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Do you want to manage the consequences of type 2 diabetes?
Or do you prefer that the consequences manage you?
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Beverleigh Piepers RN is a
professional nurse registered in Australia and the USA. She specializes
in coaching and educating people about type 2 diabetes. Beverleigh is
the author of over 700 articles and several
e-books on managing
type 2 diabetes ... drug-free.
http://drugfreetype2diabetes.com
PO Box 384, Blaxland, 2774 Australia
Telephone +61 282 300 593
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Next Page:
Beating Type 2 Diabetes
Let's start at the beginning …
Hormones are chemicals that your body manufactures them to
affect other parts of your body. Your health depends on producing
sufficient hormones and on those hormones doing their work.
One hormone, insulin, is essential - not only for your health
but for your life. Insulin is produced by your pancreas and travels
in your blood throughout your body.
Insulin's main job is to transport sugar (glucose) into your cells ...
without insulin, your body tissues will die ... and you will starve.
No matter how much food you eat, without insulin, the energy your
food provides cannot enter your cells. Your blood sugar will soar ...
your body will weaken, sicken and, without treatment, your body will
die. Doctors will likely tell you that you have chronic
hyperglycemia ... diabetes.
Why is Diabetes becoming so Common?
Diabetes is not a contagious infection although it is spreading like
an epidemic in most parts of the world. Diabetes is the name for the
consequences of chronic high blood sugar.
Juvenile-onset diabetes is an autoimmune disease
- the body's own immune system attacks and destroys the cells in
the pancreas gland that produce insulin. Called type 1 diabetes,
symptoms usually appear suddenly in young people under 20 years old.
Juvenile-onset diabetes (now called type 1) was recognized in antiquity
but the remedy - insulin - was only found in 1921. Since then, for
people with type 1 diabetes, insulin is an everyday necessity.
Another type of diabetes was recognized in the 1950's, at about the
the time when many people were adopting processed-food diets. Medical
researchers called it type 2 diabetes, and found that
there can be ample insulin in the blood, but the body cells stop
responding to it, largely because of visceral fat. (Abdominal fat
secretes hormones called adipokines that restrict insulin's benefits.)
Children usually develop type 1 diabetes rapidly, but type 2 usually
develops slowly in older adults … taking up to 15 years. Type 2 diabetes
is linked to lifestyle and especially to diet. Its incidence reflects
the increased consumption of processed food (with all the added sugars,
corn syrup, artificial colors & flavors, additives, preservatives,
pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics etc) and the popularity of fast food.
Processing food has but one purpose ... to
make more money.
Although the incidence of both types of diabetes is increasing,
type 2 diabetes is escalating out of control and comprises about
90% of all diabetes cases.
Symptoms of Diabetes
If your cells cannot absorb sugar from your blood, the first
symptom is often physical and mental fatigue. You lose your vitality.
Your kidneys try to excrete the excess sugar ... so you visit the
bathroom more, passing excessive urine, both day and night. Of course,
you must drink much more water or fluids ... your thirst may feel
almost unquenchable.
The consequences of chronic high blood sugar - fatigue, frequent
urination, dehydration and thirst may lead to a visit to a health
care provider ... and then to a diagnosis of diabetes. People who
ignore these symptoms may suffer heart or kidney diseases ...
again leading to a doctor and a diagnosis.
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Symptoms of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes |
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Type 1 (usually young people under 20) |
Type 2 (usually obese people over 40) |
- rapid onset
- weight loss (body fat and muscle)
- fatigue
- blurred vision
- frequent urination
- increased thirst
- increased hunger
- difficulty concentrating
- confusion
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- slow onset
- fatigue
- frequent urination
- blurred vision
- slow healing of skin
- urinary infections
- genital itching
- gum disease
- numbness in feet or legs
- heart disease
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Other symptoms are reactions to or compensation for high blood sugar
and low cellular energy. Acute complications include hypoglycemia,
ketoacidosis and coma. Chronic complications include cardiovascular
disease, dementia, chronic kidney failure, eye damage and gangrene.
Diagnosis
A provisional diagnosis of type 2 diabetes will be made if a person
has these symptoms plus blood sugar levels over 125 mg/dL (7 mmol/L)
after fasting for eight hours. A health care provider will
probably follow up with an oral glucose tolerance test, and if the
level is over 200 mg/dL (11 mmol/L) two hours later ... a definite
diagnosis of type 2 diabetes can be made.
(A normal glucose tolerance test value is less than 140 mg/dL
(7.8 mmol/L) but chronic blood sugar levels exceeding 125 mg/dl
(7 mmol/l) can cause organ damage).
A diagnosis of type 2 diabetes means that sugar cannot enter your
cells. Your pancreas produces more insulin to fix this problem ...
but cannot overcome the resistance produced by a poor diet
... hormones from excess abdominal fat, high blood pressure and
cholesterol / triglycerides in your blood.
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Risk Factors for Type II Diabetes |
- overweight
- over forty years of age
- have a family history of type 2 diabetes
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- high fat diets
- sedentary lifestyles
- suffer major physical and emotional stress
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If your blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high
enough for a diagnosis of diabetes, this condition is sometimes called
pre-diabetes or impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or impaired glucose tolerance
(IGT). In 2007, about one in four adults aged 20 years or older - about 57
million people - were estimated to have pre-diabetes in the U.S. alone.
From: National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
Living with Diabetes
Treatment of type 2 diabetes includes controlling blood
pressure and maintaining a healthy body weight. Yes, it can be THAT
simple ... in theory ... for motivated people.
The pancreas of a healthy non-diabetic person secretes about
about 20 to 30 units of insulin per day - perfectly timed with
the absorption of food. (Nowadays, supplemental insulin is seldom
used to treat type 2 diabetes until other medications fail to
control blood sugar.)
A diagnosis of type 2 diabetes does not mean you cannot live
a rich, full life. Why not see it as a challenge, one
that can become a turning point in your life? A challenge where
you learn about and manage many aspects of your health.
Type 2 diabetes cannot be cured by medication or surgery ...
rather by proactive participation! At the center is your motivation
to live life fully ... followed by a healthy diet. Without these,
nothing else will work ... your motivation to be healthy and your
diet are ever the foundations of your health.
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Preventing and Managing Lifestyle Diseases |
- inspiration to be healthy
- healthy diet and foods
- healthy blood sugar levels
- healthy weight management
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- deal with self-sabotage
- healthy blood pressure
- healthy cholesterol levels
- dissolve emotional baggage
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A good thing about lifestyle diseases such as type 2 diabetes
is that you can make a huge impact on the outcome. You can
control your own life or you can let a disease control your life
for you!
An appropriate diet for preventing and treating
diabetes can also help with hypertension,
Alzheimer's and other
lifestyle-based diseases that await aging people.
Next Page: Beating
Type 2 Diabetes
Please consult a physician about any opinions
or recommendations about medical symptoms.
Click HERE to meet Beverleigh
Plagiarism is theft. Copyright © Beverleigh Piepers
& Martyn Carruthers 2010, All rights reserved
Read about Preventing and Controlling Lifestyle Diseases
How Nature Cures by Emmet Densmore
The True Science of Living by Edward Dewey
The New Science of Healing
by Louis Kuhne
How to Prolong Life by Charles de Lacy Evans
Health & Survival in the 21st Century by Ross Horne, 1992, 1997
Confessions of a Medical Heretic by Doctor Robert Mendelsohn, 1979 |
