All About Diabetes

Having diabetes alone can sometimes amp one’s stress and anxiety meter due to insulin shots here and there, often striking at any given time and place. Adding to the anxiety is the instance when one has to undergo a surgical procedure. To clear your blurry head of questions like “How long will it take for my wound to heal?” and “Will I be able to balance my blood sugar during operation?”, here are some pointers: Read more… »

If diabetes were a gender issue, then women should fight for gender equality. Why? Because women are at a losing end when it comes to diabetes and its many complications compared to men. For one, diabetes causes more complications in women than in men, some of which are unique to women. Being diabetic makes a woman prone to complications in pregnancy, reproduction, and the heart. Uncontrolled blood sugars in diabetic women may also cause increased yeast infections, bladder infections, vaginal dryness, and inability to reach orgasm during sexual intercourse. Read more… »

Results of a 20-year study confirm that tight blood sugar control reduces the risk of heart disease by more than half among people with type 1 diabetes. The study called the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that those who used aggressive methods to control blood sugar level had a 58 percent lower risk of a serious event like heart attack, stroke or death from cardiovascular disease, and a 42 percent reduced risk of developing cardiovascular disease events. Read more… »

Diabetes mellitus is an increasingly common systemic disorder that may present with an assortment of accompanying skin problems. These skin manifestations may directly result from blood sugar abnormalities, or may be complications of various disorders such as kidney failure, microangiopathies and nerve damage. Physical changes in the skin of diabetic patients can vary from the mundane, such as skin dryness, to serious and lifethreatening, such as chronic ulcers or skin infections. Read more… »

For Antonio and Aurora Retizos, their affair with diabetes started about two decades ago. From then on, the couple, both 69 years old and both type 2 diabetics, have been constantly watching each other’s health to avoid the unwanted complications of the disease. Both Daddy Tony and Mommy Au, as they are fondly called by their grandsons and even by the other members of their household, attribute their diabetes to genes. Mommy Au’s father had diabetes and Daddy Tony’s mother had it too. Now that both of them have diabetes, they are aft-aid that other members of their family might get it also. That is why healthful living – healthy food and an active lifestyle – is a mantra that is being followed in the Retizos’ household. Read more… »

Hong Kong scientists have invented a device that measures blood sugar painlessly and, for the first time, without pricking fingers. The device, about the size of a mobile phone emits a very weak form of infrared or nearinfrared beam which touches the skin and homes in on the bloodstream. The beam is said to be able to identify bits of glucose through the frequency or wavelength they transmit, and the amount of blood sugar present would then be displayed on the instrument within seconds. Read more… »

I’m a 55-year-old male with diabetes. My blood sugars are okay but my triglycerides are high (340 mg/d.L). Is this a bad thing, and if so, what can I do about it? Read more… »

If diabetes is billiards, Rudy Lipata, 54, would win the game over and over again. Rudy, a billiards aficionado has had type 2 diabetes for 14 years now. Billiards for him has been a form of exercise that he says helps him control his diabetes. As in billiards, where players use their skill in “placing” – either hitting the ball so that it’s in the right place for their next move or making their opponents miss the ball for their turn, Rudy thinks of regular exercise as a “placing” method when it comes to diabetes. Read more… »

Management of diabetes is different for everyone most especially for the elderly. However, being old is not an excuse to not participate actively in taking control of your diabetes. The Joslin Diabetes Center in the United States estimates that one out of every five people over the age of 60 has diabetes. The elderly are also more prone to complications of the disease. To avoid complications and to live your life fully even with diabetes, we offer tips on how to keep track of and control diabetes, even at the prime of your life. Read more… »

“My head feels light and I seem to be floating, as if the world is spinning round and round…” These are not the lines of a teenage love song. These are the words of somebody having a dizzy spell.And these words are echoed everyday in doctors’ clinics, oftentimes by the elderly and those with diabetes and hypertension. One out of every three persons above the age of 65 will complain of dizziness at some point. Just how important a symptom is dizziness? How is it different from vertigo? How can blood sugar and blood pressure derangements affect one’s sense of balance? The questions are endless and our ever-anxious patients need to be enlightened on the whys and the hows of dizziness. Read more… »