Early Symptoms of Diabetes

Author: Type Free Diabetes

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When glucose begins to accumulate in our blood stream a series of symptoms of diabetes will be manifested. While these symptoms of diabetes may not conclusively proof diabetes, the presence of any of the symptoms of diabetes should logically lead you to do a blood glucose test.

The instant we hear that someone in our family has diabetes we begin to worry and with sound reasons too after all, diabetes is very hereditary. This blog gives you a clear bird's eye view of the symptoms of diabetes.

Essentially there are three types of diabetes – (1) Pre-diabetic stage (2) Diabetes Type 2 and Diabetes Type 1

You are Pre-diabetic if your blood sugar is a bit higher than normal and Blood glucose tests reveal that it happens on several occasions. Diabetes Type 2 is the next stage i.e. your blood glucose is habitually higher than normal either due to impaired insulin production or inability of your blood cells to utilize insulin. Diabetes Type 1 is when your body does not produce insulin leading to accumulation of glucose in your blood.

So is blood sugar testing the only means to find out if we are diabetic or not? Fortunately no, so let's take a look at the symptoms of diabetes beginning with Pre-diabetic and diabetes type 2. I have combined these two because the symptoms of diabetes for both stages are the same. The classification of Pre or Type 2 depends on the severity and state of your Pancreas.

Symptoms of Pre-diabetic and Diabetes Type 2:

Symptom of diabetes 1: Fatigue

Have you been feeling increasingly fatigued lately? Here's what happens; normally your body metabolizes glucose and converts it to energy which in turn powers up your activity. If you body cannot metabolize glucose then fat is metabolized into energy. This alternate method however is not efficient and the body goes in negative calorie effect, which results in fatigue.

Symptom of diabetes 2: Thirst

As the concentration of blood sugar increases, the brain triggers a thirst signal in an effort to get you to drink water and dilute the excess sugar in the blood. If you were drinking an average three glasses of water a day and now instead you have been drinking 5 or more glasses than you should seriously consider a blood glucose test.

Symptom of diabetes 3: Excess urination

Tied in with symptom 2 of diabetes is increase in the number of times you need to urinate. Excess intake of water results in excess urination. At this stage the urine essentially is secreting the excess sugar. It tends to be dark yellow.

Symptom of diabetes 4: Excessive hunger

In an all out effort to control the sugar level, your Pancreases will increase the production of insulin. Insulin however, apart from breaking down glucose in the blood also triggers sensation of hunger.
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TypeFreeDiabetes.com is the premier source for your diabetic needs on-line. At TypeFreeDiabetes.com, you can enjoy a balanced diabetic lifestyle by learning about - how to control blood sugar, lower body fat, diet to prevent diabetes, reduce diabetes medications and reverse diabetes complications.

Check out also for : Type 2 diabetes information blog and Type 2 diabetes and hypertension
   

Working Hard To Prevent Diabetes

By Dr. Ashraf Hanafy Mahmoud Mohammed  

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Although diabetes is a very common disease, it is actually preventable in most people. Even if you're genetically predisposed diabetes, living a healthy lifestyle should help you to avoid contracting it. Generally, as long as you haven't contracted childhood diabetes, you should be able to avoid adult onset diabetes, but it does take some hard work.
With a fast food restaurant on every corner and a new box of cheap treats on the grocery store shelves every week, it takes a lot of willpower and control to not gain weight. On top of that, most of us live busier lifestyles that really leave no time for exercising. But if you want to avoid diabetes, you have to make time to exercise properly, and you have to eat healthy items. Put down that garbage and eat healthier food, and make sure you're always staying active.
The more physically active you are, the better your body is able to metabolize sugars. Physical activity will increase your body's ability to make its own insulin, and this is going to help you keep balanced levels of blood glucose. You don't have to start training to become Mr. Universe; you just have to remain active and exercise regularly. You'll look better, feel better, and you can avoid contracting diabetes.
If you're at an annual checkup and your doctor notices that your blood sugar is too high, you may be prescribed some type of medicine to help you level out. This type of medicine is essentially helping your body produce insulin, while still allowing your body to promote its own natural insulin. And you should also be aware that some medications you take, like steroids, can increase your blood glucose levels.
If you're genetically predisposed to contracting diabetes, this is something you should find out about. Talk to different members of your family to find out if diabetes runs along the tree. If it does, this means your body is more likely to stop producing its own insulin. It doesn't mean you're guaranteed to contract diabetes; it just means you'll have to work a little harder in order not to. Stay away from the treats and exercise more.
The average person is always dealing with minor ailments. Over time, however, things you think are minor could end up being major. This goes beyond only diabetes; you should be visiting your doctor at least once a year to see if there's anything you need to be aware of or alarmed about. Having yearly checkups may just save your life.
No matter if you're trying to stop smoking, lose weight, or to get in better shape, having a buddy alongside you for the ride just makes it a lot easier. Going to the gym with someone and eating healthy food with someone else makes the process easier. You don't have to do things by yourself. Find someone to go out on the journey with you.
Diabetes is usually preventable, especially if you're serious about staying in great shape. You may still end up unlucky here, but it's always better to stay in great shape.

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Diabetes Prevention: 5 Important Tips

By: tpalmer

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The home care professionals at Always Best Care in Chapel Hill, who provide senior care to many elderly individuals in Chapel Hill, Orange County, Carrboro, Hope Valley, and Southpoint, know that diabetes is a dangerous condition that may be prevented. The Mayo Clinic has released a list of five tips to keep your health in top shape and prevent diabetes. Although diabetes may still develop, despite prevention efforts, taking measures to avoid the condition can lead to improved health and, in many cases, can thwart the disease before it occurs.

1. Exercise more regularly. The combination of aerobic and resistance training can help control and prevent the development of diabetes. Through this exercise, you may experience weight loss, a drop in blood sugar, and an increase in the sensitivity of your body's cells to insulin. This sensitivity allows your body to maintain a healthy blood sugar level.

2. Eat more fiber. Incorporate more fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, whole grains, beans, and other fiber-rich ingredients into your meal plan. Doing so can help control your blood sugar, decrease your chances of developing heart disease, and help with weight loss.

3. Opt for whole grain foods. High in fiber, whole grains can help prevent diabetes and sustain healthy blood sugar levels. While the Mayo Clinic does note that it is unclear why whole grains help, they are easy to incorporate into your diet in the form of pasta, bread, and cereal.

4. Lose any extra weight. Carrying extra weight can put you at risk for many health issues, diabetes being one of them. The Mayo Clinic reports that people have experienced significant reductions in their risk for diabetes by losing a relatively little amount of weight, citing a study that showed a 16 percent risk reduction for every 2.2 pounds lost.

5. Ignore diet trends and make healthy choices. Although trendy diet plans may work in the short term, they may not necessarily contribute to diabetes prevention. Stick to a well-rounded, healthy meal plan that focuses on portion control.

At Always Best Care in Chapel Hill (www.alwaysbestcarechapelhill-durham.com), we understand that diabetes is a major concern for many people. Through our senior care services, we work with individuals who are trying to manage the disease and prevent diabetes from developing. By following these five tips from the Mayo Clinic, you can also work to keep this condition at bay.

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About the Author:
Since 1996, Always Best Care has helped families with non-medical in-home care, assisted living placement services and skilled home health care.

Type 2 Diabetes - Vitamin D And The Metabolic Syndrome

 By Beverleigh H Piepers 

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Vitamin D deficiency has been demonstrated in people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. In December 2011, the journal Clinical Investigative Medicine reported on a study of the metabolic syndrome and vitamin D in Canadians.
A total of 1818 volunteers from the Canadian Health Measures Survey from 2007 to 2009 were included in the study. It was found that 8.9 per cent of these volunteers had the metabolic syndrome. The ones with the highest levels of vitamin D had half the risk of developing the metabolic syndrome, as those with the lowest levels.
Insulin resistance was also correlated with low vitamin D levels. The researchers concluded low vitamin D levels were correlated with metabolic syndrome and linked to increased levels of insulin resistance.
Your doctor can order a test to check your vitamin D level. The optimal range in the body today is 60 to 90 ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter) or as expressed by some labs, 25 to 200 nmol/L (nanomoles per liter). In fact, vitamin D may be all some people with mild Type 2 diabetes need to take.
Vitamin D is also important for bone growth and repair because it aids in the use of calcium. Rickets is a disease seldom seen today in developed countries, but it was once caused by severe vitamin D deficiency. It has been suggested that Dickens' tiny Tim might have suffered vitamin D deficiency.
Today vitamin D is necessary for growth in children and for preventing osteoporosis in adults. Low levels of vitamin D have also been associated with certain types of:

• cancer,
• brain impairment in older adults,
• increased risk of heart disease,
• asthma in children,
• high blood pressure, and
• multiple sclerosis.

Bone pain and muscle weakness can be indications of vitamin D deficiency.
One of the ways people get vitamin D is by allowing skin to manufacture it when it is exposed to sunlight. Getting enough vitamin D can be a problem for people who live in northerly countries such as Canada, because not enough sunlight reaches land less than 35 degrees from the North Pole. The same goes for those living less than 35 degrees from the South Pole.
Lack of sun exposure due to:

• being homebound,
• working during daylight hours,
• wearing clothes that cover all the body's skin, or
• having extremely dark skin that blocks the sun's rays

can also cause vitamin D deficiency.
Fortunately, vitamin D is also available in some foods and supplements. Osteoporosis Canada recommends daily supplements of:

• 400 to 1000 International Units (IU) of vitamin D for Canadians under 50 years of age without osteoporosis, and
• 800 to 2000 IU for those over 50.

Vegan diets are the best kind for avoiding and treating Type 2 diabetes, and food sources of vitamin D should fit into a vegan dietary plan. Soymilk, rice milk, and orange juice are often fortified with vitamin D. One cup of Silk Light soy milk contains about 30 per cent of the recommended daily vitamin D allowance. Check the labels for the vitamin D content of other brands of soymilk, rice milk and orange juice.
Eat healthy, and don't forget the vitamin D.

To discover answers to questions you may be asking yourself about Type 2 Diabetes, click on this link... Natural Diabetes Treatments
Clicking on this link will help you to learn more about Type 2 Diabetes Solutions... Beverleigh Piepers RN... the Diabetes Detective.
Beverleigh Piepers is the author of this article. This article can be used for reprint on your website provided all the links in the article are complete and active. Copyright (c) 2011 - All Rights Reserved Worldwide

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Type 2 Diabetes - Vitamin D in Obese Adolescents

By Beverleigh H Piepers  

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According to a growing body of evidence, a vitamin D deficiency is associated with insulin resistance, the cause of Type 2 diabetes, as well as full-blown Type 2 diabetes itself, and heart and blood vessel disease. Type 2 diabetes is a growing problem among overweight and obese adolescents in developed countries. In 2011 the journal Polish Endokrynology reported the results of a study on vitamin D in insulin resistance in obese young people.
Sixty-four obese adolescents were included in this study:

• half the participants were deficient in vitamin D, while
• 14 percent had a sufficient amount, and
• 36 percent had borderline values.

Levels of vitamin D were naturally higher during summer than winter months. Those with the:

• highest percentage of body fat,
• those with acanthosis nigricans, a discoloration of the armpits sometimes seen in diabetes, and
• the highest blood sugar levels,

had the lowest blood levels of vitamin D.
Vitamin D is made when the skin is exposed to sunlight. While obese adolescents might be shy about being seen in a swimsuit at the beach or public swimming pool, walking outside with one's face and arms exposed is a good way to get vitamin D in the spring, summer and fall.
Vitamin D is also available in foods and food supplements made from fungi:

• soymilk is often fortified with vitamin D. Check the labels for the amount of vitamin D listed. Soymilk can be used in most places as a substitute for dairy milk.
• cereals can also be fortified with vitamin D.

A cup of Cheerios or three quarters of a cup of Total cereal with a cup of Silk soymilk can supply 40 per cent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin D.
Try making a smoothie with soymilk and your favorite fruit:

• Silksoymilk.com recommends making a smoothie with soymilk, strawberries, banana, a sweetener of choice, and optional vanilla.

Allrecipes.com recommends making pancakes with soymilk, all-purpose flour (substitute whole wheat), sugar (substitute stevia), baking powder, baking soda, egg, (substitute vegan egg substitute), vegetable oil, vanilla, and almonds.
Mushrooms contain some vitamin D, and if you buy the kind that have been grown under ultraviolet light, you can get even more:

• Monterey Mushrooms advertises a 3 ounce serving of its mushrooms contains more than 100 per cent of the RDA of vitamin D.
• mushrooms are low in calories and delicious.

Try baking them with a drizzle of olive oil for a snack, or include them in a wrap with thin flat bread, along with baked sliced tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers. Or cut them up for a salad along with some kale, Romaine lettuce, chopped onions and grated carrots. Top off with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
There's more than one way to get your daily intake of vitamin D. Because of all the research that's been done in recent years, vitamin D is one of the most important nutrients you can take if you have Type 2 diabetes.

To discover answers to questions you may be asking yourself about Type 2 Diabetes, click on this link... Natural Diabetes Treatments
Clicking on this link will help you to learn more about Type 2 Diabetes Solutions... Beverleigh Piepers RN... the Diabetes Detective.
Beverleigh Piepers is the author of this article. This article can be used for reprint on your website provided all the links in the article are complete and active. Copyright (c) 2011 - All Rights Reserved Worldwide

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The Cause of Your Diabetes!

By DJ Solomon 

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Diabetes is a disease that is characterized by high levels of glucose, or sugar, in the blood. The increased amount sugar in the blood is a result of either defects in the production of insulin or the way in which insulin is used by the body.
Complications from diabetes can lead to dozens of other medical conditions, such as kidney failure, peripheral vascular disease, blindness, neuropathy, gum disease, or heart disease.
Type 1 diabetesis the result of a lack of insulin production because of the destruction of beta cells in the pancreas. These beta cells are responsible for the production of insulin that regulates blood glucose. Researchers have found that there is a combination of genetic and environmental factors that increase a person's risk for developing Type 1 diabetes.
There is limited knowledge of the exact cause of Type 1 diabetes but researchers do know that the body attacks the beta cells in the pancreas because of a mistake made by the immune system.
It is theorized that Type 1 diabetes is caused when an environmental toxin or pathogen triggers the immune system to attack itself. Also, you may be at risk for Type 1 diabetes if you suffer from other hormonal problems such as hypothyroidism or Hashimoto's or Addison's disease.
Type 1 diabetes can happen at any age but most often happens in children and young adults. This type of diabetes requires artificial insulin injections. This is why Type 1 diabetes is often called insulin-dependent diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is also called non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or adult onset diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is caused when the body still produces enough insulin but the body has become resistant to the effects of the hormone. This type of diabetes usually develops in middle age and in overweight/obese individuals. It is most common in people who are older, obese, have a family history of diabetes or have had gestational diabetes.
There are specific risk factors that place people in a higher risk category for developing Type 2 diabetes. These risk factors include sedentary lifestyle, stress, infection, hereditary or inherited traits, age, poor diet high in carbohydrates and processed foods, obesity, hypertension and high triglyceride and cholesterol levels.
The main causes contributing to developing Type 2 diabetes are high carbohydrate diets and the sedentary "coach potato" lifestyle, which often leads to inflammation and obesity. Inflammation and obesity which are linked to increased insulin resistance in the body and a poor functioning immune system.
The third type of diabetes which affects the glucose system is gestational diabetes. This is a diabetic situation that occurs in an individual who is pregnant and is believed to be caused by hormonal changes in weight gain.
When found early on in the pregnancy it is easily treated so that it does not affect the growth and development of the infant. Most women who develop gestational diabetes find that the condition disappears after the delivery of the baby. However, having gestational diabetes puts a woman at greater risk for developing Type 2 diabetes later in life.
Women that develop gestational diabetes can often have larger than normal babies. We're talking 10 pounders here! Also, babies born to women with gestational diabetes tend to have low blood sugar levels after birth (hypoglycemia).
Researchers and scientists continue to search for the exact causing factors of diabetes. The only reasonable treatment options available for individuals at this time are diet, exercise and medications.
Controlling your blood sugar levels is the most important aspect of diabetes management and care. The better controlled your blood sugar levels are the lower your chances of developing diabetic complications are.

If you are seriously ready to eliminate the worry of diabetic complications then Click Here
Daniel Solomon is a registered dietitian and expert in diabetes nutrition and diabetes management who has help thousands of diabetics lose weight, gain control of their blood sugar and the life.

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Vitamin D Can Help Shield You From Diabetes

 By: catherinfernates

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Another health breakthrough to report in the vast arena of breakthroughs that surrounds vitamin D. The "sunshine vitamin." A new study has found that not getting enough vitamin D can put you at greater risk for one of the biggest health problems of modern times: type 2 diabetes.

This study occurred in children, but the results can be extrapolated for everyone. Looking at obese and non-obese children, researchers found that low vitamin-D levels were significantly more prevalent in obese children. And that they were associated with risk factors for type 2 diabetes. The study appeared in the "Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism."

RECOMMENDED This Vitamin Could Beat the Flu

High rates of vitamin-D deficiency have been found in obese populations and past studies have linked low vitamin-D levels to cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Those three health conditions -- obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease -- are certifiably linked.

How obesity and diabetes is related to vitamin-D deficiency is not fully understood. This new study examined associations between vitamin-D levels and dietary habits in obese children. They tested whether there were links between levels of the sunshine vitamin and abnormal blood sugar levels and/or blood pressure levels.

In the study, obese children with lower vitamin-D levels had the highest degree of insulin resistance. This is the hallmark of diabetes, meaning the body has an impaired ability to move glucose from the blood into cells where it is used as energy. The study couldn't figure out why this is the case, but did suggest that low vitamin-D levels play some kind of role in the development of type 2 diabetes.

Here's what happened: they measured vitamin-D levels, blood sugar levels, insulin, body mass index, and blood pressure in 411 obese subjects and 87 control non-overweight subjects. Study participants were asked to provide dietary information, including daily intake of soda,
juice and milk, average daily fruit and vegetable intake, and whether or not they routinely skipped breakfast.

Sure enough, they found that habits like skipping breakfast and drinking sugary soda and juice were linked with lower vitamin-D levels among the obese kids.

Vitamin D is simply critical. If you can't spend 15 minutes of time in direct sunlight (without using sunscreen) each day, it is a very good idea to take a vitamin-D supplement
in the range of 1,000 IU.Visit for more information.:-http://www.doctorshealthpress.com/

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About the Author:
Vitamin D is simply critical. If you can't spend 15 minutes of time in direct sunlight (without using sunscreen) each day, it is a very good idea to take a vitamin-D supplement
in the range of 1,000 IU.Visit for more information.:-http://www.doctorshealthpress.com/