Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that occurs when the beta cells of the pancreas are unable to produce an adequate amount of insulin to prevent hyperglycemia.
Type 1 diabetes is usually caused by autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin. There is no known preventative measure that can be used against type 1 diabetes, as most people affected are otherwise healthy when onset occurs. Diet and exercise cannot reverse or prevent this type of diabetes. While this type of diabetes can affect both children and adults, it has a nickname of "juvenile diabetes" because the majority of its cases are found in children.
Type 2 is a tissue-wide insulin resistance that occurs due to a combination of defective insulin secretion and insulin resistance. It is usually first treated by attempts to change physical activity, diet, and weight loss. These measures can restore insulin sensitivity, allowing type 2 diabetics to regain satisfactory glucose control for years.
Both type 1 and 2 diabetes are incurable chronic conditions. However, they have been treatable ever since insulin became medically available and are usually managed today with a combination of dietary treatment, tablets, and insulin supplementation.
Diabetes causes many complications in its victims. Acute complications may occur if the disease is not looked over and controlled sufficiently enough. Serious long-term complications including cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, retinal damage, nerve damage, and micro vascular damage, which may cause erectile dysfunction and poor healing, are often a result of inadequate treatment of this disease. However, adequate treatment of diabetes, along with an increased watch on blood pressure control and lifestyle factors, may improve the risk profile of the above mentioned complications.
Many diabetics have trouble controlling their blood sugar. Even those who exercise regularly are still confused about what and how much they should be eating. The longer you deal with diabetes, the easier it will become for you to manage the disease.
Although regulating your blood sugar can be complicated, it is not impossible. There are many variables that affect blood sugar, including mood, stress, infection, illness, and sleep disturbances. Because blood sugar regulation isn't an exact science, you should meet with your doctor or dietician regularly to plan a diet customized especially for you.
Be sure to ask them questions, let them know your habits, and check in with your doctor to let him or her know your progress along with any problems you may be encountering.
It is a good idea to keep a food journal in which you document the kinds of foods you eat along with the serving sizes and your after-meal blood sugar levels plus any other helpful information your doctor may need.
Make sure to be specific because the more information you give your doctor and the better they will be at helping you.
Visiting with an herbalist or alternative care doctor could be a good idea too. They will be able to tell you with vitamins, minerals, herbal supplements, and alternative treatments that may help alleviate your symptoms.
There are numerous cookbooks that give guidelines on serving sizes for diabetics. There are also a lot of new computer programs that help diabetics plan their diets and calculate the amount of food to eat.
If you are able to access the internet, there are also many sites online which can help diabetics including diabetes.org, diabetes.com, diabetes-net.com, diabetic-lifestyle.com, diabeticdiet.net, and diabeticgourmet.com.
More information on diabetes can be found at http://vitanetonline.com/ where a large selection of diabetic supplements can be found to help manager your blood sugar.
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