Understanding Stress
For many, stress is just a normal part of a busy work schedule. Even though stress is becoming routine, it is self destructive in numerous ways. Studies reveal that stress causes deterioration in everything from your heart to your gums, and can make you more susceptible to everything from a common cold to cancer. One of the main culprits in the stress-illness connection is the hormone cortisol - though it plays a necessary role in helping us cope with acute or short-term threats. When an animal perceives danger, the body triggers a chain reaction of signals to release various hormones, like epinephrine (adrenaline), nor-epinephrine, and cortisol, from the adrenal glands. These hormones boost heart rate, increase respiration and increase the availability of glucose in the blood, thus enabling the "fight or flight" response. Because this response requires a great deal of energy, cortisol tells other taxing physical processes like digestion, reproduction, physical growth, and the immune system - to slow down or shut down altogether.
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Smoking Associated With Risk of Diabetes
A recent study from the University of Lausanne looked at 25 studies involving over 1 million patients and found that smokers had a 44% increased risk of type 2 diabetes compared with non-smokers. Researchers believe smoking may be one of the last pieces of the diabetes risk puzzle that could help identify who is at the greatest risk. The study found that for individuals who smoked at least 20 cigarettes a day, the increased risk of developing diabetes rose to 61%. For lighter smokers, the risk was 29% higher than a non-smoker and the risk of developing diabetes is 23% higher in former smokers.
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More Than Half of Diabetics Endanger Themselves by Wearing The Wrong Shoe Size
According to research in the November issue of the International Journal of Clinical Practice, more than six out of ten people with diabetes are walking around in the wrong sized shoe, which could potentially cause serious foot problems. An ulceration of the foot can have serious implications for patients, such as impaired quality of life, increased amputation risk, and elevated death rates. The World Health Organization has stated that the number of people suffering from diabetes could double to 366 million by 2030 and 80 percent of diabetic foot amputations could be prevented.
Researchers studied a hundred patients, aged 24 to 89, who volunteered to participate in a shoe-size study carried out at a general diabetic clinic. Patients who were attending foot specialist clinics and those who had problems standing or were wearing special footwear were excluded from the study. The results showed that 63 percent of patients were wearing the wrong sized shoes. Approximately 45 percent were wearing the wrong width fitting, and the majority had shoes that were too narrow.
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Research Suggests Ways to Slow Alzheimer's
A new study released at the International Conference on Prevention of Dementia on June 11th suggests that treating other health factors - like diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol can help slow the onset and severity of dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease.
This research further links heart and brain health. Cardiovascular problems like heart attacks or stroke may also increase the onset of dementia. Taking positive actions, like treating high blood pressure, exercising, and changing diet can all help reduce dementia.
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Low Carb Diet For Diabetes
Have you ever wondered how low carb but higher fat diets actually work?
Surprisingly, one answer may lie in your liver. Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have identified a liver hormone known as FGF21 which is required to oxidize fatty acids - and thereby burn calories.
According to the senior author of the study, "When the diet is extremely low in starches and sugars, blood sugar levels drop substantially so that the muscles and brain have to turn to alternative fuels... consequently, fatty acids are broken down in the liver and converted to ketones, which then serve as a major fuel source."
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Diabetes Lifesaver
According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 20.8 million children and adults in the United States, or 7% of the population, who have diabetes.
Nearly one-third are unaware that they have the disease.
But among the two-thirds who do have the disease, many--in fact, most--aren’t getting medicines that can, for one thing, lower one’s risk of dying from a heart attack.
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Your First Visit
By Tauseef Ahmed, MD, FACP
Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Oncology / Hematology at New York Medical College
Your tests have come back. The news is not good and your doctor refers you to a specialist. Oncologist, Orthopedist, Neurologist, each one trusted by your doctor, each one trained to help you, whatever your problem might be. Each one can and should be helped by you.
Here are a few tips to help your caregiver help you:
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Americans VS Brits:
Its been, 230 years to be exact since we declared our independence from Britain, and subsequently won that war.
But in the long run, we may not be better off than the British, at least, when it comes to our health.
Talk about the good stuff: Fish and chips and Shepard’s pie--a delicious heart attack waiting to happen!!
But those are British food…not American! Not that we don’t like it…
Still, when comparing our health status to that of the Brits, new research in the Journal of the American Medical Association isn’t favorable for Americans.
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Type 2 Diabetes and Teens
You’ve almost certainly heard about the obesity trends in America, how we’re all getting fatter--including kids!
Now, a disturbing set of data shows how that problem is playing out in terms of very real disease in our young people.
It’s one of the worst diseases to have, and ironically, for most of us, it’s truly preventable. Diabetes is increasing in American kids—specifically, Type Two Diabetes--and it’s directly related to the fattening of our children.
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Inhaled Insulin
It’s been a long awaited, much talked-about treatment: The first inhaled insulin—Exubera-- is now given the green light to hit the market in the United States.
Exubera is designed to keep blood sugars under control around mealtime: it’s taken ten minutes before eating. When inhaled, it passes quickly into the blood stream.
The big payoff: it’s a relief for those who fear the needle.
Dr. Holly Schachner, Medical Director of Exubera for Pfizer, says, “It was an incredible innovation in order to take the insulin molecule, and actually the insulin that you take from Exubera is exactly the molecule that your body makes and what we needed to do was get it into a dry form so that it’s stable at room temperature, it does not need to be refrigerated and we needed to get it into a device that we knew would work reliably and effectively.”
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