Gestational diabetes, or glucose intolerance as it is called during pregnancy, is a type of diabetes that occurs on pregnant women usually during the 24th to 28th week of pregnancy. As opposed to juvenile diabetes which is caused by the pancreas’ inability to produce insulin, and adult onset diabetes which is caused by diet with very high sugar level, gestational diabetes is caused by the hormones produced by the placenta, namely cortisol, estrogen, and lactogen, which are all produced for the protection of the fetus and the mother but are also hindrances to the insulin’s ability to distribute glucose throughout the body.
Although the effects of gestational diabetes may be not very harmful to the mother, the effects of its complications on the health of the baby should not be ignored. Gestational diabetes often leads to macosomia, which is the abnormal enlargement of the baby because of the fat accumulated from the mother’s unused glucose. Another complication that the baby may have from gestational diabetes is hypoglycemia or the increase in the amount of insulin in the baby’s bloodstream, which could make the baby become obese.
Since the symptoms produced by gestational diabetes are usually ignored as merely natural effects of pregnancy, it is recommended that women who are on the 24th to 28th week of their pregnancy should take screening tests such as the Oral Glucose Screening Test (OGST) and the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).
After taking the test, doctors usually recommend mothers to have a low-sugar diet to lower their blood sugar levels. Exercise may also help to prevent the risks of glucose intolerance but it is not recommended for high-risk pregnancies. The best treatment for gestational diabetes is the cessation of the hormones that hinders the glycolytic effects of insulin which can only be done after the delivery of the child, which is done only several weeks after the detection of gestational diabetes.
Diabetes has both acute and chronic complications. Diabetic ketoacidosis, which is sometimes referred to as diabetic comatose, occurs when the concentration of insulin in the blood is insufficient for the needs the patient. This decrease in the concentration of insulin can be caused by the omission of insulin injections, an increase in the patient’s need of insulin, or by stress. When the insulin becomes inadequate, the liver releases more glucose and ketone bodies, while the body’s ability to metabolize these substances decreases. The ketone bodies are acids, thus, the increase of this substance makes the body acidic (hence, the term ketoacidosis). This diabetes complication is simply treated with fluids and by increasing insulin injections.
Hypoglycemia may also occur because when there is excessive lowering in the glucose in the blood due to an excessive increase in the amount of insulin taken in by the patient. Since the brain is dependent on glucose for energy, hypoglycemia may result to a rapid heartbeat, nervousness, sweating, hunger, and comatose, if not treated. This complication is treated by eating only small amounts of carbohydrates. However, unconscious patients should not be given food because they might breathe it into their lungs. They should be revived either by giving intravenous glucose or by injecting glucagon which is a glucose-raising hormone naturally present in the alpha cells of the pancreas.
Some chronic diabetes complications include blindness. Fortunately, diabetic eye diseases can be readily detected and treated by ophthalmologists before they endanger a patient’s vision. Therefore, it is important for patients with diabetes to regularly and frequently undergo eye examinations.
Diabetes can also damage the kidney because of the high blood pressure that accompanies high blood sugar. It is possible to slow or prevent the damage in the kidney by a vigorous treatment in a patient’s high blood pressure. The lowering of the lipids in the blood which is frequently associated with lowering high blood pressure may deter the effects of these complications.
Diabetes occurs when the body does not have the ability to secrete or utilize enough amounts of the hormone called insulin. Insulin is the hormone produced by the beta cells of pancreas and is responsible for the distribution of glucose throughout the bloodstream. In other words, diabetes occurs when there is a significant imbalance between the body’s glucose supply and its ability to utilize this with the help of insulin. One reason for this is when the body’s pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to aid in the metabolism of the glucose. Another reason is when the body has too much glucose that the insulin it produces can no longer utilize them all.
Type 1 diabetes, or insulin-dependent diabetes, occurs when the pancreas cannot produce insulin. Type 1 diabetes is also known as juvenile onset diabetes because it is mostly diagnosed on patients with age below thirty and mostly with children and adolescents. This inability of the pancreas to produce insulin, in most cases, is hereditary, but there are also cases where it is caused by viral infection, physical damaging of the pancreas, or by damaging of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas due to one’s own immune system damaging its own pancreas, known as autoimmune response. The cause of autoimmune response is still under study.
Type 2 diabetes, or non-insulin dependent diabetes, is caused by an over-supply of glucose in the body system. This explains why obesity is very much associated with diabetes. However, it is wrong to say that the Type 2 diabetes is caused by too much consumption of refined sugar alone because other foods also has their own glucose content, thereby, making it more proper to say that consumption of too much calories is the cause of Type 2 diabetes. This over-supply of calories in a body suffering diabetes could be worsened by obesity, old age, and most of all, an inactive and unhealthful lifestyle.
Adult Onset Diabetes, or sometimes called Type 2 diabetes, is a disease that results from too much consumption of high-calorie meals accompanied with an unhealthful, and more importantly, inactive lifestyle. This type of diabetes is mostly diagnosed on adults (hence, the name) and is also the most commonly diagnosed form of diabetes, taking almost 95% of all the reported cases of diabetes.
Like all forms of diabetes, its symptoms include excessive hunger, excessive thirst, blurring of eyesight, and abnormally frequent need to urinate, with the addition of the slow healing of wounds, leg pains, itchiness of the skin, and yeast infections.
The complications associated with adult onset diabetes include blindness, heart diseases, stroke, erectile dysfunction, and a chronic disability of a limb, which may result to an amputation if not treated early.
If a patient is diagnosed of having Type 2 or adult onset diabetes, he is initially instructed to follow a carefully-planned diet designed to lower the concentration of glucose in his blood and he is also instructed to keep track of his blood sugar level. If the glucose concentration in his blood did not decrease even after faithfully following the diet plan, he is then treated with hypoglycemic drugs. The function of these drugs is to stimulate the pancreas’ production of insulin which utilizes the glucose in the body. If the hypoglycemic drugs still did not work, the patient is then regularly injected by insulin.
Although, the treatment of adult onset diabetes is simple, it is clear that if the disease is not diagnosed early and thereby, delaying its treatment, the complications that results from it could be devastating and their treatment, very costly. So, the most commonly recited healthcare mantra, that is, “prevention is better than cure,” should always be followed by having a healthful diet and an active lifestyle.
Symptoms of diabetes can be sometimes similar but sometimes a little different for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes Symptoms:
Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms:
As you can see, some signs of diabetes for Type 1 and Type 2 are common. If you experience one or more of these diabetes symptoms listed above, you should consult your doctor to be on safe side.
Diabetes appears to harm sperm and may decrease a man’s fertility, says a British study in the journal Human Reproduction.
Many men having diabetes for a long period of time are sufferuring from Erectile Dysfunction which is commonly known as ED. Cialis, Viagra, and Levitra (vardenafil) are 3 major FDA approved medications that treats ED.
Researchers analysed sperm samples from 56 men and found that 52 percent of men with diabetes had fragmented sperm DNA, compared with 32 percent of men without the disease, BBC News reported.
The diabetic men also had higher rates of DNA deletions in the mitochondria, which produce energy for cells. Defective sperm DNA can cause male infertility, pregnancy failure and miscarriage, BBC News reported.
The study also found that the diabetic men had significantly lower-than-normal semen volume, but showed no differences in sperm concentration, structure or movement.
While it’s not clear whether diabetes actually affects male fertility, the researchers said their findings are troubling given rapidly rising rates of diabetes. They recommended further research, BBC News reported.
Adults with diabetes may be at higher risk for developing mild cognitive impairment, a condition that is often seen as a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease, new research found.
“There is mounting evidence that diabetes is bad for cognition,” said Dr Jose A. Luchsinger, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University. “The mechanisms need to be elucidated. Type 2, or adult-onset diabetes, which the study refers to, is increasing in the US and in the world. The consequences of the potential cognitive complications of diabetes could be devastating from a public health standpoint.”
Still, there are perhaps more questions than answers in the new study, which was published Monday in the April issue of Archives of Neurology.
“What is the real message for diabetes control?” asked Dr Larry Deeb, president of medicine and science for the American Diabetes Association. “If the message is that you’re at greater risk for MCI (mild cognitive impairment) no matter what, that’s one thing. If taking good care of blood sugar makes a difference, as seems to be the case for most other complications of diabetes, that’s another thing. One would hope this might be another argument for controlling diabetes.”
Health experts already knew that type 2 diabetes can be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. The evidence has been less clear on whether diabetes is related to a higher risk of mild cognitive impairment, often considered a bridge state between normalcy and Alzheimer’s.
“There are few studies looking at the outcome of mild cognitive impairment,” Luchsinger said.
How the study was conducted
For this study, Luchsinger and his colleagues looked at 918 men and women older than 65 (average age 75.9) who did not have mild cognitive impairment or dementia at the start of the study. The participants, all from northern Manhattan in New York City, were assessed every 18 months with an in-person interview as well as physical and neurological examinations.
Almost one-quarter - 23.9 percent - of the participants had diabetes, 68.2 percent had high blood pressure, 33.9 percent had heart disease, and 15 percent had suffered a stroke.
During follow-up that averaged 6.1 years, 334 of the participants developed mild cognitive impairment. And people with diabetes had a higher risk of having mild cognitive impairment, especially amnestic MCI, which affects memory more than non-amnestic MCI.
Diabetes tied to impairment
Overall, 8.8% of cases of mild cognitive impairment among the study participants could be attributable to diabetes. And the rates were higher for black Americans (8.4 percent) and Hispanics (11 percent) than for non-Hispanic whites (4.6 percent). This makes sense, given that minority populations in the United States have a higher prevalence of diabetes.
What explains t?e possible link between diabetes and impairment?
Diabetes could contribute to plaque build-up in the brain, with such a build-up a hallmark of Alzheimer’s, the study authors said.
But, they added, more research is needed.
“Studies are needed to see if preventing diabetes prevents cognitive impairment and how diabetes treatment affects cognition,” Luchsinger said. “We also need to see how cognitive impairment in persons with diabetes affects their ability to follow their treatment, which is usually complex and involves several medications.”
Other experts applauded even the tentative findings.
This type of research may help target populations who could one day benefit from drugs, said Maria Carrillo, director of medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer’s Association.
Risk factors are real
“This supports the idea that risk factors are real,” Carrillo added. “The field has now matured to a point where we can start looking at earlier and earlier aspects of the disease. It makes sense to look even earlier than that and try to tease out what the risk factors look like in that population, in case we have a disease-modifying drug coming up in near future.”
“This is documenting what we know a little bit better and emphasising that patients should control their blood sugar as well as they can early in the disease,” added Dr Joel Zonszein, director of the Clinical Diabetes Centre at Montefiore Medical Centre in New York City. “This is another piece of information, more wood to the fire.” – (HealthDayNews)
More than 18 million Americans have diabetes and 15% of them will develop chronic wounds like foot ulcers .
The ulcers can take weeks to heal and if the infection spreads to the bone, there are serious consequences.
A sore on your foot is a nuisance for anyone but for someone with diabetes they can be especially annoying.
Sores can easily turn into an ulcer and in serious cases, result in amputation.
Now, Baptist Hospital is offering a new approach to healing.
Football fans may know the name Ross Browner.
He lives in Nashville now, but spent a decade in the NFL as defensive end for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Green Bay Packers.
12 years ago, doctors diagnosed Browner with diabetes a condition that has now led to a serious foot ulcer.
He said, “My foot just kind of blew up and I was on antibiotics. The foot dried at the bottom, it cracked and got infected.”
Diabetic foot ulcers usually start out as a callus or blister but can quickly develop into a serious problem.
Poor blood circulation and elevated blood sugar often limit the body’s ability to repair the injured tissue. Decreased sensation in the limbs can also
To treat Browner’s ulcer, doctors at Baptist Hospital’s Wound Care Center are using a total contact cast.
Part of the cast is applied with the patient sitting up and the rest is applied with the patient lying down with his/her foot in the air. It allows fluid to drain away from the foot.
Baptist Dr. Warren Patterson said, “The cast is put on like a cone so a third of the body weight is absorbed by sides of the cast. This offloads considerable weight.”
The cast fits closely around the foot and
Patients wear casts about eight weeks and doctors change it several times to check the size of the ulcer.
With the help of this cast, doctors said the former football star should be back on his feet in no time.
Browner said, “It’s really starting to happen now and I’m really glad they have this technique now. In six weeks or so, I should be out of a cast and able to put on a shoe again.”
Doctors advise patients to check their feet for sores regularly.
A study of type 2 diabetics with depression confirms that depression has a negative impact on glycemic (blood sugar) control, researchers report, and “affirms the importance of depression management in diabetic patients in its potential to improve glycemic control.”
Researchers from Missouri treated 93 patients with type 2 diabetes and depression with the antidepressant bupropion (Wellbutrin).
“We selected bupropion because it is capable of reducing depression and weight simultaneously and hypothesized that these effects would be accompanied by improved glycemic control in diabetic patients with major depressive disorder,” the team explains in the journal Diabetes Care.
In support of their hypothesis, “antidepressant treatment produced benefits beyond just mood improvement,” first author Dr. Patrick J. Lustman from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, told Reuters Health. “Patients also lost weight, improved self-management of their diabetes, and improved their glucose control (A1C levels).”
Of these short-term improvements, only depression improvement predicted maintenance of improved blood sugar control in the subsequent 6 months, the researchers found.
“This confirms our hypothesis that depressio? improvement can produce better glycemic control, independent of favorable changes in weight and diabetes self care,” Lustman noted. “Improvement in depression was the key to achieving longer term improvements in glucose control.”
Lustman concludes that the data “point to the importance of weight-independent physiological factors (insulin sensitivity, inflammation) that improve during depression relief and contribute to better long-term control of diabetes.”
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, March 2007.
It is well known that people with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of pancreatic cancer, and now it seems that the risk extends to those with type 1 diabetes, researchers report. However, they point out that the risk is still very small.
Type 2 diabetes is associated with being overweight and is caused when the body becomes less responsive to the action of insulin, leading to high blood sugar levels. Type 1 diabetes arises, often in childhood, when the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are damaged, usually by an aberrant immune reaction.
To assess the risk of pancreatic cancer in people with type 1 and young-onset diabetes, Dr. Richard J. Stevens and colleagues from the University of Oxford, UK, reviewed findings from nine population-based studies.
The likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer was twice as high in subjects with type 1 or young-onset diabetes as in people without diabetes, the team reports in the British Journal of Cancer.
This increased risk is similar in magnitude to that seen with type 2 diabetes.
There are many theories about the link between diabetes and pancreatic cancer, Stevens said in an interview with Reuters Health and “our results help narrow these.”
For example, he said, “they rule out a cancer-inducing role of the insulin-producing beta-cells in the pancreas, because in type 1 diabetes these cells have largely or entirely been destroyed.”
Stevens stressed that “people with type 1 diabetes should not be overly concerned about pancreatic cancer.” As he explained, “Pancreatic cancer is an extremely rare disease, and twice a tiny risk is still a tiny risk.”
People with diabetes “should remain focused on the common complications of diabetes such as heart disease, eye disease and kidney disease, and the many measures — including diet, exercise, and medication — that can be taken to avoid them,” Stevens concluded.
SOURCE: British Journal of Cancer, February 2007.