IMEX Associates

Diabetes Mellitus Treatment

Treatment of all types of diabetes is aimed on optimal blood glucose control that minimises risks of long-term complications.

There are treatment differences depending on the type of diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes treatment differs from type 2 diabetes in that respect that type 1 diabetes is non preventable autoimmune condition which results in destruction of pancreatic cells and leading to insulin deficiency production. Life of people with type 1 diabetes is then dependent on regular administration of insulin.

Insulin can only be administered as a subcutaneous injection because when given orally it is inactivated by digestive enzymes. There are several types of insulin and insulin devices for administration available on the pharmaceutical market. They are generally divided into short-acting (Actrapid, NovoRapid), long-acting (Lantus, Levemir) and biphasic insulin (NovoMix, Mixtard). Mixtures of insulins are usually required for the best control of blood glucose in each individual patient. The regime and the type of insulin will vary between patients because it is adjusted to severity of individual condition.

Type 2 diabetes treatment differs from type 1 diabetes in that respect that type 2 diabetes is preventable condition which should be adequately controlled by maintaining healthy diet, regular exercise and optimal weight. There are treatment targets set by international and national diabetic guidelines, where the aim is to maintain optimal levels of: blood glucose, blood pressure and lipids. People with type 2 diabetes need to understand the importance of these measures to control the progress of their condition and being able to prevent its complications.

Diabetic diet is one single measure how to control type-2 diabetes. Eating the right food, in the right amounts and at the right time prevents peaks in blood glucose levels.

Exercise helps the body to utilise glucose into cells thus optimises blood glucose levels, and lipids levels, and also facilitates weight control.

Oral anti-diabetic medications (metformin, gliclazide) should only be administered as a supplement to diet and exercise, where these are not sufficiently controlling the condition.

Insulin treatment is added or substituted for oral medications in some cases, when patient’s diabetes is not managed by oral anti-diabetic medications.

Gestational diabetes treatment concentrates on preventative measures, such as diet modification and moderate exercise.…

Type 2 Diabetes – Will the Leptin Diet Help You Have Lower Blood Sugar and Weight Loss?

Leptin is a protein hormone made up of some 167 different amino acids. It’s primary purpose is to monitor fat levels and signal your brain when it is time for you to stop eating during a meal. When leptin levels are out of balance, this causes a significant disturbance within your body. The Leptin diet has been developed to help bring irregular leptin levels back into balance.

The secret of the Leptin diet is simple: utilize the same amount of energy from a smaller amount of food as you would from a larger amount.

Although the Leptin diet has been touted as a great way to manage Type 2 diabetes, it is universal enough so it can be utilized by anyone… even those who do not need to lose weight.

The Leptin diet consists of five simple rules:

1. Never eat after dinner. You should allow yourself around 12 hours from the time you finish dinner until you eat breakfast. Why is this important? Because leptin chooses this time to burn more fat than at any other time of the day. Since this is when leptin levels are at their highest point, you should refrain from interfering with this function by putting off eating until you are ready for breakfast.

2. Eat only three meals per day. Despite popular advice to snack in between meals, the Leptin diet has you forgo snacking. This advice is based on the fact triglycerides build up in your blood throughout the day, particularly after a meal or snack. When triglycerides levels become elevated, they interfere with your leptin levels. The more you can go without food between your main meals, the higher the number of triglycerides that will be cleared from your body.

3. When you eat, don’t eat large meals. By eating your meals slowly, you allow your body sufficient time for your brain to signal your body it has had enough food. From the time you start eating, this usually takes at least 15 minutes.

4. Make sure breakfast includes protein. Since revving up your metabolism first thing in the day is imperative, this can be done by including protein at breakfast. When you do, you increase your metabolism by at least 30 percent for around half of an entire day.

5. Reduce your carb intake. Even though people know carbs are notorious for spiking blood sugar and for causing us to gain weight, it often isn’t enough to persuade them to leave them alone, or at the very least, limit their intake.

While the Leptin diet might not be for everyone, it offers an additional method for helping control Type 2 diabetes.…

Fenugreek Tea Has Great Health Benefits

Fenugreek tea is not a tea that most people know, especially in North America. However, in the Mediterranean, where fenugreek grows, it is both popular as a drink and as a spice in food, where it is used a lots of different dishes.

As far as the tea is concerned, it is made of fenugreek seeds and you can often find them in heath food stores or even specialty tea stores. You can, of course, sometimes find the seeds in larger supermarkets or small specialty supermarkets – especially those in Italian, Greek or Levantine areas of larger cities.

Like most teas, this tea is easy to make. For just one cup, you will need one teaspoon of the seeds. Bring the seeds and water to a boil and boil them for five to ten minutes. Try five minutes at first. If you’d like a stronger flavor, then boil them for up to ten minutes. Remove the tea from the heat source and cover the pan with a lid and leave to stand for another ten to fifteen minutes. Again, like most teas, the longer the mixture steeps, the stronger and often more bitter the tea. After the steeping time, simply strain the tea into a cup or mug. The seeds in the strainer have now fulfilled their use and can be thrown away. Again, like many teas, this one can be enjoyed both hot and cold. You can serve it with ice and lemon in the summer, which makes it into a refreshing summer drink.

This tea has many health benefits. An important one is that it can be used as a laxative. This is because it has a lot of fiber, which swells and is then expelled from the body along with body waste. Another reason why this is a perfect detox tea, in fact quite a few detox teas and weight loss teas have fenugreek in their ingredients.

It can also help to regulate your blood sugar and obviously, this can be very important. If you have a cough or even bronchitis, try this tea as it is known to reduce these symptoms as it removes excess mucus. Also, it can help to help nursing mothers as it can increase the flow of breast milk.

You can even use it for insect bites and general skin irritation and swelling. In this case, you do not drink the tea but use it to form a paste. To do this, simply mix about 50 grams (about three tablespoons or 1.76 oz to be exact) of crushed and powdered fenugreek seeds to about one quart of boiled water. Leave to stand and cool when it will thicken into a consistency like jello. Use a little on skin irritations and insect bites to soothe and heal.

It is important that if you are taking any medication, that you ask your doctor if this tea is OK to take.

I hope you can see that Fenugreek tea is easy to make and has many health benefits as well as being a great tasting tea.…

Diagnosed With Type 2 Diabetes? – A Blessing in Disguise!

Ok, so the title seems impossible. Having diabetes a Blessing in disguise? Actually it can be and is not as scary as it may seem. This article was written by a recently diagnosed diabetic who has been through much of what may seem scary to you. Read on while I take away many of your fears…

It has been only about 3 Months since I was initially diagnosed with type 2 diabetes yet it feels like ago. In my case I had no clue that I was even at risk of having diabetes. The only reason I had an A1C diabetes test done was because my own mother who has type 1 diabetes decided to test me with her meter (just for fun) and over a weeks period of time testing me 3 times a day I was always around 250 to 300 for my blood sugar. Learning that this was not a normal level, I immediately made my appointment at my doctors office for a test.

Low and behold I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Immediately I had many fears on just exactly how my life would change. My biggest questions (and fears) were: How Will My Diet Change?, What Medication Would I need?, How will my life change over all and Why Me! ???

I was actually quite surprised to find that not only were my fears put to rest, but also a few benefits would actually come from all this! Let me go over the fears and how they were answered:

1… How Will My Diet Change? The bottom line was that I was going to eat more healthy. In most cases I could eat everything I had been used to in my life with the only exception smaller portions. And guess what? I started losing weight and feeling (and looking) much more healthy.

2… What Medication Would I need? In my case simply taking two pills a day of a medication called MetFormin would help bring down my high blood sugar.

3… How will my life change over all? Actually, other than checking myself with a meter about three times a week, taking my pills each day and eating more healthy not much has changed at all!

4… Why Me? – Well, while some people are more at risk than others, it can happen to anyone. It’s not necessarily something that you have done to cause this!

So where is the blessing in all this? If I had not been diagnosed I would have:

(A)… Ran the high risk of heart attack or stroke and possible liver damage.

(B)… Not changed my habits to eating more healthy which also could run the higher risk of health problems.

So if you have been recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, think of it as a major blessing because the result of the small but very beneficial changes in your life will help ensure that you will be around for a long time to come. And that is indeed a blessing in disguise!…

How to Keep Yourself Awake

After endless hours of work or studies, a good sleep seems like the best thing in the whole world. These are the times when you feel thankful for not being an insomniac. Yet, there are also times when you wish you were. The times when you are just a nap away from missing a deadline or not fully prepared for an early morning examination the next day. Sometimes you just cannot help it and you wish you could stick something between your eyelids. The sleep seems to be the instinct that is hardest to resist. People try different instant home made recipes to send the sleep fairy away. The most common is either tea or coffee. There are many addiction and health issues with caffeine but tea is regarded as a better and healthier option. Organic tea such as organic herbal tea and organic oolong tea are the ones recommended by the herbalists due to their medical benefits.

Not every one is comfortable with the idea of coffee and tea and for some it really does not work. After all, it is also useless to waste your precious time by the coffee or tea maker when you need to work. Even if you do not have much work, there is also a disorder called Hypersomnia. In this disorder, a person might always feel dizzy and sleepy. Not just that a person feels that way, a Hypersomniac does not miss any chance to lay down his head on possibly anything and take a tour down the nap valley. Excessive sleep is an indicator of slow metabolism, perhaps. There are many ways to get rid of untimely sleep, here are just few of them.

Watch What You Eat: Nearly all of our physical and mental health depends on the food we eat and the amount of food we eat. Overeating can cause our body to lose too much energy during the digestion. Therefore, eating too much causes us to feel sleepy. Same is for food that takes much time to digest such as food with higher fat content. Vitamins are excellent source of energy so include that in your diet especially Vitamin D and B’s. Keeping yourself hydrated will keep your body energized.

Acupressure: If you need to reduce your fatigue and be alert for a while, try the age old acupressure therapy. Studies have shown that tapping slightly at the top of your head and top of the back of your neck helps a lot in easing the fatigue down. Earlobes and area below the knee are also found to be good pressure points for this purpose.

Light Up the Environment: Calm and peaceful environment might be relaxing but it can put you into peaceful sleep. Make sure that light is always bright and you have company to keep you entertained. Music can also be a very good stimulant.

Caffeine nap: Some people complain about caffeine not helping them at all. This is because it takes time. If you really feel extremely sleepy, drink a cup of coffee and take a quick nap for 15 minutes. By the time you wake up, the caffeine will start its work and you will feel more energized.…