Mon, Nov-03-08, 09:39
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Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
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Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
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From today's Daily Dish:
Quote:
Paying Attention to Prediabetes
November is American Diabetes Month, so it's a fitting time to learn about this disease and prediabetes, the condition that precedes type 2 diabetes.
According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly 23.6 million people in the United States have diabetes. (About 6.2 million of them don't even know they have it.) The ADA estimates the number of adults with prediabetes to be a staggering 54 million.
Type 2 diabetes is a condition defined by high blood-sugar levels and abnormal insulin action. (Insulin helps the body use a substance called glucose as a source of energy for movement, growth, repair, and other functions.) Poor control of type 2 diabetes affects the heart, nerves, eyes, and kidneys. Prediabetes, as the name implies, is characterized by blood-sugar levels that are above what is considered normal but not as high as those that occur with diabetes. People with prediabetes also tend to have high blood pressure, high triglycerides (fats that circulate in the blood), low HDL ("good") cholesterol levels, and significant belly fat — a cluster of symptoms that raise their risk for heart disease. Unfortunately, most people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes within ten years unless they make certain lifestyle changes — changes that have been found to be more effective for reversing prediabetes than medications, according to the National Institutes of Health.
"The most frustrating part about prediabetes and diabetes is that they are largely preventable, and in circumstances where diabetes can't be prevented, the onset can usually be postponed," says Dr. Arthur Agatston, preventive cardiologist and author of The South Beach Diet. "These conditions are brought on by a Western lifestyle — eating refined carbohydrates and unhealthy fats like trans fats and saturated fats, and inactivity," he explains. But a straightforward South Beach Diet approach to eating (an emphasis on lean proteins and good fats and carbs) and exercise can reverse prediabetes and diabetes. "Many of my patients actually started the South Beach Diet because they were diagnosed with prediabetes or diabetes, and I've witnessed their blood-glucose levels revert back to the normal range," adds Dr. Agatston.
The ADA recommends diabetes screenings every three years beginning at age 45. If you have symptoms of diabetes, which include excessive thirst and hunger, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss or fatigue, and irritability, see your doctor for a proper diagnosis and treatment.
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Wow You are all doing so Great! It gives me inspiration
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