Private Health Care Management: Blood sugar

Friday, October 2, 2009

Diabetes and Kidney Disease

Description: Fundus photo showing scatter lase...

Diabetes is a disaterous disease that affects kidneys, blood vessels and every other organ in the body. It is a problem in which the body is unable to produce or properly use insulin. Insulin, a hormone that is necessary for converting starches, sugar and other food into energy. The precursor of diabetes is unknown and there is no known cure. However, effective control may be achieved under a endocrinologist's care.

Endocrinologists are specialists that treat diabetes. They are easy to find in most areas. Here are some examples: David Alster, MD of Tucson AZ, Gilbert Theodore Brovar, MD in South Weymouth, MA, Stephen F. Brandt, MD at the Emory University Division of Endocrinology of Atlanta, GA, Franklin R. Bringhurst, MD in Walpole, MA, Arnold M. Moses, MD of Syracuse NY

In 2005, it was estimated that there were 20.8 million children and adults who are afflicted by this disease. That is about 7% of the population. Of those, 14.6 million people were diagnosed, but 6.2 million people were thought to have diabetes but it had not been discovered yet. Additionally, just about 54 million folks are pre-diabetic with one and a half million diabetes found in people older than 20, showing up each year.

Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney disease. Truly, high blood pressure and diabetes are the major causes of kidney disease, leading to probably 70 percent of kidney failure cases with diabetes accounting of 44 percent of kidney failure cases. The early stages of kidney disease have no symptoms . It injures your body and by the time it is detected, the injury is so problematic that it often is too involved to prevent failure of the kidneys. Once your kidneys fail, you have two options: kidney transplant or dialysis. If you do not receive either of these, you will die.

How Diabetes causes Renal Disease

When your kidneys are serving properly, the glomeruli (tiny filters that are in the kidneys) keep all proteins inside of your blood. Protein is critical for many operations inside of your body and are necessary for keeping you healthy. Diabetes causes a high concentration of glucose in the blood which damages the glomeruli. This means that they can no longer keep the protein in the body and it is leaked into the urine from the kidneys.

When kidneys are damaged they no longer function properly and do not cleanse our extra fluids and waste as they should. When this occurs, the waste and fluids build up in the body instead of being expelled through urine. The longer this happens, the worse the damage becomes until the kidneys eventually fail.

The Progression of Renal Disease

It often requires years for kidney disease from diabetes to develop. Some people experience hyperfiltration in the first few years of their diabetes. This means that the glomeruli actually put out more urine than normal. Once damage starts, though, it will continue to progress. While developing kidney disease, they will have a serum protein named albumin that finally begins to enter into the urine in small amounts. At that time, normally the glomeruli are actually working normally.

The progression of the disease leads to more protein leaking into the urine and the glomeruli begin to eventually fail as the filtering begins to drop. Waste is retained in the blood due to the filtration failure. Eventually, the kidneys cease to function.

How to Prevent Kidney Problems if you have Diabetes

Having diabetes, you can normally prevent kidney failure. Use these steps to protect yourself: * Control your blood sugar by maintaining a healthy diet and a good exercise regimen * Take your medicine according to your doctors orders * Have your medical provider test your urine regularly for kidney disease * If the blood test shows that you do have kidney disease, consider medicines such as ARBs (angiotensin II receptor blockers) and ACE inhibitors that can help keep your kidneys healthy.

A diagnosis of diabetes does not have to lead to kidney disease. As long as you adequately treat your condition, manage it well and follow your provider's orders, there is no reason that you can't live a long, healthy, happy life - without kidney disease.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

An Introduction to Type 1 Diabetes: The facts you should know

Thought to be a fairly uncommon problem, Type I diabetes affects approximately one out of every 250 people, both young and old, living in the US today. Although "juvenile" has long been the appellation of this type of the disease, as in Type I juvenile onset diabetes, the condition may actually occur at any age in life, and appears equally among both females and males.

There are many hundreds things that can go wrong with your body. Consider this short list:

11 beta hydroxylase deficiency - Cutaneous anthrax - Fragoso Cid Garcia Hernandez syndrome - Fetal cytomegalovirus syndrome - COFS syndrome - Fetal phenothiazine syndrome - Allergic autoimmune thyroiditis - 49 xxxxx syndrome - Angiotensin renin aldosterone hypertension - Carpenter Hunter type - Bacterial endocarditis

Fortunately, even most doctors have not heard of some of these. But even though it is considered fairly uncommon, you probably know someone with Juvenile Onset Diabetes.

Symptoms

While the signs and symptoms of Type I diabetes tend to be subtle in most cases, if not treated, they can eventually become quite severe. Some of the most common symptoms include:

Blurry vision - Heavy or labored breathing for no apparent reason - Tingling in the hands or feet - Increased hunger, even just after eating - Frequent urination - Increased thirst - Frequent skin, vaginal, or urinary tract infections

Some of the more serious symptoms and signs associated with Type I diabetes that demand an urgent need for medical attention include:

Abdominal pain Fruity or sweet smelling breath Loss of consciousness, rarely in extreme cases Confusion Shaking, trembling

Causes

Scientists still aren't aware of some of the factors causing one to have Type I diabetes. But, they do know that a tendency to the condition may be inherited from one or both parents. Researchers have discovered that juvenile onset diabetes may also be caused by something in the environment that causes an unexpected reaction within the immune system. But, they are unsure as to the exact origin of these possible triggers.

Diagnosis

For an accurate diagnosis of Type I diabetes, a family doctor must check for abnormally high blood sugar levels by performing a blood test, or also testing for the presence of glucose or ketones in the urine. Today, there is no way to test for impending Type I diabetes, or a method to prevent this type of diabetes.

Treatment

There are many people, of all ages, who enjoy long, quite healthy lives despite having Type I diabetes. It's imperative to keep blood sugar levels within their normal range, which may be achieved by eating the right foods, getting enough exercise, and the correct insulin therapy consistentlyone or more times a day. Anyone with this disease is require to have insulin injections in order to properly control their blood sugar level, which will also have to be tested regularly.

Without treatment, Type I diabetes may evolve into or cause several serious conditions, some of which may be life-threatening. Kidney disease is a quite common complication in those with the disease with a condition known as nephropathy. Other possible complications include retinopathy, which causes a loss of vision, heart disease, nerve damageand digestive disorders which may also result without medical treatment.

Although a serious condition, Type I diabetes is a problem that can still be successfully managed with the right medical care.

Private Health Care Management

Friday, October 2, 2009

Diabetes and Kidney Disease

Thursday, October 1, 2009

An Introduction to Type 1 Diabetes: The facts you should know

Blog Archive

My favourite Site