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Diabetes is a common medical concern that millions of people live with. It can be controlled and treated so that the majority of individuals with diabetes are able to live a fairly normal life. There are three types of diabetes people are diagnosed with – type I, type II, and gestational. While each of the three types of diabetes is caused by the pancreas not being able to produce enough insulin, they do have several differences.

Type I diabetes often results in the immune system not working properly. This is the most severe type of diabetes because the individual is at a very high risk of getting illnesses such as pneumonia. There is also the risk of infections in the body, especially the extremities. Insulin has to be taken by individuals with type I diabetes. It is generally diagnosed during childhood or the teenage years.

Type II diabetes usually doesn’t cause too many issues for the body as long as the blood sugar is regulated. Both Type I and Type II diabetes are treated with a variety of methods including insulin, a proper diet, plenty of exercise, and working closely with doctors and dieticians. Type II diabetes generally is diagnosed in adulthood.

Gestational diabetes takes place only in pregnant women due to changes in the body that are taking place. It is very important for the woman to get prenatal care and eat properly throughout the pregnancy. Gestational diabetes is known to be linked with low birth weight and premature labor.

If diabetes is not treated properly or it is so severe it can’t be controlled, it can result in a variety of health issues. It can lead to blindness and in some cases amputations of the arms or legs. Some individuals have to receive dialysis treatments several times a week due to their diabetes.

The sooner an individual is properly diagnosed with diabetes, the better chance they have of leading a normal life. The amount of insulin has to be adjusted to the individual so that they get enough to balance out the other body functions. Some common symptoms of diabetes that has not been diagnosed include frequent urination, constantly feeling thirsty, high blood pressure, and either weight loss or gain.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms it is important to contact a doctor. A screening for diabetes includes a simple blood test to check the glucose levels in the body. If it goes undetected, diabetes can cause a person to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or other serious medical problem.

Article brought to you by the makers of diabetes management software: http://www.chirondata.com

Recent research findings may offer some new hope to 20.8 million individuals in Dallas, Houston, elsewhere in Texas and throughout the rest of the United States who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed, 6.2 million people (or nearly one-third) are unfortunately unaware that they have the disease.

Researchers recently identified seven new genes connected to the most common form of diabetes. The findings, presented in three reports by university scientists and one by a private company, offer novel insights into the biology of a disease that affects 170 million people worldwide.

The reports bring the number of well-attested genes involved in adult-onset, or Type 2 diabetes up to 10, from the three known previously. The new genes do not immediately suggest any new therapy, but may point to a new biological basis for the disease, from which effective treatments could emerge in time.

DeCode Genetics, an Icelandic company responsible for one of the reports, has dominated the genetic-research field for the past five years. The other papers come from three academic consortia, led by Dr. David Altshuler of the Broad Institute, Michael Boehnke of the University of Michigan and Mark McCarthy of the University of Oxford in England.

Several researchers said that the new diabetes studies, and a soon-to-be-released report on seven major diseases prepared by the Welcome Trust in London, were a turning point in the pursuit of the genes that underlie common diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and schizophrenia. The variant genes are common, but each makes only a small contribution to disease, rendering them hard to identify.

There is considerable overlap in the diabetes genes identified in the recent four reports, giving the authors confidence that at last their whole genome association method is producing reliable results.

Until recently, “there was no sense of progress” in tracking down the genes of diabetes or other common diseases, Dr. Altshuler said. The logjam started to break a year ago with DeCode’s report of its TCF7L2 gene, and the consistent findings reported by the academic centers “has to be acknowledged as substantial progress,” Dr. Altshuler said.

Dr. Boehnke agreed, saying, “It’s very exciting to have results in which we truly believe.” Up until now, he said, diabetes research has been what his professor warned would be “a geneticist’s nightmare.”

The importance of the new genes is that they point to previously unknown pathways involved in diabetes. Dr. Altshuler agreed with Dr. Stefansson’s view that DeCode’s TCF7L2 gene has the greatest effect on diabetes, but said the other genes provide new insights regardless of the size of their effects. “The fact that none of the genes found were on anyone’s radar screen shows how much there is to learn,” Dr. Altshuler said.

“I tip my hat to DeCode,” he said. “But the technology is now widely available,” and, in his view, the only barrier to other teams contributing to gene discovery would be if they dropped the high standards of statistical rigor developed by the three academic consortia.

Several of the new variant genes make the pancreatic beta cells produce less insulin, Dr. Altshuler said. That suggests that diabetes may start as a disease of too little insulin production, even though patients turn up in the doctor’s office making too much insulin, to which their tissues have become resistant.

The variant genes found so far account for only two to 20 percent of the overall risk of diabetes, implying there are many more to be found. The present genes are not sufficient to distinguish reliably between people at low- or high-risk for diabetes, Dr. Boehnke said.

By mapping the human genome, scientists are discovering which individuals are more prone to certain diseases and conditions. But genetics are just half the story – how you treat your body when you’re young will also certainly affect your health when you get older.

Pat Carpenter writes for Precedent Insurance Company. Precedent puts a new spin on health insurance. Learn more at http://www.precedent.com

Insulin resistance affects tens of millions in the United States. While insulin resistance can run in families, it is most influenced by lack of activity and the consumption of too much unrefined sugar. Both lead to an overweight condition, which then makes the problem of insulin resistance worse.

In order to understand insulin resistance, it is first important to understand how the body’s normal insulin-glucose cycle works, then what can go wrong with this cycle.

What is Insulin Resistance?

Insulin resistance is just what it sounds like – the pancreas produces more insulin than the body’s cells need. What’s more interesting is how insulin resistance develops in the first place.

How Should the Insulin Cycle Work Normally?

Your body has a finely-tuned mechanism for determining how much sugar is needed in the cells in order to function properly. The cycle goes like this:

The body has some glucose in each of its cells. Cells use up glucose due to activity. Brain cells use glucose if you’re thinking a lot (like doing a math problem or writing a speech). In fact, brain cells use around 20% of all the glucose your entire body needs – it’s an area that needs constant glucose in order to function!

The pancreas detects that the cells need more fuel – glucose – to carry on their functions. This organ produces insulin and sends it into the bloodstream. In a properly-functioning system, the cells absorb the insulin, which then triggers them to absorb more glucose.

The cells, triggered by the insulin, take in more glucose to keep their functions going.

As the level of circulating glucose declines, the insulin spurs your liver to produce more glucose. If it has lots of sugars nearby, it will use those (like when you’ve just eaten a candy bar). If there is less sugar, it will go to complex carbohydrates. If there’s none of that around, the liver will convert fat to glucose.

The glucose then circulates in your bloodstream and finds its way to the cells, whose appetite has been whetted by the insulin that they’ve absorbed.

And If I’m Insulin-Resistant, How does It Go Wrong?

The body’s finely-tuned insulin-glucose cycle worked well when we were all pursuing active lifestyles. The caveman hunters who had to run after prey every day got lots of exercise. And they ate foods that were unprocessed: game meats, complex carbohydrates (whole grains such as rice or wheat) and lots of fiber from tubers and other vegetables. The body never had an excess of sugars, as they just weren’t available in the diet.

This virtuous cycle persisted until a hundred years ago. People still worked hard in the factories and the fields, and food was generally wholesome.

In modern times, sedentary lifestyles and the high consumption of refined starches (like white bread) and sugars (like soft drinks or juice) have led to a disruption of this insulin-glucose cycle. The body consumes too much sugar and the cells use too little glucose. The result: circulating glucose levels and circulating insulin levels remain high as the pancreas tries to offset the overabundance of sugars in our system. Over time the cells become resistant to insulin, which means that ever increasing amounts are required for the same response.

The result is insulin resistance. It’s a plague, but one that can be combatted by reducing our intake of refined sugars, losing a few pounds, and getting off the couch and putting our muscles to work!

Scott Meyers is a staff writer for http://www.ItsEntirelyNatural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site.

Many of our diseases are the result of a sedentary lifestyle as well as an unhealthy diet. Your body is meant to be used and will quickly deteriorate if it is not.
Physical activity should be a high priority in your daily program. Try to engage in some form of aerobic exercise at least five days a week and some form of resistance exercise at least two or three times a week. Here’s why.

Aerobic exercise is essential for building stamina and cardio-respiratory fitness but you also need strength training.
The Australian Council on the Aging has listed the following benefits, based on medical research, of strength or resistance training:

1 Regain and retain muscle strength, no matter what your age.

2 Improve strength, balance, gait, flexibility and coordination, which in turn improves your ability to lift, walk, bend, climb stairs and enjoy life.

3 Is an effective method of preserving bone density and combating osteoporosis.

4 Is an effective strategy for fat loss and management of type 2 diabetes.

For the purpose of this article, I will focus on items three and four.

PRESERVING BONE DENSITY.

Osteoporosis is caused by the gradual loss of calcium from bones after the age of 35, when the bone building cycle changes and bones start to break down faster than they rebuild.
Osteoporosis is preventable and its progress can be halted even after calcium loss has started.

Dozens of studies show that weight bearing exercise, even something as simple as walking, actually strengthens your bones. Resistance training slows down the loss of bone mineral content thus reducing the risk of osteoporosis.

Keeping your bones and muscles strong means you maintain functional strength for everyday activities. Loss of muscle and strength is a natural part of aging, but this will speed up with inadequate diet and lack of exercise.

To be fully effective your exercise should be combined with a bone building diet.
Your diet should include plenty of calcium rich foods. Good sources of calcium include tinned fish, green vegetables, sesame seeds and paste, oysters, almonds and baked beans.
If you take calcium supplements, it is important that you combine with magnesium and vitamin D. Magnesium helps keep calcium in the bones and vitamin D helps keep your bones strong. A major source is sunlight which enables your body to make vitamin D in your skin cells. This is crucial for calcium absorption.

FAT LOSS AND DIABETES MANAGEMENT.

Weight training has much to offer those who are overweight, due to the role of muscle in increasing metabolism. Muscle tissue is a huge user of your available energy supplies and will burn calories even when you are at rest. So the more lean muscle you are able to develop, the more fat you will burn even when you are not exercising.

Those with type 2 diabetes will benefit from resistance training. There is a strong correlation between obesity and insulin resistance, where the body develops an inability to metabolise sugar. Insulin resistance hinders the absorption of glucose from the bloodstream into human cells.

Never start a new treatment before consulting your doctor, especially if you are currently taking medication. The information published in this article is not intended as a substitute for personal medical advice from your physician or other qualified health-care practitioner. It is for information purposes only.

Graeme A Lanham is a health/fitness researcher and author of “Your Life Fitness”, a book devoted to the latest advances in the science of health, fitness and antiageing.Visit http://www.yourlifefitness.com for FREE links to current health studies and reports, plus a FREE subscribers newsletter.

Diabetes and obesity are reaching epidemic proportions and both are closely related to our lifestyle. Unless we change some of our lifestyle habits,this trend is likely to continue.
So, how can you improve your fitness and start your weight loss program?

Here are 7 suggestions.

DRINK PLENTY OF WATER AND AVOID SOFT DRINKS.
A recent research study published in the Journal of The American Medical Association found a direct correlation between drinking soft drinks and obesity. Refined sugar with its high glycemic index is the enemy of weight loss.
An article published in the Los Angeles Times,September 15 2005, titled: “Liquid Candy. The Rise of Soft Drinks in America.” stated: “Soft drinks are currently the primary source of added sugar and studies connect them to obesity and nutrient deficits”.
Dr Joseph Mercola, author of “The Total Health Program” warns:”To be truly healthy, you will need to seriously consider reducing or eliminating all sugars from your diet. Consider the fact that your risk of obesity increases by a whopping 60% for each can of soda you drink a day.” Some popular soft drinks contain as much as 9 teaspoons of sugar!

Beware also low calorie or diet drinks. Check the labels to see if they contain Aspartame, a substance that can be toxic.

FORGET STARVATION DIETS.
If you go on a crash or starvation diet, you may have a speedy but transient weight loss. You will lose predominantly lean muscle and that’s what you don’t want!
Your body senses famine and goes into starvation mode. It slows down the fat burning or metabolic rate and begins to store fat.
This is the opposite to what you want to achieve.

EXERCISE DAILY.
Your body was designed to be active and a sedentary lifestyle slows down its metabolism. You don’t have to take part in high intensity exercises. Simple fitness activities such as gardening, walking and climbing stairs are beneficial. Weight bearing or resistance exercises are particularly beneficial as they build lean muscle mass and help burn fat.

These exercises are an important part of any weight loss program.

EAT BALANCED MEALS.
Try to include a balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in your diet. Your best carbohydrates are complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, high fiber bread, fruit and vegetables. These have a low glycemic index and are released to the body slowly with increased feelings of fullness.
They are also high in fiber, an essential part of any weight loss diet. Psillium husks and ground flaxseed are excellent sources of fiber.

HAVE A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP.
In a study reported in a recent issue of Archives of Internal Medicine,researchers found that overweight and obese subjects slept less than those with a normal body mass index.
The message is clear. Try to get at least 7 hours sleep each night and if possible avoid late night meals.
Stress is a major factor in sleep loss and supplementing your diet with B group vitamins, valerian root extract or valerian tea may help.
A magnesium supplement prior to going to bed may also help.
Generally they work just as well as prescription, or over the counter drugs without the side effects. You should first consult your doctor if you are having sleeping problems.

EAT REGULAR SMALL MEALS.
Most people in their healthy weight range tend to stop eating once they feel the edge has been taken off their hunger. They know they can always have more later, when they’re hungry. Try eating when you’re hungry and stop when the edge has been taken off your hunger. Binge eating places strains on your digestive system and won’t help your weight loss and fitness program.
The important message is to eat smaller portions and enjoy a variety of low GI foods to meet your daily nutritional requirements.

FINALLY, FOOD AND YOUR EMOTIONS.
It’s not normal to think about food morning, noon and night. Yet this what most people with a weight loss problem do.
You need to become comfortable with food again. Try only to think about your next meal when you get hungry,eat it,then forget it.

Food is often used by those with weight loss and fitness problems to help them deal with emotional issues. If you think you might be an emotional overeater,you need to uncover the emotions that are the cause. Are you angry, stressed or frustrated?
Once you know why you overeat, you can then focus on constructive ways to resolve it. You may need to discuss this in greater detail with your family doctor.

Is weight loss a concern for you? In his new book “Your Life Fitness,” author and fitness/health researcher Graeme Lanham outlines in easy to read style all you need to know about the latest advances in health, fitness and antiageing.
Visit http://www.yourlifefitness.com for 2 special FREE bonuses.