Living With Type 1 Diabetes

by Peter Geisheker

Diabetes is a serious disease. It is an incurable and complex disease that can cause life-threatening complications if strict lifestyle changes are not made upon diagnosis.

There are two forms of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Each has its own characteristics however both can cause devastation if not treated properly.

Type 1 Diabetes is most often diagnosed in children. It was commonly referred to as 'Juvenile Diabetes' Type 1 Diabetes is when the body fails to produce the insulin that is needed to turn sugar and starches into the energy that the body needs to keep itself going.

A diagnosis of Diabetes is serious, however it is not the end of the world. It can be a very frightening experience, however, discussing the best way to treat it is to learn everything you can about the disease. There are conditions and complications that Type 1 Diabetes can cause. Knowledge is the key to your health and happiness.

* Hyperglycemia - High blood glucose * Hypoglycemia - Low blood glucose * Ketoacidosis - Failure to regulate Ketone production * Celiac disease - a digestive disease that wreaks havoc on the small intestine and prevent the body from absorbing the nutrients it needs from food. * Heart disease - can cause death if left untreated * Retinopathy - blindness if left untreated * Neuropathy - severe nerve damage if left untreated * Nephropathy - kidney damage or failure if left untreated

These conditions are serious, and can have devastating effects on your body. It is critical that you learn all that you can as soon as possible. Consult with your physician, he or she may be able to recommend different ways to adjust to living with Type 1 Diabetes.

It is critically important that you take care of yourself. It will be necessary to initiate lifestyle changes that may be difficult to adjust to, however it is imperative to your health that you make these changes.

The one thing that will need to be controlled is your diet. You will need to learn what you can and cannot eat. Having Diabetes is not a death sentence, you will need to re-think and adjust to a different lifestyle.

Consulting a nutritionist who specializes in menu plans for those with Diabetes can show you that just because you have this disease does not mean you have to give up on tasty food. He or she will give you menu options that are good, fun and nutritious.

There are many different changes your body will go through when you are diagnosed with Diabetes. Skin, eyes, feet and oral hygiene will take on a whole new meaning when you are diagnosed. You will need to pay special attention to each area to avoid any complications that may arise.

It is also critically important that you do not drink alcohol when you are diagnosed. It can raise your blood sugar to dangerous levels. If you are going to be at a function where alcohol is being served it is critically important that you monitor your blood sugar level carefully before taking a drink.

Controlling your Diabetes and taking insulin shots is manageable as long as you are aware of what the danger signs are. Many Type 1 who recognize the warning signs of Hypoglycemia keep a piece of candy in their pockets for when they feel an attack coming on. The small amount of sugar in the candy can help restore their sugar level.

Learning all you can about Type 1 Diabetes will insure your health and well being.

About the Author
Peter Geisheker is CEO of The Geisheker Group marketing company. For more information on Diabetes and managing high blood sugar, please visit santalsolutions.com.

Type One Diabetes

by Dan Wilson

Diabetes is a complicated disease that requires close monitoring. But when it is properly treated, it can be managed and controlled. A diabetic can live a long and happy life even with the disease.
There are two main types of diabetes mellitus. Type 1 diabetes is often referred to as juvenile-onset diabetes. The second type is often called adult-onset diabetes or Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Both types are characterized by the body having issues with insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas. Though having varying pathologies in details, both conditions result in abnormalities in blood sugar levels in the patients.

In Type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. The pancreas loses its ability to produce the hormone because of autoimmunity, a condition which the body attacks itself. Therefore, the body attacks the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin and destroys them. Type 1 diabetes is incurable. Its causes are hard to determine. Most scientists think there is a genetic or hereditary link. But, even if you do have the genes, there is still no certainty of you developing Type 1 diabetes. Often a trigger is needed, such as catching a virus.

One cannot prevent Type 1 diabetes from developing and one cannot predict for sure who will get it. Once diagnosed, it is there for life, and one must then treat it and learn to live with it. Fortunately, there are plenty of effective treatment options available. Treatments such as insulin injections that help keep control blood sugar levels and keep the patient healthy. An insulin pump can also be used to a great effect to control the levels of glucose for Type 1 diabetics.



Types of Diabetes
Learn the different types of diabetes, its effects and the ways on how to prevent them.

Childhood Diabetes
Your children can be a victim of this devastating disease. Learn why children are becoming more prone to diabetes.

Diabetes Treatment
Learn the different ways in treating diabetes in order to live a longer and happy life.


About the Author
Dan Wilson is a Diabetes survivor, and loves writing in his spare time and helping others deal with diabetes. Dan has learned he can lead a very productive life living with diabetes.

Coping With Your Child's Juvenile Diabetes

by Art Gib

One of the most frightening and life-altering diagnoses that a child can receive is juvenile diabetes, also known as Type 1 diabetes. The condition requires drastic lifestyle changes for both the child and his or her family. But the key to making the transition more in a smooth fashion is knowledge and understanding for children and adults alike.
Now, one of the most confusing aspects that should be demystified is the distinction between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Your child most likely did not develop diabetes due to poor diet or exercise habits. This would likely be the case for Type 2, which is much more common in obese adults.

Essentially, Type 1 develops out of the body's inability to properly process sugar due to the pancreas's failure to produce the insulin it should. This causes the blood sugar in the body to fluctuate to unsafe levels on both the high and the low end. It tends to strike a child suddenly, whereas Type 2 has a more gradual onset caused by a string of poor eating choices

If you are in a position where you aren't sure if your child is diabetic, look for the symptoms: your child may constantly complain of being hungry though they are losing weight, they may begin to urinate frequently, and may develop frequent headaches, accompanied by lightheadedness.

Only your doctor will be able to adequately diagnose the condition using medical tests which measure blood glucose levels. Getting an accurate diagnosis can involve multiple tests over time.

This can be a frightening process for your child and you as a parent, but taking time to educate yourself on how you and your child can work together with your doctor to control the effects of the diabetes will ultimately give you comfort in this stressful time. Plus, it helps remind your rational side that this will not "ruin your lives," as you may be thinking right now.

The most vital way to help your child cope with Type 1 diabetes is to teach them "how to eat." They need to learn early on not to reach for more refined products like white bread or high-sugar drinks like fruit juices or soda.

Teachers, school nurses, and even friends and their parents should be informed of the condition and its implications. This may embarrass your child at first, but it is more important for them to be healthy and well looked-after than anything.

Try your best to listen to your child's concerns and do not dismiss them. This is hard for them! Sometimes as parents, we get so wrapped up in our own stresses (because of course, this is difficult for us, too), we forget about what our children are actually going through. Do what you can to lend an ear and give all your love. Let your child explain her condition if she gets embarrassed when you do it. Just do what you can, and they will appreciate it in the long run.

About the Author
Lauren's Hope Medical ID Bracelets (http://www.laurenshope.com) ensures that your child is safe with our tasteful and potentially life-saving medical ID bracelets. Art Gib is a freelance writer.

Stopping type 1 diabetes damage with vitamin C

Researchers at the Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center have found a way to stop the damage caused by Type 1 diabetes with the combination of insulin and a common vitamin found in most medicine cabinets.
While neither therapy produced desired results when used alone, the combination of insulin to control blood sugar together with the use of Vitamin C, stopped blood vessel damage caused by the disease in patients with poor glucose control. The findings appear this week in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

"We had tested this theory on research models, but this is the first time anyone has shown the therapy's effectiveness in people," said Michael Ihnat, Ph.D., principal investigator and a pharmacologist at the OU College of Medicine Department of Cell Biology.

Ihnat said they are now studying the therapy in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

The goal of the work being done by Ihnat and British scientists from the University of Warwick led by Dr. Antonio Ceriello is to find a way to stop the damage to blood vessels that is caused by diabetes. The damage, known as endothelial dysfunction, is associated with most forms of cardiovascular disease such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, chronic heart failure, peripheral artery disease, diabetes and chronic renal failure.

By reducing or stopping the damage, patients with diabetes could avoid some of the painful and fatal consequences of the disease that include heart disease, reduced circulation and amputation, kidney disease and diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to blindness.

Insulin and many other drugs have long been used to control blood sugar, but Ihnat - in an earlier project with scientists in Italy and Hungary - found that cells have a "memory" that causes damage to continue even when blood sugar is controlled. By adding antioxidants like Vitamin C, Ihnat found that cell "memory" disappeared and cell function and oxidation stress were normalized.

"We have speculated that this happens with endothelial dysfunction, but we did not know until now if it was effective in humans. We finally were able to test it and proved it to be true," Ihnat said. "For patients with diabetes, this means simply getting their glucose under control is not enough. An antioxidant-based therapy combined with glucose control will give patients more of an advantage and lessen the chance of complications with diabetes."

While researchers do suggest diabetic patients eat foods and take multivitamins rich in antioxidants like Vitamin C, they warn that additional study is needed. The Vitamin C utilized in their study was given at very high doses and administered directly into the blood stream, so it is unlikely someone would get similar results with an over-the-counter vitamin supplement.

The team is now working to determine how antioxidants work at the molecular level to halt the destructive chain reaction set in motion by high blood sugar levels. In addition, they are evaluating several other antioxidants with an ultimate hope that their work will translate into simple, effective and inexpensive treatments for the control of diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes in children

by Tommy Heugh

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body form anti-bodies which attack the pancreas. It is probably virus induced, in those who are susceptible for this condition. The pancreas of such a person does then not produce enough insulin, to provide in the requirements of the body.

There are many children of all races with type 1 diabetes. It is suspected that environmental factors trigger type 1 diabetes, but the exact cause of this disease still evade medical researchers. Typical signs and symptoms of this diabetes are that the children are forever thirsty, they drink a lot of water and they pass urine very frequently. Because the sugar level in their blood is high, there is also a lot of sugar in their urine. It is the high sugar level in the bladder which cause them to drink a lot of water, and that causes them to visit the bathroom so frequently. They do wet their beds also sometimes, especially if they are very young. If this condition goes untreated, these children will also burn fat for energy, and they will lose weight.

What must parents do, if they notice these symptoms in their child? They need to take the child to their family doctor for a medical checkup immediately, so that he/she can test for diabetes type 1. A urine sample will be taken and tested. If there is sugar in the urine, a finger prick test must also be performed. Any high blood sugar reading will indicate that the child has diabetes type 1. No other tests are actually required.

What is the treatment for diabetes type 1? First and foremost, a child diagnosed with diabetes type 1 needs a lot of medical and parental guidance. Guidance is especially required as far as the lifestyle adjustments are concerned. The parents must realize that the child has to continue with his/her life as normally as possible. However, the disease has to be managed properly so that further complications in their adulthood are prevented, or at least minimized. This must be done in the least traumatic way possible.

Blood sugar levels must be controlled through the following methods:

1) Insulin must be administered by injection. The majority of children of 5 years and older, quickly learn to inject themselves four times per day. The administration of these injections are not painful, as the needles are thin, sharp and short.

2) A healthy diet must be followed. The parents must help the child to manage his/her blood sugar levels properly, through adjustments. For example if the child has to attend a party, they need to work out what the child can eat and drink, and how much, bearing the insulin in mind, so that the blood sugar level is maintained on a healthy and constant level. Parents must assist the child to lead a normal, quality life.

3) Regular exercise must be maintained. There are many many child diabetics who participate in sports. These children need to be encouraged to participate in sports, or else they need to exercise regularly.

What are the long-term affects of diabetes type 1 on the health of children? If these children can learn to manage their blood sugar levels, they will have the same risks as the average person to suffer from heart and circulatory problems, kidney disease, blindness or neuropathy. They must be motivated from the word go to control and manage their blood sugar levels properly. A child with a constant high blood sugar level has a 30 % of developing terminal kidney failure in 10 years' time.

About the Author
The author is a Wellness Coach and Fitness Instructor. For more on health and fitness, visit his Health and Fitness blog.

Type 1 Diabetes Rates Rising Among European Children

If current trends continue, cases of type 1 diabetes among European children under 15 will increase by 70 percent by the year 2020, a new study suggests.

Those are among the findings by researchers who analyzed diabetes data from 20 centers in 17 European countries. Those centers registered 29,311 cases of type 1 diabetes between 1989 and 2003.

The overall increase in incidence of the disease was 3.9 percent per year. The annual increase among children aged 4 and younger was 5.4 percent, compared with 4.3 percent among those aged 5 to 9, and 2.9 percent among those aged 10 to 14, the study found.

There were an estimated 15,000 new cases of type 1 diabetes in Europe in 2005, with children aged 4 and younger accounting for 24 percent, those aged 5 to 9 accounting for 37 percent, and those aged 10 to 14 accounting for 34 percent.

The researchers predict that number could reach 24,400 new cases in 2020, with a doubling in the number of cases in children under 5 and a more even distribution across age groups than there is now (29 percent, 37 percent, and 34 percent respectively).

If current trends continue, the total number of new and existing cases in European children under age 15 could rise from 94,000 in 2005 to 160,000 in 2020 -- a 70 percent increase, the study authors noted.

The study, by Dr. Chris Patterson of Queens University Belfast and colleagues, appears online May 28 and in an upcoming print issue of The Lancet.

Genetics alone do not explain the rapid rise in cases, which means that lifestyle factors such as increased weight and height development and increased Cesarean deliveries are possible contributing factors, according to the researchers.

The findings from this and other studies suggest "that the incidence of type 1 diabetes is increasing even faster than before, pointing towards harmful changes in the environment in which contemporary children live," Dr. Dana Dabelea, of the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

"It is imperative that efforts directed at surveillance of diabetes in young people continue and expand, not only to understand its complex etiology, but also because of its increasing public health importance," Dabelea said.

Type 1 Diabetes Treatment - Knowing the Traditional and Latest Methods

by Alvin Hopkinson

Type 1 diabetes is also known as "juvenile diabetes" because it typically appears during childhood or adolescence.Typical in the treatment of all diabetic patients, the initial concern in the type 1 diabetes treatment is to maintain blood sugar near the normal level to delay or prevent any complications. There is a 50% expectancy rate for complications like heart attack and stroke to take place if the blood sugar level is not controlled.

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disease because the pancreas produces little or no insulin at all due to a disorder in the autoimmune system of the body. The immune system treats its own tissues as foreign bodies wherein the insulin producing islet cells of the pancreas is seen by the autoimmune system as an opponent by mistake and as a result, antibodies are then produced to destroy the islet cells. The chain of events following the body's natural reaction due to lack of insulin will now cause hormonal imbalance leading to Type 1 diabetes.

The autoimmune deficiency on the other hand is often linked to a genetic disorder or the effect of a contracted viral infection such as rubella, mumps, measles, cytomegalovirus, encephalitis, influenza, Epstein-Barr virus or polio. In some cases, other causes accounted for include the presence of toxins in the pancreas, surgical removal of the pancreas or trauma. Basically however, the exact cause still remains unknown.

Other forms of type 1 diabetes treatments are often considered as demoralizing, hence, part of the therapy includes pyschological counsel to the afflicted to take things one day at a time. The patient has to be reminded that there are so many sufferers of diabetes and the majority were able to manage their sickness with very little or no problem at all.

The traditional and latest methods in treating type1diabetes include the following:

1. Daily injection of insulin or the use of an insulin pump. An insulin pump is a gadget about the size of an MP4 worn outside the body. A tube is connected from the insulin reservoir to a catheter that is placed underneath the skin of the abdomen. The insulin is automatically dispensed and can be adjusted by the user.

2. Monitoring the level of blood sugar level up to four times at the least.by using a blood sugar meter specially designed for home use.

3. Spreading the consumption of carbohydrates to prevent the rise of blood sugar level after each meal.

4. Physical exercise that is regular in nature to reduce heart disease and improve the sensitivity of the body in the use of insulin.

5. The usual medical check-ups to track eye, heart, kidney, blood vessel, heart and nerve complications.

6. Keeping yourself alcohol and tobacco free.

7. Avoidance from stress to let the insulin function properly.

8. Eating plenty of fruits, whole grains, vegetables and other foods that are less in fat and calories.

9. Pancreas transplant may be empoloyed for people with uncontrolled diabetes and with severe complications. If successful, insulin therapy is no longer needed. If otherwise, the surgery entails great risks which may even be far dangerous than diabetes.

10. The current techniques and drugs to prevent islet cell rejection show promising results for the future of diabetics.

11. Stem cell transplant coming from the blood of the afflicted was introduced in Brazil in 2007 but can be risky. However, the results were promising since type 1 diabetes treatment with the use of insulin was halted after following the success of this procedure. This is currently considered as an additional treatment in the future.

Although various researches are being undertaken, like the creation of a computerized artificial pancreas, this has still a long way to go to be considered as an effective type 1 diabetes treatment. As a precautionary measure, always visit your doctor regularly to ensure that the treatment programs are working properly.

About the Author
Alvin Hopkinson is a leading health researcher in the area of natural remedies and diabetes natural treatment. Discover how you can reverse your diabetes for good using proven and effective home remedies, all without using harmful medications or drugs. Visit his site for more useful articles such as: Diabetic Diet Guidelines