Potential Foot Problems With Diabetes

Neuropathy is another name for nerve disease associated with diabetes.

It generally occurs in diabetics over 40 years old and who have poor blood sugar control. It has been found to affect around 60% of all diagnosed diabetics, and often causes necessary foot amputations and infections.

It generally appears after 10 years or more of high blood sugar levels, and occurs in both type 1 and 2 diabetics. It can be cured however, simply by controlling blood glucose, making contraction of the disease in the first place totally avoidable.

Taller people are more susceptible to the disease as they have longer nerve fibres and drinking (alcohol) can make things worse.

There are a number of symptoms to be aware of. The most obvious include an inability to feel any sensation in your feet.

Once sensation begins to be lost, it is very important that you make a point of making a visual check of your feet on a daily basis. This is to check for further damage, particularly when almost all sensation is lost.

Once sensation in the feet is lost, there is a severe risk of foot ulcers. The problem here is that, unlike a non diabetic, a diabetic with advancing neuropathy cannot feel pressure on the soles of their feet. If the skin in the afected are is not treated, it will harden and eventually it can become an ulcer.

When there is no feeling in the feet, the ulcer can get bigger and bigger. Unless the feet are inspected regularly and treated, the ulcer will spread until it becomes inoperable, resulting in amputation of the feet.

By following certain rules you can prevent neuropathy:

- Ensure that your blood sugar levels are stable. Take action to get them under control.

- Consult a doctor if you suffer form high stress levels.

- Take regular exercise. High levels of cholesterol clog blood vessels and contribute to neuropathy. Exercise, which can be something as simple as walking, helps reduce cholesterol.

-Smoking. Smoking is a major cause of peripheral arterial disease, which affects your feet first. Consider giving it up.

If you are a smoker, think about taking up a hobby. Toby, the writer of this article and a type 2 diabetic, smoked and suffered from hypertension. To ease his hypertension, he took up the Martin Backpacker guitar which he finds very effective at tackling hypertension. His Martin Backpacker guitar sounds great and is easy to transport.

The Main Causes of Diabetes

The Main Causes Of Diabetes

You or someone in you family recently diagnosed with diabetes,and trying to find out what are some of the main causes of diabetes.Here is a list of six main causes of diabetes and below is more information on each cause.
The main causes of diabetes development are..

1. Heridity
2. Diet
3. obesity
4. Stress and tension
5. Smoking
6. Lifestyle Risk

Heridity

Heridity is a major factor. That diabetes can be inherited has been known for centuries. however,the pattern of inheritance is not fully understood. Statistic indicates those with a family history of the disease have a higher risk of developing diabetes than those without such a background. the risk factor is 25 to 33 percent more.

One reason why diabetes, especially type-2 diabetes runs in the family is because of the diabetes gene. But even it is caused by genetic factors beyond your control; there is no reason to suffer from it. Diabetes mellitus cannot be cured in full sense of the term, but it can be effectively controlled so that you would not know the difference.

Diet

Diabetes has been described by most medical scientists as a prosperity’ disease, primarily caused by systematic overeating. Not only is eating too much sugar and refined carbohydrates harmful, but proteins and fats, which are transformed into sugar, may also result in diabetes if taken in excess.

It is interesting to note that diabetes is almost unknown in countries where people are poor and cannot afford to overeat.

The incidence of diabetes is directly linked with the consumption of processed foods rich in refined carbohydrates, like biscuits, bread, cakes chocolates, pudding and ice creams.

Obesity

Obesity is one of the main causes of diabetes. Studies show that 60 to 85 % of diabetics tend to be overweight. In the United States of America, about 80 percent of type –2 non-insulin dependent diabetics are reported to be overweight.

Excess fat prevents insulin from working properly. The more fatty tissue in the body, the more resistant the muscle and tissue cells become to body insulin. Insulin allows the sugar in the blood to enter the cells by acting on the receptor sites on the surface of the cells.

Older people often tend to gain weight, and the same time, many of them develop and mild form of diabetes because who are over weight can often improve their blood sugar simply by losing weight.

Stress and Tension

There is a known connection between stress and diabetes mellitus, those who are under stress and/or lead an irregular lifestyle, need to take adequate precautions and make necessary lifestyle adjustments.

Grief, worry and anxiety resulting from examinations, death of a close relative, loss of a joy, business failure and strained marital relationship, all a deep influence on the metabolism and may cause sugar to appear in the urine.

Smoking

Smoking is another important risk factor. Among men who smoke, the risk of developing diabetes is doubled. In women who smoke 25 or more cigarettes a day, the risk of developing diabetes is increased by 40 percent.

Lifestyle Risk

People who are less active have greater risk of developing diabetes. Modern conveniences have made work easier. Physical activity and exercise helps control weight, uses up a lot of glucose (sugar) present in the blood as energy and makes cells more sensitive to insulin. Consequently, the workload on the pancreas is reduced.

Now you are up to date with some of the main causes of diabetes and now you can work to prevent them.

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