Search This Blog

Friday, April 24, 2009

Complex Carbohydrates and Avoiding Sugar - Still the Health Protectors?

The following is an article we wrote yesterday and submitted to article directories:

Complex carbohydrates are touted to protect one from a number of diseases and conditions including cancer, cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. So knowing that we have these weapons to protect ourselves, why do some people not still see the light?

North Americans’ intake of refined sugar is estimated at 33 kg plus 20 kg more of syrup high in fructose per person each year. Fructose is used to sweeten syrups, low-fat food and beverages. The trouble with taking too much of this is that the liver changes too much sugar in the diet into lipid. The increased lipid closes down a gene namely, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG).

This shutting down of the SHBG reduces the quantity of SHBG protein in the blood. This is not good as this protein plays an important part in regulating the quantity of estrogen and testosterone. With the less amount of SHBG comes higher risk for a number of conditions like uterine cancer.

The reduced SHBG amount also affects the metabolic state of the liver. Thus SHBG levels are employed to show a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. It is therefore good to follow the advice to avoid eating sugar and to eat complex carbohydrates.

This leads us to the question as to what complex carbohydrates we can eat. Basically, these are foods in the form of whole grain like brown rice, muesli, oats and wholegrain breads. These complex carbohydrates are broken down more gradually than those of their cousins, the simple carbohydrates. That is why they are able to provide a slow but steady source of energy during the day.

Some more examples of complex carbohydrates are bran, maize, peas, pasta, macaroni and spaghetti. These are really starch or sugar that are bonded together forming a chain so the digestive enzymes have a harder job of breaking them down making them longer to digest. This has also an added bonus in the sense that it restricts the quantity of sugar that is converted into fat.

Complex carbohydrates should be a main part of the diet. In fact it should form half of the calories each day like the aforementioned foods plus cereals, fruits and vegetables. Simple sugar should only form a few of the calories allotted each day. This is some kind of tip you will get at Free Diabetes Alert when you sign up for free newsletter.

Dr. Hammond who is scientific director of Vancouver, Canada’s Child and Family Research Institute said that SHBG can be used to monitor the functioning of the liver way before the symptoms appear. This is good news because quite a number of people who have diabetes do not even know they have it. This puts them at a disadvantage because they cannot work on strategies to beat diabetes and stop the complications.

The new findings can also be used to find out whether the drugs and dietary strategies are effective in treating the conditions. This also dismisses the assumption that SHBG is reduced by too much insulin. Insulin therefore is not to blame for the low SHBG levels but rather the sugar metabolism in the liver is what counts. So what is the moral of the story? Eat complex carbohydrates.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Body-Weight Regulation Experts Report on Research Related to Obesity

Obesity makes body parts begin to fail when the body is overloaded with extra nutrients. This is when obesity increases the risk for developing such diseases as heart problems and diabetes. Because so many parts are affected and studies focus on a particular organ at a time, what’s occurring throughout the body is overlooked.

There is an article in the November issue of Science entitled “An Integrative View of Obesity” that recommends a wider approach should be employed to find out the causes and effects of obesity. The authors are Dr. Francis Kim, Dr. Michael Schwartz and Dr. Brent E. Wisse, all of the University of Washington.

These authors investigated related studies on this issue especially the one by the Harvard University School of Public Health’s Dr. Gordon S. Gokhan S. Hotamisligil. These researches reported on what happens when the body consumes more energy in food than what it needs. This fact triggers harmful responses in body cells.

The Science article points out similarities in how different cells respond to extra nutrients. This might show why many people put on too much weight and then are not able to lose it. The authors said that the body protects its stores of fat.

Obesity they said does not happen because of the extra fat but through the defense of the raised level of fat and this should be taken into account when trying to find out why people get fat. This might also lead to the understanding why animals on low-calorie diet live longer.

It is good to know that scientists are starting to see the pattern of the cell response to extra nutrients. Among this is the way the cell responds by producing plenty of molecules that create trouble. This can harm the structures of the cells and also inhibits the last stages of protein production. The end result of this is inflammation.

This inflammation can stop insulin action and as this progresses so does the inflammation making it hard to break the cycle. Rodents fed with a diet rich in energy show impaired reaction to insulin and other signals to control the appetite.

Their brains reveal inflammation and resistance to insulin. This may make the brains unable to see they are gaining fat reserves with their brains unable to control their appetite. On the contrary, they seem hungry and keep consuming more food. It is good to see alert like this so we can act accordingly so see if you want to join us for free to see such diabetes alerts once a month.

Extra nutrients also causes inflammation to the pancreas and the authors could not help but wonder if this sets the onset for type 2 diabetes. The investigators stressed the fact this is not the only explanation for obesity and its link to diseases like heart problems and diabetes but it does show how different troubles in a variety of organs may be due to cellular reaction that is common to other parts of the body.

It is therefore imperative that an integrative approach be employed in studying the diseases that occur in tissues and cells in the whole body rather than studying just one body part or system at a time. This approach could lead to better prevention and treatment of obesity.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Telemedicine Shows Potential Benefit for Treating Eye Diseases

Telemedicine may play an important role in diagnosing eye diseases and increasing access to excellent care and compliance of patient. This is the topic of the two studies being reported at 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

The first study looked at patients who had retinal examination before the telemedicine remote imaging system was installed. They also looked at diabetics who had retinal examination two years after the same device was installed.

Telemedicine is not new. In fact it has been noted as technically possible but this study revealed the true impact of telemedicine on the diabetics who ended up having diabetic retinopathy. Ophthalmology assistant professor Ingrid Zimmer-Galler, M.D. of John Hopkins School of Medicine’s Wilmer Eye Institute said that the system considerably increased the number of yearly retinal assessments.

Out of 1257 diabetics during the first year only 15% had the annual retinal exam. Two years after the device was installed, 71% of 1395 diabetics had the retinal exam. It should be noted that of the increase, 66% was done by a local ophthalmologist and only 33% was the result of the assessment by remote. This is indeed very encouraging as it means more diabetics are aware of the need for the annual retinal exam.

This increased awareness is vital because diabetic retinopathy affects about 5.3 million people in the US, among whom one-third do not know they have the disease. Since diabetics are twenty-five more times likely to become blind than their counterpart without the disease, early discovery and treatment will help avoid the loss of vision.

The second study involved the use of telemedicine and ophthalmology for premature babies. Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons’ Michael Chiang, M.D. who is also assistant professor of biomedical informatics and ophthalmology reported that the birth of premature babies is rising around the world.

The doctors gathered info on 206 eyes of 67 premature babies and performed two sets of exams. One was through ophthalmoscopic exam and the other through capturing retinal images of the same babies. After four to twelve months, the two results were compared and 86% showed the results were the same.

You can read more about this at the site below but find out first if you want to join us or not for free to receive news alert about once a month on diabetes or get them in the website as well with this free newsletter. Then you can find out more regarding Facts About Diabetes on eye complications in the Diabetes Complications Section of the website or in the sitemap.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Lack of Support in Schools for Children with Diabetes

Why do some schools not support the diabetic children? Many parents have had the experiences of being turned down by schools when they request for some help for their diabetic children. There was an assessment made on this issue and the verdict is in.

Most often parents are told that type 1 diabetes is not a special education need (SEN) and so the children who suffer from this are not eligible for support and funding for extra support when it comes to supervision with blood tests, insulin injections or staff specially trained to provide such assistance.

The two sides agree that diabetic children are not disabled. They do not have learning disabilities. But here is the crux of the matter. These children require help because of their medical needs. As such these children should be considered as special education need students.

The treatment of type 1 diabetes and the condition itself have such an impact on a child's health. It has such an effect on the child's cognitive ability and his capacity to learn. That is why the school should realize the fact that the officials have to understand diabetes and provide support so access to education will not be denied.

Anyway, authorities say that Special Education Needs has a legal definition. It really refers to children who are experiencing difficulties in learning. This fact makes it harder for them to obtain the education they need that are accessible to the other children in school. It is clear therefore that type 1 diabetic children fall under this category.

The findings on a survey conducted on this issue were released. The report is that thousands of families are suffering because of lack of support in schools for diabetic children. There is no training for school staff to help diabetic children manage their condition.

This puts children at risk. Schools reported that 70% of diabetic children cannot inject themselves with insulin. Their parents have to come to do it for them. This segregates children from school life and puts pressures on the families.

Diabetes UK, UK Children with Diabetes Advocacy Group and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation all worked together to conduct a survey. They called on the government and schools to develop effective policies to support diabetic children in schools.

They want all schools in England to work on a policy that will take into account a guide to work with teachers, school nurses, support staff, teachers and pediatric diabetes teams. There are some policies that are already successful but they are not specific enough and may be out of date.

The National Diabetes Audit reported that as many as 83% of children are not attaining the blood sugar levels that have been recommended. This puts them at risk for developing complications. This fact is certainly not acceptable and we‘re working hard to receive alerts.

You can join us to receive news alert about once a month on diabetes or get them in the website as well. See if you want to subscribe for free and then you can find out more about children’s diabetes in the School Section of the website or in the sitemap.

Some diabetic children are also not getting a full education. They are made not to participate in school field trips, sports and other extra curricular activities. As soon as the effective policies are put into practice, the children will be able to enjoy their childhood.