A recent study at Alexandra hospital among 537 diabetics between 2006 and 2007 reveals this !  : nearly 10 percent of those in the test are diagnosed with clinical depression.  – further profiling indicates that these 10 percent are either divorced or separated and neither on medication for diabetes nor exercising regularly.

Having symptoms of depression is bad news for a diabetic. This could mean more hospitalisation and longer stays each time.

A person diagnosed with depression will lose interest and concentration and have a low mood, a low energy level and a feeling of helplessness.

If you face diabetes complications such as nerve damage, or if you are having trouble keeping your blood sugar levels where you’d like, chance are you may feel like you are losing control of your diabetes. This may lead to stress and makes you feel depressed. 

If you are depressed and have no energy, chances are you will find such tasks as important as regular blood sugar testing too much.

As you can see, depression has implications on the illness itself, and on the diabetic’s productivity and quality of life. Therefore, if those showing signs of depression can be identified early, they can be sent for a deeper assessment.

To all debetics out there  — arresting depression early will save you from complications later. If you think you have symtoms of depression, Please seek treatment and there are always someone there who could help you.

Already recognised as a sign of potential cardiovascular disease , Swedish scientists say Waist circumference can be used to gauge sensitivity to insulin too.

“A waist circumference of less than 100 cm excludes individuals of both sexes from being at risk of being insulin resistant,” Hans Wahrenberg, of the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, said in a study reported by the British Medical Journal.

People who suffer from insulin resistance do not use insulin properly.

They may have levels of blood sugars higher than normal but not yet in the range indicating pre-diabetes, which raises the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Sufferers of Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, do not make enough or do not properly use insulin.

Excess weight is a leading and avoidable risk factor for the illness.

The Swedish researchers studied 2,746 men and women aged 18 to 72 who had waists ranging from 65 to 150 centimetres.

They measured their height, weight, waist and hip sizes and took a blood sample to test insulin sensitivity.

They found that waist size was a strong predictor of insulin resistance.

“Waist circumference is a simple tool to exclude insulin resistance and to identify those at greatest risk,” Mr Wahrenberg said.

- Reuters

According to researchers at the University of Chicago medical school, There are more than 18 million Americans suffering from diabetes and the most common form is type 2 — in which the body either becomes resistant to insulin or does not produce enough insulin to process sugar in their bloodstream.
Having bad sleep quality for three nights in a row greatly lower this glucose tolerance of young or even healthy adults as much as if they had gained eight to 13 kilos (20 to 30 pounds) !!!

While it is possible that the body’s ability to regulate glucose counter chronic sleep deprivation, it is likely that poor sleeping patterns in the elderly as well as the obese play a major role in the development of diabetes.

In the study, nine lean, fit and healthy participants between the age of 20 to 31 spent a total of five nights in the laboratory so that their sleep patterns could be monitored.

Whenever the volunteers went into slow-wave sleep, the researchers will start to make some noises to disrupt their sleep but not to fully awaken them.

The sounds produced will reduce deep sleep by about 90% by shifting them out of the onset of deep sleep back into a lighter sleep.

In this way, the typical sleeping patterns of those over the age of 60 were mimicked because people in this age group tends to get only about 20 minutes of deep sleep a night in contrast to about 80 to 100 minutes for most young adults.

After just three days, the ability of the volunteers to regulate blood sugar was reduced by 25% which is an indication that they needed more insulin to dispose the same amount of glucose in their bodies.

Earlier studies have indicated that lack of sleep can reduce the ability to regulate sugar, and this report adds evidence that poor sleep quality is indeed a diabetes risk.

This report is a warning to anyone (not only for diabetes sufferers) not to take their sleep lightly and if you are constantly having bad sleep or feeling tired when you wake up in the morning consistently, do make an effort to understand the root cause and to improve your sleep either by yourself or through the help of a doctor or specialist. Once you have diabetes, you will not be able to “shake it off” easily so prevention is the key to a diabetic free life-style.

Diabetes affects more than 18,000,000 people and there are another 15,000,000 not yet diagnosed, just in the United States alone!

THE results of a large international study released recently (3 September 2007)  may herald a sea of change in how diabetic patients are treated.

(nb: In type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90% of cases of diabetes, the body produces insulin but is unable to use it effectively)

Yet, complete reversal, without the need for medication, is being reported by an increasing number of former diabetics by following a low ‘glycemic load’ diet, in combination with a mineral supplement and the spice cinnamon.

(nb: A low glycemic load diet involves eating foods which provide a slow release of sugar, together with protein foods, like a few nuts with an apple.)

World renowned diabetes expert Fedon Lindberg of Norway has reported complete reversal of type 2 diabetes, even in those injecting insulin, by this radical non-drug approach. ‘A balanced low glycemic load (GL) diet, coupled with a healthy lifestyle, can also achieve non-diabetic sugar levels without the need for medication – therefore ‘reversing’ the disease,’ he says. He has challenged the Norwegian Diabetes Association to change its advice.Â

Despite 15 controlled studies on chromium, 13 of which show benefit for stabilising blood sugar, most diabetics are still being told ‘you get all the nutrients you need in a well-balanced diet’.

This is simply untrue for chromium. A really good, wholefood diet might give you 50mcg a day. You need 500mcg a day if you are diabetic. (It is very safe to take this much as the toxic level is above 10,000mcg.)

Chromium is in unrefined foods. Sugar, white flour and white rice have up to 98 per cent of the chromium removed. It works by improving the sensitivity to insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels. Insulin insensitivity, called insulin resistance, is the first indication of pre-diabetes, and affects the majority of overweight people.

Cinnamon, the other key natural remedy for blood sugar regulation, contains something called MCHP which mimics the action of insulin. There is a concentrated extract of cinnamon called Cinnulin® which is high in MCHP for those who do not like eating cinnamon every day.

In one study, volunteers with type 2 diabetes were given cinnamon capsules after meals. All responded to the cinnamon within weeks, lowering blood sugar levels by about 20 per cent. Some of the volunteers even achieved normal blood sugar levels. Tellingly, blood sugar levels started creeping up again after the diabetics stopped taking cinnamon.

The principle behind the low GL diet is eating foods which provide a slow release of sugar, together with protein foods. For example, having a few nuts with an apple, or seeds on an oat-based cereal, or fish with a small serving of brown rice. This leads to less hunger, reduced sugar cravings, increased energy and rapid weight loss, as well as stable blood sugar levels. But you have to do it properly – eating a strict 45 GLs a day.

If you have diabetes, I recommend supplementing 400mcg of chromium with breakfast, and 200mcg at lunch (it comes in 200mcg capsules). If you do not, but have low energy, weight gain or any other ‘pre-diabetes’ indicators, take 200mcg a day, with breakfast.

For cinnamon, you want 1g a day, or 500mg of a cinnamon extract. Half a teaspoon is 1g. If you are taking sulfonylurea medication be aware this might quickly become unnecessary and, in fact, cause too low blood sugar levels (a ‘hypo’) since the combination of diet plus supplements is so effective. This kind of approach is also great for prevention, and weight loss. Daily exercise is also an important part of the equation. With Diet and Exercise , you will be able to delay Diabetes and Normalize Blood Glucose.

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article by :

Patrick Holford
for Mind Your Body

Patrick Holford is the founder of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in London and heads the Food of the Brain Foundation, pioneering nutritional approaches to mental health. He has written more than 20 health books, including the worldwide bestseller, the Optimum Nutrition Bible.

Caty and Erin Gordon, twins with Type 1 diabetes, talk about how they cope with diabetes, what  misconceptions some of us  still have concerning diabetes.

Let them show you why diabetes is  Not A Big Deal if you know how to control it the RIGHT WAY.