Type 2 diabetes is affecting kids in a big way, but diet and exercise can help children avoid or reverse this condition.
Once upon a time, type 2 diabetes was called “adult-onset diabetes.” If children had diabetes, 99 times out of 100 it was type 1 diabetes; type 2 diabetes didn’t appear until midlife. Now, studies suggest that up to 45 percent of childhood diabetes cases are type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 Diabetes: Why the Increase?
“No one is certain why, but most experts believe that it is related in part to the obesity epidemic,” explains Frank Diamond, MD, clinical director for the University of South Florida Diabetes Center and professor of pediatrics at the University of South Florida in Tampa. “We now have approximately 17 percent of the pediatric population that is overweight. Genetically at-risk children may be acquiring the disease earlier because of the increased insulin resistance associated with their early obesity. We are seeing many children with adult weights in our pediatric clinics today.”
Dr. Diamond also notes that the increase may be due to a rise in the proportion of children with ethnic minority heritage that puts them at increased risk for type 2 diabetes.
Basically, says Paul Robertson, MD, president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association, and professor of medicine and pharmacology at the University of Washington in Seattle, the causes of childhood type 2 diabetes boil down to genetic risk mixed with physical inactivity and poor eating habits.
“We know if the diets are corrected and they lose the weight, the diabetes becomes undetectable,” says Dr. Robertson.
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Type 2 Diabetes: What Parents Can Do
The first step to preventing type 2 diabetes in childhood is to face the fact that it can happen to children, says Diamond. Then be on guard for symptoms and ask for diabetes screening.
“Symptoms include tiring easily, thirst, and increased urination. A darkening of the skin (acanthosis nigricans) on the back of the neck, under the arms, and in the groin area is associated with obesity and [is] a common finding with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes children,” he says.
Also, bear in mind that if you had gestational diabetes during your pregnancy, your children are at increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
“Especially in families with a positive family history of type 2 diabetes, avoidance of excessive weight gain and encouragement of an active lifestyle are extremely important and the best tools to avoid the development of type 2 diabetes,” says Diamond. Some children may be candidates for a drug called metformin.
Type 2 Diabetes: Testing
Parents who are concerned that their child might have diabetes should ask for a fasting glucose screening test. That test determines how much sugar is in the blood before a person has eaten.
“A value over 99 mg/dL is abnormal and suggests ‘impending’ diabetes or glucose intolerance. A value equal to or greater than 126 mg/dL is diagnostic of diabetes,” says Diamond.
Any results above the normal range should be red flags for you and your family to:
* Eat a healthy diet rich in whole grains, lean proteins, fruits, and veggies. You can get help changing your family’s diet from a dietitian, if necessary.
* Get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.
* Help your child lose at least 5 percent of his body weight if he is overweight.
Remember, childhood type 2 diabetes is within your family’s control.
“Lose weight, be active, eat the right foods,” says Robertson. “Lifestyle modifications can do a great deal in terms of staving off type 2 diabetes.”
Last Updated: 04/16/2009
This section created and produced exclusively by the editorial staff of EverydayHealth.com. © 2010 EverydayHealth.com; all rights reserved.
Showing posts with label healthy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Mental decline from diabetes can start in middle age
(Reuters Health) - Diabetes can lead to a decline in memory, thinking speed, and mental flexibility in middle age, but controlling the blood sugar disorder might prevent some of these effects, new research from the Netherlands suggests.
Health
While the mental decline may be invisible to the individual, the fact that the drop-off starts accumulating in middle age puts diabetics at greater risk later on because of reduced "brain reserves," Dr. David Knopman, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told Reuters Health.
"Like a bicycle tire that's been partially deflated -- you'll be OK riding around but if you develop another little leak you'll be much closer to a flat tire much faster," said Knopman, who was not involved in the Dutch study.
Astrid Nooyens and colleagues at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands examined the health records and mental acuity scores of more than 2,600 men and women between the ages of 45 and 70 who enrolled in a large ongoing study into lifestyle effects on health.
At the five-year mark, of the 139 participants with type 2 diabetes, 61 were diabetics at the beginning of the study and 78 developed the chronic disease within the next five years.
The study confirmed the findings of earlier research, by Knopman and others, of an association between diabetes and declines in such mental functions as the ability to think quickly and recall words, but this is the first project to test memory and demonstrate how quickly the drop-off can occur.
Over a five-year period, decline in overall mental functioning in people with type 2 diabetes, while small, was nearly 3 times more pronounced than in non-diabetics.
But it didn't take many years for the impact to be felt. Even those who developed diabetes after beginning the study saw twice as much of a decline as their non-diabetic counterparts.
Compared to the "healthy" participants, participants who had long-term diabetes registered the largest declines in mental function. Those who developed diabetes during the trial saw less pronounced declines than their long-term counterparts in most areas except information processing, where they appeared to do a little better than the "healthy" people.
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar levels caused by the body's inability to process sugar properly. The illness can usually be controlled through diet and exercise but may also require drugs.
The Nooyens group found that while memory continues to decline for those with diabetes, the drop-off in thinking speed appears to occur in the first five years and then level off. That led the authors to suggest that early treatment and control of blood sugar levels could help thinking speed, but probably not memory, they note in the journal Diabetes Care.
The researchers found that for a small group of people who had lived with diabetes for nearly seven year, blood sugar levels did not explain the entire decline in mental function. In those people, they suspect other conditions related to diabetes such as high blood pressure and obesity.
The study did not look at whether patients with well-controlled diabetes experienced less mental decline compared to their poorly controlled counterparts, although the authors point out that there are other reasons, such as heart disease, to control sugar levels as well.
They also note that the random blood tests of both the long- and short-term diabetics suggested what treatment they were getting was "insufficient."
SOURCE: link.reuters.com/xyd69k Diabetes Care, online June 2, 2010
Health
While the mental decline may be invisible to the individual, the fact that the drop-off starts accumulating in middle age puts diabetics at greater risk later on because of reduced "brain reserves," Dr. David Knopman, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told Reuters Health.
"Like a bicycle tire that's been partially deflated -- you'll be OK riding around but if you develop another little leak you'll be much closer to a flat tire much faster," said Knopman, who was not involved in the Dutch study.
Astrid Nooyens and colleagues at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands examined the health records and mental acuity scores of more than 2,600 men and women between the ages of 45 and 70 who enrolled in a large ongoing study into lifestyle effects on health.
At the five-year mark, of the 139 participants with type 2 diabetes, 61 were diabetics at the beginning of the study and 78 developed the chronic disease within the next five years.
The study confirmed the findings of earlier research, by Knopman and others, of an association between diabetes and declines in such mental functions as the ability to think quickly and recall words, but this is the first project to test memory and demonstrate how quickly the drop-off can occur.
Over a five-year period, decline in overall mental functioning in people with type 2 diabetes, while small, was nearly 3 times more pronounced than in non-diabetics.
But it didn't take many years for the impact to be felt. Even those who developed diabetes after beginning the study saw twice as much of a decline as their non-diabetic counterparts.
Compared to the "healthy" participants, participants who had long-term diabetes registered the largest declines in mental function. Those who developed diabetes during the trial saw less pronounced declines than their long-term counterparts in most areas except information processing, where they appeared to do a little better than the "healthy" people.
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar levels caused by the body's inability to process sugar properly. The illness can usually be controlled through diet and exercise but may also require drugs.
The Nooyens group found that while memory continues to decline for those with diabetes, the drop-off in thinking speed appears to occur in the first five years and then level off. That led the authors to suggest that early treatment and control of blood sugar levels could help thinking speed, but probably not memory, they note in the journal Diabetes Care.
The researchers found that for a small group of people who had lived with diabetes for nearly seven year, blood sugar levels did not explain the entire decline in mental function. In those people, they suspect other conditions related to diabetes such as high blood pressure and obesity.
The study did not look at whether patients with well-controlled diabetes experienced less mental decline compared to their poorly controlled counterparts, although the authors point out that there are other reasons, such as heart disease, to control sugar levels as well.
They also note that the random blood tests of both the long- and short-term diabetics suggested what treatment they were getting was "insufficient."
SOURCE: link.reuters.com/xyd69k Diabetes Care, online June 2, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
20 Good Tips for Living Healthy
1. Take a 10-30 minute "Thank you" walk every day. While you walk practice gratitude. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. Buy a TIVO, tape your late night shows and get more sleep - it's the ultimate energizer.
4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement: My purpose is to___________ today.
5. Live with the 3 E's. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.
6. Read more books than you did in 2009.
7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, qigong and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Do the "one thing" you have always wanted to do.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in plants.
11. Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.
12. Engage in daily random acts of kindness.
13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing positive energy into your life.
14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
18. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
I am thankful for __________.
Today I accomplished____________.
19. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
20. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. Buy a TIVO, tape your late night shows and get more sleep - it's the ultimate energizer.
4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement: My purpose is to___________ today.
5. Live with the 3 E's. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.
6. Read more books than you did in 2009.
7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, qigong and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Do the "one thing" you have always wanted to do.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in plants.
11. Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.
12. Engage in daily random acts of kindness.
13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing positive energy into your life.
14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
18. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
I am thankful for __________.
Today I accomplished____________.
19. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
20. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.
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