Preventing Type 2 Diabetes

Bob Huber doesn’t dwell on the time, about 10 years ago, when he found out he was likely to get type 2 diabetes. At 5’ 11”, he weighed 216 pounds, rarely exercised and had little energy. “In a sitting position, I had a hard time taking a deep breath,” he recalls. Then, at a health fair in Washington, DC, he happened by a booth where he had a screening test for blood glucose. It came back high. More testing confirmed he had a condition called prediabetes. Prediabetes causes no symptoms, but it is still a serious condition. Many people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes within the next 10 years. People with prediabetes also have a 50% higher risk of having a heart attack and stroke than those who have normal blood glucose levels. Huber, along with more than 3,000 other adults with prediabetes, decided to volunteer for the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), an NIH-funded study taking place at 27 clinical centers around the country. The study found that overweight people with prediabetes can often prevent or delay diabetes by losing 5 to 7% of their body weight. They can do this through cutting fat and calories and increasing physical activity, such as walking 30 minutes a day 5 days a week. The modest weight loss from diet and increased physical activity lowered diabetes onset by nearly 60 percent in study participants. Treatment with metformin, an oral diabetes medication, lowered the risk of developing diabetes by 31 percent in the study. Lifestyle changes worked just as well for men and women and all ethnic groups. Nearly half the DPP participants were from minority groups who suffer disproportionately from type 2 diabetes: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In the study, people age 60 and older who made the lifestyle changes lowered their chances of developing diabetes by 71 percent. When these results were announced, they surpassed even researchers’ expectations. Study chair Dr. David Nathan of Massachusetts General Hospital said, “They came as close to qualifying for ‘the gold’ as any diabetes finding of the last decade.” Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Statistics just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 20.8 million people—7% of the population—have diabetes, and over 6 million of them don’t even know they have it. Another 41 million people have prediabetes. Bob Huber was 65 years old when he learned he had prediabetes. He’s 75 now and feels better than ever. After losing 20 pounds and keeping it off, he credits his energy to the healthy habits he learned as a DPP participant. But you don’t have to be a study participant to adopt these healthy habits. As Huber’s story shows, the power to control this condition is in your hands. Wise Choices Small Steps to Diabetes Prevention: Recent studies have proven that people at high risk for type 2 diabetes can often prevent or delay the onset of diabetes with 30 minutes of physical activity 5 days a week and by losing 5 to 7% of their body weight. In other words, you don’t have to knock yourself out to prevent diabetes. The key is: small steps lead to big rewards. Here are some tips that might help. EASY STEPS to increase activity: EAT RIGHT. Try some of these tips to get started: • Put away the TV remote control and get up to change the channel. • Try walking around the house while you talk on the phone. • Park the car farther away from stores, movie theaters or your office. • Get off the bus one stop early, if you are in a safe place to walk. • Visit museums, the zoo or an aquarium. These are great ways to be active with your family. • You don’t have to cut out the foods you love to eat. Just cut down on the amount you eat, and eat them less often. • Try to keep meat, poultry and fish servings down to three ounces - that’s about the size of a deck of cards. • Try to eat three sensible meals at regular times throughout the day. • Eat more fresh fruit, veggies, nuts and whole grains. • Limit fried foods. Baking and broiling are healthier ways to eat meat, chicken and fish. • When eating out, share large portions. Definitions Diabetes: A disease in which the body has problems producing or using insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy. In time, diabetes can lead to serious problems including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure and nerve damage. Glucose: A type of sugar. When the glucose level in your blood gets too high, it can damage your tissues and organs. Prediabetes: A condition in which your blood glucose level is higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. People with prediabetes are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes and for heart disease and stroke. Type 2 Diabetes : Formerly called adult-onset diabetes, this is the most common form of diabetes. People can develop it at any age. Being overweight and inactive increase the chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Statistics About Diabetes • About 20.8 million people in the United States have diabetes. • Type 2 diabetes, by far the most common form, is closely linked to obesity and is increasing in all age and ethnic groups in the United States. • Prediabetes, a condition that often leads to type 2 diabetes, affects 40% of Americans ages 40 to 74, or 41 million people. Web Sites National Diabetes Education Program: www.ndep.nih.gov National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse: www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/ focuson/flu

EARLY SIGNS OF DIABETES IN MEN

If you diagnose some of the early signs of diabetes in men, you can stop the disease from advancing. So what different diabetes symptoms do men experience? Let's find out... Also known as the silent killer, diabetes is one of the leading reasons for deaths in human beings all over the world. The weird thing about this disease is that men are more prone to diabetes than women. According to a recent statistical report more than 7 million men are suffering from diabetes in the US and most of them don't even know it. The only way to make sure that you can be safe from this killer is to detect its symptoms at an early stage and to understand the signs, you first have to understand how the body gets affected by this condition. Humans need glucose for energy and survival and glucose enters our body through the various foods we consume. These foods when consumed turn into sugar and are spread to all the various parts of the body. These sugar levels are controlled by the secretion of insulin in our body by the pancreas. When a man suffers from this condition his pancreas fail to produce enough insulin for the body and the end result is diabetes. Signs of Diabetes in Men One of the main causes of diabetes is poor health and lots of stress and tension. It's very surprising to see an increase in the number of diabetic men every year. If not taken proper care of, this deadly disease can result in grave danger and lead to many other health complications. So many dangers and yet men don't even realize that they suffer from diabetes until it is too late. So to make sure the situation doesn't get out of hand, here's a list of early signs of diabetes in men. • There's one symptom of diabetes which occurs only in men and it's called erectile dysfunction. This disorder slowly injures the blood vessels in and around the penis. This damage makes it impossible for a man to get an erection. • One of the most common signs of diabetes is frequent urination which is also known as polyuria. This is probably one of the most annoying symptoms that a diabetic patient has to face daily. It's caused by the rise of glucose levels in the body which hampers the kidney such that it cannot filter or absorb water properly. • Experiencing fatigue, stress and exhaustion on a daily basis is also a popular diabetic sign. As the pancreas are unable to break the sugars into glucose, the male always feels low on energy. • Feeling thirsty all the time is one of the foremost signs of diabetes in men. This is caused as high levels of glucose absorb the moisture content of the body. • This health ailment may cause problems with vision. Medical reports say that the high levels of glucose affect the lens of the eye. This disorder can also damage the rear blood vessels of the eye which often leads to permanent blindness. • If you feel hungry or are starved all the time, there's a high chance that you are a diabetic man. A sudden increase in appetite is a strong indication towards diabetes. • A sudden increase or decrease in weight is also a warning for this condition. When a man suffers from this disease, your body wastes more sugar as a result of frequent urination. For proper nourishment the body then starts using up the proteins in the body which leads to frequent weight loss. • Severe headaches, muscle and body pain also indicate diabetes. A person suffering from diabetes may also suffer from irregular sleep pattern. • The most important sign of this silent killer in men is delayed wound healing. A person suffering from diabetes faces difficulty in the healing of his wounds. What causes this slow healing is still a matter of debate. Nerve damage and numbness in fingers, toes and other parts of the body is also a sign of this dangerous disorder. Diabetes is a dangerous disease and if not taken proper care of, it can lead to various health complications which will ultimately result in the death of a person. Knowing the early signs of diabetes in men is an effective way to ensure that proper treatment is taken in due course of time which ultimately avoids further damage. This Article is from Kulbhushaan Raghuvanshi