All About Diabetes

Regular exercise has been proven to improve blood sugar, blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels besides playing a role in enhancing weight loss and sense of well-being. Regular physical activity may even prevent type 2 diabetes in people at high risk (e.g., those with glucose intolerance, family history of diabetes, hypertension, abnormal blood cholesterol, sedentary lifestyle, excess body fat, polycystic ovary syndrome, gestational diabetes, history of giving birth to large babies, etc.). Read more… »

An appeal to provide substantial evidence that dogs could reliably sniff out changes in their owner’s diabetic state is now being spread out by researchers at the Queen’s University. Dr. Deborah Wells from the School of Psychology at Queen’s University and Dr. Shaun Lawson from the University of Lincoln are looking for 100 type 1 diabetics that would answer an online survey. They are also requesting for video footages of dogs reacting to the “hypos” or low blood sugar levels of their owners. Read more… »

A seven-month trial conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, said that parents, more than their type 1 diabetic children, have a hard time recognizing warming signs of hypoglycemia or extremely low blood sugar levels.

Researchers found that parents missed their children’s moderate hypoglycemia 54% of the time, while children missed 41% of these episodes.

In the study, the researchers asked 61 children, aged 6 to 11, and their parents to rate hypoglycemia symtoms, estimate the child’s blood sugar level, and measure it using a survey programmed on a personal digital assistant. Study participants completed 70 of these tests over a month, then reported cases of severe hypoglycemia for the next six months. Read more… »

Do you regularly have headaches? Does your heart race? Are you irritable before meals? Do you feel confused or unable to make a decision? Are you constantly hungry? Are you always tired? Like Hollywood celebrities Burt Reynolds and Merv Griffin, you may be suffering from hypoglycemia, popularly known as “low blood sugar.” Read more… »

Maricel lifts weights three times a week. Teresa runs five kilometers every day. Vicky plays tennis as often
as she can. All three women have recently gotten pregnant and would like to continue to exercise but they are concerned that it might hurt their baby. The good news is that experts like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) now agree that moderate exercise can be safe for both the baby and the mother-to-be provided it is a healthy, normal pregnancy. Read more… »

How can the elderly keep from having low blood sugars at night?

Hypoglycemia, defined variably as blood sugar <60 mg/dL, is one of the dreaded complications of diabetes management. It usually hinders the achievement of a satisfactory glucose control level because of the fear of developing symptoms of hypoglycemia – palpitations, excessive sweating, tremors, and disorientation. These “warning signs” are triggered by counter-regulatory hormones, like adrenalin, which are defense mechanisms of our body to increase sugar levels back to normal. Read more… »