After a meal, carbohydrates in food are broken down into a sugar called glucose, which is carried by the blood to cells throughout the body. Cells require insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas, to help use blood glucose for energy. Read the rest of this entry →

Most women with diabetes who become pregnant have Type 1 diabetes, because this is the type that affects younger women. However, increasing numbers of pregnant women with Type 2 diabetes are being seen.If you have diabetes and want to start a family, there are a number of things to consider. The key to a healthy pregnancy with diabetes is good blood sugar control before, during and after pregnancy. Read the rest of this entry →

Diabetic complications can be classified broadly as microvascular or macrovascular disease. Microvascular complications include neuropathy (nerve damage), nephropathy (kidney disease) and vision disorders (eg retinopathy, glaucoma, cataract and corneal disease). Macrovascular complications include heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease (which can lead to ulcers, gangrene and amputation). Other complications of diabetes include infections, metabolic difficulties, impotence, autonomic neuropathy and pregnancy problems. Read the rest of this entry →

What is diabetes?

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition caused by too much glucose in your blood. Your blood sugar level can be too high if your body doesn’t make enough of the hormone insulin. Insulin is produced by the pancreas (a gland behind the stomach) and moves glucose out of the blood and into cells, where it’s broken down to produce energy.
If diabetes is not treated, it can cause long-term health problems because the high glucose levels in the blood damage the blood vessels. Read the rest of this entry →

Type 1 diabetes is a completely different disease than Type 2. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease of the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. Scientists believe that it may be a virus that triggers the immune system to attack the cells and permanently destroy them. The pancreas can no longer make the insulin necessary to transport sugar from the blood into the other cells of the body for energy. Sugar builds up in the blood and over time can damage internal organs and blood vessels. Read the rest of this entry →

Diabetes is currently an incurable condition in which too much glucose (sugar) is present in the blood. Find out more about the different types and how it’s treated. Read the rest of this entry →

How is diabetes treated?

The major goal in treating diabetes is to minimize any elevation of blood sugar (glucose) without causing abnormally low levels of blood sugar. Type 1 diabetes is treated with insulin, exercise, and a diabetic diet. Type 2 diabetes is treated first with weight reduction, a diabetic diet, and exercise. When these measures fail to control the elevated blood sugars, oral medications are used. If oral medications are still insufficient, treatment with insulin is considered. Read the rest of this entry →

Diabetes has been around for centuries. There are presently sixteen millions diabetics in America, but eight million do not know that they have the disease. Today, diabetes is in third place as the cause of mortality, behind cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Herbs for Diabetes

One Chinese herb that shows promise in the treatment of diabetes in called mai men dong or ophiopogon. Research done in China has demonstrated that it can potentially stimulate regeneration of cells in the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. The cells in this part of the pancreas are responsible for the proper production of insulin, and therefore the proper processing of blood sugar in the body. Stimulating regeneration of these cells can potentially reverse diabetes in adult-onset diabetics.

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