Diabetes Signs, Symptoms and Treatments

I am writing this story to help you make decisions for yourself or a family member with heart disease or heart disease and diabetes that could save your life.

My sad story starts with my father, Abraham Kuhn. May he Rest in Peace - April 26, 1926 - April 4, 2007. I love you DAD.

My father had Diabetes Type 2 and heart disease. His diabetes was more or less under control. His heart was the problem. He had 2 bypass surgeries over the past 25 years.

He was having chest pains over the past 4 months, and the family kept sending him to his doctor and/or his cardiologist. He had EKGs done which only show the electrical activity occurring in my father’s heart.

As the chest pain and shortness of breath started occurring more and more, he was put on a nitroglycerin patch, along with all his other heart medications. First the patch was applied during the day and taken off at night, but then he was having chest pains at night. Then the cardiologist switched applying the patch at night and then removing the patch during the day for at least 8 hours.

Nothing seemed to be working anymore. We kept calling the cardiologist and he told us there is nothing more we can do except if he wants a procedure called Extracorporeal cardiac shock wave therapy or ECS. Not knowing too much about it and my father having to travel far for the treatment, discussion was just about dismissed.

My father and I just had enough and went to the ER at Robert Wood Johnson. He told me that the hospital will do more in depth tests to see what was wrong. He was upbeat about the whole visit to the ER and trusted the doctors at Robert Wood Johnson. They did some blood work that showed he had a small heart attack. He had a Standard Echocardiogram done but the cardiologist did
not order a TEE or TransEsophageal Echocardiogram.

A standard echocardiogram or Echo beam travels through the chest wall (skin, muscle, bone, tissue) and lungs to reach the heart. At times, closely positioned ribs, obesity and emphysema may create technical difficulties by limiting the transmission of the ultrasound beams to and from the heart. In my father’s case he was slightly obese.

In many cases, your doctor may select to get a transesophageal echo or TEE. Since the esophagus sits behind the heart, the echo beam does not have to go through the front of the chest, avoiding many of the obstacles described above. This gives a much clearer image of the heart, particularly, the back structures, such as the left atrium, which may not be seen as well by a standard echo taken from the front of the heart.

His new cardiologist from Robert Wood Johnson decided, based on his blood work and echocardiogram, to do a cardiac catheterization to possibly open a possible artery that may be blocked. If he had done a TEE before the surgery, most likely he would not have done a cardiac catheterization because the TEE would have shown moderate problems with his arterial valve and his mitral valve.

When the cardiologist started doing the cardiac catheterization, it put him in cardiogenic shock. His heart was failing and now they had to insert a balloon pump to help his heart pump the blood. My father was now on full support respirator, foley catheter and all these IVs and invasive lines going into his body.

The cardiologist did do a TEE after the fact that showed what was really wrong with the heart mostly problems with the heart valves.

After 4 days on full life support, he started spiking a temperature. All those invasive lines in my father was now giving my father septic shock. Eventually his blood became sepsis and died.

I know it was my father’s time to go but to all of the significant others and people that have heart disease, please do not accept a simple echocardiogram if you are having any kind of invasive surgery before they do a more in depth TEE. Even before going to the hospital, a stress test or other appropriate tests when chest pain is not at a critical state might have helped pinpoint what was going on with his heart. Unfortunately, my father didn’t think he could handle a stress test during those 4 months of on and off chest pain.

Dad, you will always be in my heart and I will love you forever. Always tell your loved ones how much you truly love them. But even more important is to spend more quality time with your loved ones. Once they are gone, you can’t wish your time back with them

1. Never stop learning. If you were to interview 10 people that have diabetes you would be amazed at how little information they actually know on the subject of this disease. One of the hallmarks of a healthy diabetic is that they never stop learning. Continuous education is of the utmost importance for a diabetic to help prevent or even reverse the effects of this disease.

In the field of diabetics there seems to be a never ending series of new information and new technology that can help diabetics live a longer and healthier lifestyle. Doctors are routinely coming up with major advances that you should know about.

As research becomes more and more prevalent, all these new technologies can help diabetics live a longer and healthier life. If you stay with the new diabetes information, then you can actually talk with your doctor about changing your regimen if your blood sugars are not stable.

2. Become your diet’s best friend. When faced with the reality that you have diabetes, watching the food that you eat and becoming highly conscious of nutrition is one practice that can save your life and prevent most complications in the future. Chances are that your health, obesity levels, and every day diet is of poor choice if you have just been diagnosed with diabetes. I say this because most adults who get diagnosed have led lives of very poor diet practices and eating entirely too much of the harmful foods.

Becoming your diet’s best friend means that you will want to watch every bite that you put in your mouth and ask yourself whether that bite is helping you or is going to deplete you of your body’s needs. This means that you need to follow a diabetic diet. Ironically enough, a true diabetic diet is one that anybody can follow who wants to nourish their body and have a constant supply of energy, regardless whether you have diabetes or not. It is a great diet for everyone.

3. Make exercise a habitual part of your everyday routine. As we mentioned above on the necessity of a sound diabetic diet to help prevent or reverse the effects of complications, exercise is equally important. People who have diabetes have to learn how to coordinate their food intake with the activity of their insulin.

People with diabetes usually have a tough time trying accomplishing their day-to-day activities if they’re lacking in some sort of exercise Whether you’re on insulin or oral diabetic medicine, exercise will help you get your insulin or oral tablet dose stablizied.

This can be a hard task to accomplish day in and day out and research has shown that people who are indeed having a tough time are lacking in daily exercise. However, other studies have shown that diabetics who exercise on a regular basis have little trouble when it comes to balancing their insulin and food. The type of exercise required for a diabetic to benefit from does not have to be long and tough marathons. All it takes are brisk walks throughout the day and as often as possible.

In order to prevent type 2 diabetes before complications can develop, it is important that you discuss your family’s medical history with your medical doctor or endocrinologist. It is possible you can have a genetic predisposition to Diabetes, especially Diabetes 2, doctors may be able to predict type 2 diabetes in advance sometimes by years before you have an actual diagnosis.

We are fortunate to be alive in a time when there is an huge amount of data and research done on the subject of diabetes based on thousands of patients. Because of this diabetes research, doctors are able to determine the environmental factors that are responsible for genetic predisposition before it turns into full-blown diabetes and complications.

Listed below can be prevalent environmental factors that might influence type 2 diabetes:

1. Living a sedentary lifestyle: There are many studies that demonstrate being a person or doesn’t exercise and even walk, greatly increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. The studies do not lie. The fact is that if you are physically inactive and eating high sugar and starchy foods, then you are at risk of triggering type 2 diabetes.

2. Maintaining a high body mass index: Body mass index, BMI, is the way doctors view weight in relation to your height. Generally, people that are genetically disposed to type 2 diabetes and are living a sedentary lifestyle with excessive weight, will usually have a very high BMI. When you’re fat ratio is more than your weight in comparison, then you are definitely at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

3. Visceral Fat: Once diabetics become overweight and pile on the extra fat, this weight is usually distributed centrally. This is known as visceral fat. You can check your levels of visceral fat by measuring your waistline. This type of fat is maintained in your midsection or abdominal area. Visceral fat is dangerous to a person who is genetically disposed to type 2 diabetes because initially it tends to create more insulin resistance then fat stored in other areas of the body, like your muscle areas.

4. Not enough fiber in your diet: Studies also show that people who have diabetes tend to lack enough fiber in their diet. Because dietary fiber helps slow down the rate of glucose that enters the bloodstream, it is considered a protective agent in the fight against diabetes. Fiber does help to stablize the blood sugar in a more straight line that up and down movements like when you eat sugary foods.

If you have a history of heart disease and diabetes in the family, try to exercise everyday even if it is 10 minutes a day and cut down on any sugary and fatty foods.

You may have researched the subject of diabetes through many publications and other avenues which tell you that the key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle as a diabetic is to eat a proper diet, have an active lifestyle, and taking the necessary medications.

Without a doubt, these are key items to living well and preventing complications that may arise from your diabetic condition. However, what many books and research fail to include is the fact that there are herbs, vitamins and plants that may also help your diabetes.

Below are just the few herbs and supplemtns of the natural foods that nature has provided that may help you in developing a healthy diabetic lifestyle:

1. Banaba Leaf: The banaba leaf shows great promise towards the treatment of diabetes. Banaba leaves contain a compound known as corosolic acid which has been shown to activate the transport of glucose into the cells. This result in lowering your blood sugar. The suggested amount of banaba leaf is approximately 48 mg daily. The best way to purchase is the oil based extract of this herb as it is shown to absorb quickly and provides the best effect.

2. Garlic: Garlic is an amazing food and its benefits have been demonstrated within all types of viruses, bacteria and disease. For the diabetic, garlic can help in lower your cholesterol levels as well as triglycerides (sugar fat). Garlic also helps to normalize blood pressure which is a vital concern for diabetics that may be insulin resistant. Fresh garlic or aged garlic work that best. If you are on a blood thinner, you absolutely must speak with your doctor regarding the addition of garlic in the home.

You can purchase garlic supplements at most health food stores and even in some of your standard grocery stores. If you do decide to purchase garlic supplements, then look for those that contain the equivalent of a single clove of garlic for every serving or even better, the aged garlic,like Kyolic Garlic.

The good thing about garlic is that you do not have to spend money on supplements. Garlic can be eaten by roasting it, cooking it in your recipes, or mixing it with a delicious salad dressing. The fresher the garlic, the better. You can even add it to your juice recipes and extract the liquid.

3. Fenugreek: Fenugreek is another herb that is may help people with diabetes. Having extra fiber in your diet has an extremely healthful benefit when coping with diabetes disease and fenugreek seems to be chocked-full of soluble fiber. In addition, the seeds of this plant (also edible) have been shown to lower levels of blood sugar.

4. Essiac: This is another amazing herb combination that diabetics might look into. This herbal combination is made up of sheep’s sorrel, slippery elm, burdock root, and Indian rhubarb root. It has been used as a form of therapy for cancer patients since the early 1920s. Essaic tea that you can make from essiac has been known to lower blood sugar levels and might minimize the need for medications for people that suffer from both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Remember, before you take any herbs, vitamins or supplements, you must speak with your doctor to get approval.

Because diabetes is a dangerous and complicated illness, there are many signs, symptoms and complications that stem from diabetes disease. One such example is nerve damage, which is the result of having high blood glucose levels for 10 years or more. Once nerve disease occurs from diabetes, this is called what they call diabetic neuropathy.

In order to diagnose a nerve disorder, a person’s nerve conduction velocity (NCV for short) is definitely slowed down. Nerve conduction velocity is simply the speed at which nerve impulses travel down a nerve fiber. A person with diabetes may not show signs and symptoms for a long time to come even though their body is experiencing slow NCV. Therefore, getting tested when you have diabetes for diabetic neuropathy is important/ Because if you can’t feel pain on your leg, if you burn yourself or injure yourself, you may not know you have a wound and the wound can get infected. Ultimately, you may need an amputation of your leg. It is very important that every diabetes wears footwear at all times. Medications may help nerve symptoms improve. You can ask your doctor about the B vitamins.

WARNING: Diabetic neuropathy is most prevalent in men and women over the age of 40. This illness tends to hit people that are taller than average. This is probably due to the fact that they have longer nerve fibers which gets damaged more easily. And if you drink beer or alcohol in diabetes, then you must know even a small quantity of any type of alcohol can make your neuropathy or nerve damage worsen.

How Can a Doctor Test The Functions Of Your Nerves

There are many ways your doctor can test the function of your nerves in order to determine whether or not you have diabetic neuropathy. Because there are different nerve fibers that seem to be responsible for different kinds of sensations throughout the body, doctors can test those sensations (touch, temperature, vibration, and light) and create an analysis. Neurologist usually have all the machines to test for diabetic neuropathy. If you have diabetes, not only should you have a primary medical doctor but also a team of other doctors, such as an endocrinologist, neurologist if you are having numbness and tingling in your legs, cardiologist if you have any signs and symptoms of heart disease. Usually your primary doctor will refer you to specialists.

1. Testing Using Vibration: Vibration testing is a rather simple test that can be done with a tuning fork. A podiatrist can also test you with a tuning fork to see the function of your legs. Using a tuning fork to test vibration is what doctors prefer to utilize in order to bring out any abnormalities of the body’s larger nerve fibers.

2. Testing Using Temperature: Temperature testing is very important because it can determine the status of the body’s smaller nerve fibers. If you can’t feel pain or feel heat, you can start a whole reaction of infection. Knowing the status of the small fibers is extremely important because if the small fibers are damaged, then it is possible for you to lose your ability to feel the sensations of extremely hot temperatures such as boiling water or a burn to the leg.

3. Testing Using Light Touch: By testing a patient using light touch methods, doctors can determine which large fibers are damaged, if any are damaged. Larger fibers within the body pick up and sense anything that touches the skin, sending signals to our brain that we are experiencing some kind of sensation. A person in good health and without nerve damage can feel a light filament tool that is tested with 1 gram of force to bend.

Remember, if you have diabetes 1 or diabetes 2, never cut your own toenails. A podiatrist must do this because if you cut your toenail and don’t know you cut yourself, by the time you realize you have an infection, you might need a amputation.

Identifying symptoms and complications of diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes, means to take a good hard look at your health and honestsy about what symptoms of diabetes you may be experiencing. More than a thousand people every year are suffering in one form or another from type 2 diabetes, but ignore these symptoms and complications of diabetes before it’s too late.

Below are signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes. It is recommended that you read these signs and symptoms of diabetes very carefully, and if one or more of them sounds like you may have a sign or symptom of diabetes, then you should see a doctor immediately for further testing.

1. Do you experience slower than normal healing of your skin, or do you get frequent urinary infections that don’t seem to resolve itself? What might be happening here is that your body makes white blood cells that are not effectively doing their job. These white blood cells are prevalent in our bodies and are designed to help heal and defend us against infections. However, these cells do not function very well in a high glucose or high sugar environment. Also, these infections might be caused by viruses or bacteria which thrive in a high glucose or sugar environment.

2. Are you constantly thirsty and experience frequent urination? If you are experiencing increased thirst that you just can’t seem to quench, 24 hours a day/seven days a week, that is a very common sign and symptom of diabetes. This also a symptom of type 1 diabetes. A high glucose or sugar environment severely dehydrates your body and prevents you from holding onto the water that you are so thirstily consuming.

3. Have you tested positive for heart disease or does heart disease run in your family? Heart disease is an illness that affects a large number of the US. Unfortunately, heart disease often leads to diabetes. That happened to my father. He had heart disease for so many years and then developed diabetes. You may also have heart disease without having been diagnosed with diabetes because you are currently glucose intolerant. Therefore, whatever measures you are taking to aid in your heart disease illness, you should ask your doctor about the possibility of type 2 diabetes and any preventative measures that you can take. If you have heart disease, just cut down on your sugar and starch intake and you just may never develop diabetes. Not all heart patients develop diabetes but a huge percentage do.

If you have type 2 diabetes and are currently overweight then you probably have already been instructed by your doctor to lose weight and to get on a low-fat diet immediately. Every diet will probably work in the beginning, but you are special and you need to make sure that your diet is one that you can stick with for the long haul.

You may also want to research whether this type of diet will give you enough nutrition for your body needs. You’ll also need to be sure that your diets will not only help you lose weight but will keep your of blood glucose low, as well as your blood fats or triglycerides.

You may want to ask yourself whether or not the diet that is planned for you is one that you can stay on for years to come. You should also want to research whether or not your current diet will provide enough nutrition on a daily basis that your body needs. And last but not least, you need to be sure that your diet will not only help you lose weight, but will also help control your blood glucose, as well as lower your blood fats.

If all of your needs are met from the above questions, then you’re probably set and can enjoy this diabetic diet without any problems. However, if you’re unsure whether or not you’ll enjoy this diet in the future, or if it’s actually producing the results needed to your diabetic needs, then you may want to research more options.

Watch Out For The Following Diets

When you first decide to explore all of the publications on diabetes nutrition that are sold in bookstores, you’re bound to come out more confused than ever before. This is because there seems to be no end of opinions on what makes a sound diet. The fact of the matter is that you are diabetic and there are specific needs that a diabetic must have within his or her diet. So when you are digging deep into your research, be very eating too many cautious about the following diets:

1. Watch out for diets that praise low or no fat foods. Your body needs calories and when people stick to a diet that has little to no fats, they usually end up eating more and more carbohydrates to make up for the calories needed. And as you know, diabetics must pay extra special attention to their carbohydrate intake. Eating too many carbs can really disrupt your treatment. In addition, research has shown that it is quite healthy for the body to consume certain type of fats. Eating too many carbs can raise your blood sugar and keep you uncontrolled. And research has shown that your body needs some fat in order for us to function properly.

2. Be careful of diets that promote eating a lot of protein while reducing carbohydrates to a minimum. While low fat diets tend to increase a person’s carbohydrate intake, a low carbohydrate diet that promotes high protein intake tends to not give the body enough energy it needs, while causing many people to eat too much meat and saturated fat. This is the bad fat and it is not good for you all. Even though you want to cut down on Carbohydrates, Diabetics do need to eat a carbohydrate with each mea.

3. Ignore diets that instruct you to eat too few calories. Low calorie diets, although healthier than other types of diets, can be dangerous because your body can actually start to cannibalize itself in order to make up for the needed calories, nutrients, and macronutrients that it is not getting. Unfortunately, many people on a super low calorie diet end up looking emaciated and their energy levels reflect the same. And ultimately, many men and women cannot stick to this diet too long and when they begin eating normally their body goes into survival mode and starts to pack on extra fat-weight and at a rapid pace.

The best thing to do is to follow basically what your doctor is telling you to do. You need protein foods, you need at least one carbohydrate with each meal and your snacks probably should contain a protein food and a carbohydrate.

There are myths about just everything that one can think of on the subject of diabetes. If you are a diabetic then it is vital to wade through the falsities and understand the realities of living with diabetes. Fortunately, most myths are not nearly as bad as they sound. In fact, many are just flat out lies. Below are a few myths about diabetes that you may have heard:

Myth #1: Hypoglycemic can cause brain damage because it kills brain cells.

The symptoms hypoglycemia can come on extremely quick and leave a diabetic with an extreme headache that is usually accompanied by weakness and at times confusion. Because of these complications that result from hypoglycemia, people linked the killing of brain cells to decreased function of the mind.

However, studies upon studies over the years have proven that people that suffer from the effects of hypoglycemia do not lose any mental function whatsoever. Children on the other hand, may experience some loss of mental functioning because their brains are still not fully developed.

The good news is that the human body has an endless supply of hormones that are able to reverse the effects of hypoglycemia. Before embarking into exercise be sure to check your blood glucose levels as well as keep with you an emergency supply of glucose that your body can absorb rapidly.

Myth #2: Now That You Have Diabetes You Cannot Exercise.

This is probably the most dangerous myth about diabetes that can have life or death consequences. In fact, the direct opposite is true. If anybody should exercise it is men and women that have diabetes! Routine exercise is probably the most beneficial preventative measure that a person can utilize in order to defend against complications that result from type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

Regular exercise is especially important for people with diabetes. It helps with blood sugar control, weight loss, and high blood pressure. People with diabetes who exercise are less likely to experience a heart attack or stroke than diabetics who do not exercise regularly. You should be evaluated by your physician before starting an exercise program.

This does not mean that if you’ve never exercised in your life and are over the age of 40, then you should run out and start participating in marathons, but it does mean that you can slowly start conditioning your body with slow walks and light exercise that can increase in intensity over time.

Is there ever a time when diabetes can prevent you from exercising? Of course, for example when a person is suffering because of a severe kidney infection, or hemorrhaging of the eyes, etc. Or if you are having symptoms of hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. However, this is just common sense and is not in any way, shape, or form a reason not to exercise on a daily basis once these symptoms subside.