Diabetes and You: A Comprehensive, Holistic Approach - Hardcover

Ali, Naheed

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1442207280 ISBN 13: 9781442207288

Verlag: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011

Inhaltsangabe

Today, there are more than 23 million diabetics in the United States and with that number expected to rise drastically over the next decade the nation is faced with a health crisis of epidemic proportions. For those personally afflicted by this debilitating disease the everyday challenges can often seem overwhelming. In Diabetes and You, Dr. Naheed Ali offers both hope and empowerment to these sufferers and their families. Using the latest findings in clinical and physician studies, this book helps diabetics to successfully combat this disease and its symptoms on a number of fronts. Ali offers not only a hopeful perspective but also new and practical ways to confront and live with this condition.

The full scope of diabetes-from its causes to its prevention and from the newest methods of treatment to the effects of diet and mental heath-is introduced in simple, non-technical language accessible to all readers. Diabetes and You is both state-of-the-art and user friendly, and emphasizes a whole body approach to this increasingly common, high-profile disease. As a physician and medical lecturer with a long association within the health care industry, Ali presents detailed advice to make coping with diabetes much simpler and easier than ever before. The reader is introduced to groundbreaking information on the risk factors associated with diabetes, the signs and symptoms, the different types of the disease, and how it can crop up in juvenile health. Diabetes and You will motivate diabetics to fight their condition in new and effective ways.

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Naheed Ali, M.D., has lectured at the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology. He has published more than 200 medically related articles for Suite 101 Media, Inc., an online magazine with more than 27 million visitors a month. Ali's articles (on politics, culture, and health) have been regularly featured on the home page of Worldpress.org, a topical news website boasting more than 300,000 readers monthly, and he has appeared as a health expert for Weight Watchers Magazine, MSN Health, AOL News, and others. He is the author of Are You Fit to Live?

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Diabetes and You

A Comprehensive, Holistic ApproachBy Naheed Ali

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.

Copyright © 2011 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4422-0728-8

Contents

Disclaimer..............................................ixFrom the Author.........................................xi1 Diabetes Explained....................................32 Types of Diabetes.....................................193 Causes and Symptoms...................................374 Diagnosing Diabetes...................................575 Treatment Options.....................................756 Juvenile Diabetes.....................................937 Diabetes and Mental Health............................1118 Diabetes and Heart Health.............................1279 The Diabetic's Ultimate Diet..........................14310 Pain Management for the Diabetic.....................16111 Staying Motivated....................................179Glossary................................................191Resources...............................................195References..............................................219Index...................................................233About the Author........................................241

Chapter One

Diabetes Explained

People tend to think of diabetes as the presence of high blood sugar levels in the body, which requires people to follow a strict diet and take insulin shots. But just what exactly is diabetes? Why do people say it is one of the enemies of good health? Take a deeper look into what experts call the "illness of the rich."

Diabetes used to be known as insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). These terms are not used as commonly today because of the possibility of confusion for those who aren't familiar with the medical jargon. Instead, we now use the terms Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes (Arabic numerals are preferred over Roman numerals to avoid any possible confusion).

Being metabolic (that is, involved in breaking down consumables and converting them into energy), diabetes is an outcome of the processes that take place when the body digests food. When we eat, food is changed into glucose, the form that sugar takes when it is "active." This serves as the main source of fuel for our bodies. The glucose then goes into the bloodstream and passes through the rest of the body for energy and growth. For glucose to reach the cells, the body uses insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas. The pancreas is the large gland found at the back of the stomach.

Statistics show that 5 to 10 percent of diabetics have Type 1 diabetes, in which beta cells do not produce enough insulin, thus requiring insulin injections for the patient. Type 1 diabetes is like the hijacking of immune processes whereby the body's own cells attack themselves. These destructive autoimmune processes eventually lead to illnesses like diabetes mellitus and other autoimmune disorders (e.g., Crohn's disease, Goodpasture's syndrome). Type 1 diabetics are usually diagnosed before the age of thirty. Type 2 diabetes occurs gradually, meaning that it has a slow onset, and approximately 90 to 95 percent of diabetics have this kind. This form of diabetes happens due to insulin resistance or sensitivity. It can cause impaired functioning of the beta cells which leads to reduced insulin production.

At first, Type 2 diabetics are prescribed common remedies, such as diet and exercise. When blood glucose levels continue to escalate, physicians may prescribe oral hypoglycemic agents. Hypoglycemia means low sugar in the blood. In some individuals suffering from sudden stress, the medicines don't work, which leads to a serious need for insulin injections. Type 2 diabetes typically afflicts people who are obese and over the age of thirty.

Complications occur not only for those who take insulin. Whatever the type of diabetes, the patient's condition can unfortunately spiral out of control once the individual's body is affected by different factors that lead to complications. With proper management of the symptoms and avoidance of factors that trigger specific symptoms, diabetics can steer clear of life-threatening complications.

Type 2 diabetics may have the impression that they do not actually have diabetes simply because they don't take insulin injections. They believe they have "borderline" diabetes, but this idea is potentially harmful for them. Diabetics must take their conditions seriously, follow the doctor's advice, and learn alternative means for preventing symptoms and avoiding complications.

If you are a health care provider, you must be committed to educating your patients about the real picture. In doing so, you must urge them to work for their own wellness and help them to understand that what they have is not "borderline" diabetes but the real deal itself. Type 2 diabetes is also referred to as insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), or impaired fasting glucose (IFG), a state wherein blood glucose levels act like an elevator and go up and down between average levels and those of a true diabetic.

HISTORY OF DIABETES

For centuries, people have studied diabetes and the underlying factors that lead to the illness. Today, much advanced research goes into the prevention and treatment of the disease. Insulin has been used to manage diabetes only since 1922.

Diabetes can be indicated by the occurrence of glucosuria, or the condition of having glucose in the urine. Ancient Hindu writings told of black ants and flies that were found lingering around the urine of those with diabetes. Sushruta, an Indian doctor who lived around 400 BC, wrote about the urine of diabetics and described it as a sweet substance. Later on, physicians believed that sweet urine was a sign that a person had diabetes.

In 250 BC, the term diabetes was coined. Diabetes in Greek means "to siphon," as the disease was believed to drain an individual of fluid. The Greek physician Aretaeus explained that diabetics were being drained of their body fluid because they urinated more often than usual, and he vividly described the disease as the "liquefaction of flesh and bones into urine." In 1674, King Charles II's personal physician, Thomas Willis, coined the term diabetes mellitus, with mellitus meaning "honey." Willis also believed a diabetic's urine was sweet or "imbued with honey and sugar."

In the 1800s, many different treatments were suggested for diabetics, including bloodletting and opium. Different diets were also suggested. In the early decades of the century, starving oneself was said to be an effective therapy. Sufferers were said to enjoy a longer life span through these practices. The treatment of diabetes took a major step forward in the late 1800s, when two German physicians, Joseph von Mering and Oskar Minkowski, removed the pancreas of several dogs and discovered that the dogs gradually developed diabetes. Through this discovery, the physicians tried to link the pancreas to diabetes and aimed to isolate a pancreatic extract that they hoped could treat the disease.

In Canada, Dr. Frederick Banting was eager to isolate the extract in spite of skeptics who didn't believe it could be done. In May 1921, Dr. Banting, together with his assistant Charles Best, a medical student, began experiments at the Toronto laboratory of Professor John Macleod. Banting tied off the...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Rowman & Littlefield
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2011
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1442207280
• ISBN 13: 9781442207288
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 241
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: preigu; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; 49078; Deutschland