An article which looks at the increasing statistics of diagnosed diabetes cases in children, including a huge increase in Type 2 diagnoses, and asks, ‘why?’ Are our habits hurting our children?

Children will be children, of course, and they can make poor health choices by eating the wrong foods. But isn’t it really up to families to encourage and incorporate a healthy lifestyle at home? And when they don’t, children are more likely to fall prey to health problems and are more prone to diabetes.

At the end of the day, everyone in the family needs to pull together as one team on the same side — the side that keeps illnesses like diabetes and other unhealthy issues at bay.

Most people groan and moan at the thought of healthy living. But it doesn’t have to be such a grind. Physical exercise can be fun when done together as a group. Family members can take turns in coming up with new and interesting, but healthy recipes to cook every day. Slowly but surely, the benefits of healthy living will rub off on everyone.

This is an important issue to discuss with the entire family.

Having diabetes as a child is difficult, along with often painful treatment, there is often a sense of deprivation and “not being like the other kids.” A new study has found that children may lose up to an hour a day because of their diabetes.

Diabetic children spend up to an hour a day managing their condition, adversely affecting their attitudes towards treatment, new Australian research shows. A study by University of Adelaide researchers tracked 160 children with chronic illnesses over two years to find out how much time it takes to do their daily treatment tasks.

The results, published in the latest Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health, show children with cystic fibrosis, an incurable genetic disease, spend 57-74 minutes a day on treatments like physiotherapy.

Therapies for type 1 diabetes – including daily glucose testing, insulin injections and dietary changes – took 28-58 minutes out of each child’s day.

Also, even to kids without diabetes, spending more time in front of the TV makes them sedentary, increasing their risk of becoming obese.

How much more if your child has type1 diabetes? More TV time will do no good in controlling their blood sugar levels.

As confirmed by a Norwegian study:
…diabetic children who spend a great deal of time watching television had a tougher time controlling their blood sugar.

… encouraging children with Type-1 diabetes to watch less television may play an crucial role for improving blood sugar control and better health overall.

Kids should really have more active time and even adults too for that matter. But I understand how difficult this is to accomplish sometimes, especially when TV time is the easiest “baby-sitter’ to young kids in this day and age of computers and playstations.

However, as parents we should encourage our kids to have a more active lifestyle, with or without diabetes.

The author writes about Berberine and blogs at http://www.daily-diabetic.com/.

They are joining the lowly ranks of candy and sugary sweets. Some researchers even warn against diet soda, claiming it could lead to a loss of calcium. And of course, ‘regular’ soda is being blamed for contributing to weight gain and diabetes.

Then, with regards to association with heart disease, it doesn’t matter which one you chose, both are linked to increased risk of heart disease and developing metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including excess waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL “good” cholesterol) and high fasting glucose levels — three or more of which, increases a person’s risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It also increases the risk of heart disease by two to four times that than the normal population and increases the risk of type-2 diabetes by nine to 30 times, not to mention its detrimental effects to the kidneys, liver, ovaries, a person’s ability to sleep and even dementia.

According to statistics, metabolic syndrome affects up to 30 percent of the industrialized world’s population, and is expected to affect 50 to 75 million Americans by the year 2010.

As reported by the Framingham researchers in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, drinking one or more soft drink daily (whether regular or diet) may increase the risk factors for heart disease, among others:
- 31 percent greater risk of developing new-onset obesity (defined as a body mass index [BMI] of 30 kilograms/meter2 or more);
- 30 percent increased risk of developing increased waist circumference;
- 25 percent increased risk of developing high blood triglycerides or high fasting blood glucose;
- 32 percent higher risk of having low HDL levels.

A trend towards an increased risk of developing high blood pressure that was not statistically significant. According to Ravi Dhingra, M.D., lead author of the study and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School: “Moderation in anything is the key. If you are drinking one or more soft drinks a day, you may be increasing your risk of developing metabolic risk factors for heart disease.”

For those who already have diabetes, soft drinks are double trouble anyway. What with all that sugar content!

Also, According to Ramachandran Vasan, M.D., senior author of the Framingham Heart Study and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine: One explanation is that the fructose corn syrup in regular soft drinks causes weight gain, and can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes. But then you would expect to see an association with regular soft drinks, but not diet soft drinks.

Our findings suggest that this is not the case. Another possible explanation is that consuming more liquids is associated with a lesser degree of dietary compensation. However, the researchers admit that these results need to be replicated in further studies before recommendations can be made.

The author writes about Snacks for Diabetics and blogs at http://www.daily-diabetic.com/.

VeraLight Inc. is the developer of the non-invasive diabetes-screening device code-named “Scout” and its researchers conducted the study on 322 subjects ranging from 21 to 88 years old with a broad range of skin color. Manufactured in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Scout DS is a simple-to-use device that weighs about 10 pounds and does not require the patient to fast or provide a blood sample but instead uses light directed onto a small area of an individual’s forearm to be able to detect abnormal concentrations of advanced glycation end products (AGEs).

AGEs has been found to correlate well with diabetes and pre-diabetes and are associated with the disease’s serious complications. AGEs are a sensitive metric for the cumulative damage the body endures due to the effects of abnormally high blood sugar and oxidative stress. AGEs harm the proteins that make up the blood vessels, connective tissue, and are thought to be major factors in aging and age-related chronic diseases.
Previous studies have shown that a Scout DS prototype is better than both the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test and the A1C test as a rapid and non-invasive screen for pre-diabetes and type2 diabetes. IGT is a condition that often progresses to type 2 diabetes, therefore its detection is very crucial.
“…results showed a prototype of the device was able to identify 78% more individuals with the IGT form of pre-diabetes than the FPG test, and 47% more than the A1C test.”

This medical device is slated for U.S. market introduction in the second half of 2008 and was previewed for the first time last week at the 67th annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association held at McCormick Place in Chicago. It is able to detect abnormal concentrations of the skin biomarkers known to be associated with diabetes in less than one minute using fluorescent light from an individual’s forearm.

According to Timothy J. Lyons, M.D., a clinical investigator for VeraLight who heads the endocrinology section at the Oklahoma University Health Science Center:
“Considering its excellent speed, convenience and sensitivity, the Scout DS may be ideally suited to detect the more than 70 million individuals worldwide who have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.

VeraLight’s diabetes screening technology represents a critical response to the worldwide diabetes epidemic, making screening more accurate and accessible to everyone at risk for this devastating disease.”

Take note: WITHOUT drawing blood and no overnight fasting prior to testing, unlike the FPG and AIC test.

Wow, non-blood pre-diabetes screening?! I am all for that kind.

The author writes about Snacks for Diabetes and blogs at http://www.daily-diabetic.com/.

A diabetic diet is a balanced healthy diet with appropriate mixture of carbohydrates, proteins and fats at each meal so as to both provide essential nutrients as well as create an even release of glucose into the blood from meal to meal on a daily basis. A diet for diabetes, however, needs to be adjusted to suit each diabetic’s requirement as there are tend to be differences in everyone’s level of physical activities, injections of insulin (if taking) and intake of oral diabetic drugs, and the action and timing of the medications taken.

The exchange lists, which are dietary guidelines from the American Diabetes Association, are the basis of a meal planning system designed by a committee of the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association. There are differing philosophies on what is the best diet but below is a guideline with some general principles. Patients with Type 1 diabetes should have a diet that has approximately 35 calories per kg of body weight per day (or 16 calories per pound of body weight per day). Patients with Type 2 diabetes generally are put on a 1500-1800 calorie diet per day to promote weight loss and then the maintenance of ideal body weight.

Most people with diabetes find that it is quite helpful to sit down with a dietician or nutritionist for a consult about what is the best diet for them and how many daily calories they need. It is quite important for diabetics to understand the principles of carbohydrate counting and how to help control blood sugar levels through proper diet.

To keep blood sugar levels under control, a diabetic diet strikes a balance among the carbohydrates, fats, and protein you take in.

Carbohydrates:

Carbohydrates are the source of energy that starts with glucose, the sugar in your bloodstream, and includes substances containing many sugar molecules called complex carbohydrates, starches, cellulose, and gums. Carbohydrates comprise the highest source of blood sugar and are the primary fuel for your body and brain. Carbohydrates are any food that can be broken down into sugar and the more of these you eat the higher your blood sugar will rise.

Fat:

Fats should contain no more than the 30% of the daily basis calorie count. Fats are the most important concern for diabetics because the management of cholesterol is done according to the amount of fat taken into the body. The dietary key to managing cholesterol, then, lies in understanding fats and oils.

Reducing the consumption of saturated fats and trans-fatty acids is the number one step in managing weight and cholesterol. To manage these fats it is important to understand both saturated fats and trans fatty acids. Saturated fats are found in animal products and dairy products. Trans-fatty acids are created through a process called hydrogenation. These fats can be found in stick margarine and in fast foods, baked goods and white breads.

Protein:

Protein is another element that is important to take account of in the diabetic diet. Protein foods do not raise your blood sugar, so you can add more fish, eggs, meat, etc with your meals. Protein is limited to 15-20% of the total calorie requirement of the body. Whenever you eat a meal or snack, it should always include a small amount of protein that has its own natural fat. The protein food with its own natural fat tends to hold onto the food longer so that your blood sugar doesn’t spike and then drop immediately.

A diabetic diet can be customized to suit each patient’s preferences, and a nutritionist can help with this. This type of diet should also take into consideration the medical condition, lifestyle and eating habits of the diabetic patient.

If you are diabetic or know someone who is and you want to learn more about diabetic diet plans please visit the website Diabetic Diet Plans by clicking here.

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder that tends to be recognized through high levels of blood sugar and other physical manifestations, and it differs significantly from a typical illness or chronic disease. There are several types of diabetes known to the medical community, and all are caused by a variety of different things – in fact, current research in the medical community tends to discover new potential causes of diabetes each year.

Ultimately, diabetes is brought on by an individual’s pancreas becoming unable to produce the necessary amount of insulin to prevent the development of hyperglycemia. Once a person has developed type 1 or type 2 diabetes, it is incurable – but it is treatable. If the diabetes is not controlled through medical treatment, it can lead to life-threatening complications, such as a higher risk of heart failure, blindness, severe nerve damage, and foot wounds that could lead to amputation.

Type 1 diabetes differs from type 2 in that it is more commonly found in men, and it may have a small genetic link. This type of diabetes tends to develop when the cells inside of one’s pancreas are attacked by the immune system, disallowing the pancreas to produce the required amount of insulin and thereby causing an insulin deficiency. It is also possible to develop type 1 diabetes through after-complications of viral infections contracted during one’s childhood or youth. These may take a toll on the immune system, causing it to malfunction later in one’s life.

Type 2 diabetes has a much larger genetic link, generally resulting from a predisposition toward the disease and lifestyle choices that cause the disease to develop. Parents may pass this disease on to their children at birth, though it is possible to reduce the risk of ever developing type 2 diabetes: this involves wise choices when it comes to lifestyle habits and diet, such as reducing or eliminating the consumption of high-fat foods and excessive alcohol, keeping active, and being careful to avoid becoming overweight.

It is possible for type 2 diabetes to become onset with age, regardless of previous lifestyle choices, simply due to genetics. Risk for genetically onset diabetes tends to increase at around 45 years old, and after 65 the risk becomes even greater.

In addition, there are certain ethnic groups whose genetic predisposition toward developing type 2 diabetes is much higher. These groups include African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Japanese Americans. Individuals belonging to these ethnic groups would do well to take extra care when it comes to diet and lifestyle, in order to ensure a long and happy life.

Chiron Data provides diabetes software for diabetes management experts.