Type 2 Diabetes - The Metabolic Syndrome And Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The metabolic syndrome consists of high blood sugar, high blood cholesterol, high blood fats, obesity and high blood pressure. Inflammatory bowel disease consists of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, two conditions involving the large intestine. Researchers in the Department of Gastroenterology, Goztepe Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, set out to discover whether the two conditions could be associated. The results of their work were published in the Saudi Journal of Gastroenterology in the month of November 2011.

Sixty-two participants with Crohn's disease and 115 volunteers with ulcerative colitis were included in the study...

34 participants with ulcerative colitis, and11 with Crohn's disease

were found to have the metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome was found in 10.3 per cent of the participants under 45 years of age and 55 per cent of those over 45.

Since both the metabolic syndrome and inflammatory disease were studied at the same time, the results show an association but it is not clear which condition might be a risk factor for the other. Anyone with either diagnosis should be aware of the signs and symptoms of the other.

Signs and symptoms of diabetes include:

unusual hunger or thirst,unintended weight loss,unusual headaches,faintness,unusual fatigue,blurred vision,darkened skin (especially under the arms),frequent urination, andsores or infections that heal slowly.

Anyone experiencing signs or symptoms should be seen by a family doctor or endocrinologist, a doctor specializing in diseases of the glands.

People with ulcerative colitis can experience:

rectal bleeding,rectal mucous,feelings of urgency,diarrhea,fatigue,bloating,left-sided pain,abdominal cramping,unintended weight loss, anddiarrhea.

Crohn's disease can cause:

diarrhea,abdominal cramping,reduced appetite,weight loss,nausea and vomiting, andoccasionally bleeding.

Some scientists have suggested the two conditions are simply slightly different presentations of the same disease. A family doctor or gastroenterologist, a specialist working with diseases of the digestive system, can diagnose inflammatory bowel disease.

Type 2 diabetes has traditionally been diagnosed by fasting blood sugar levels. Hemoglobin blood sugar levels could replace fasting blood sugar levels as the diagnostic test of choice.

Inflammatory bowel diseases are diagnosed by colonoscopy, which consists of inserting a tube called a colonoscope in the rectum and viewing the length of the large intestine.

Both conditions can be treated with diet and medications:

vegan diets are known to be the best kind of diet for people with Type 2 diabetes to follow, and could also be effective for inflammatory bowel disease, although high fiber diets can be irritating.exercise is directly beneficial in lowering blood sugar levels in Type 2 diabetes and is under investigation for inflammatory bowel disease. Since inflammatory bowel disease is at least partly related to stress, exercise could be at least indirectly helpful.

To discover answers to questions you may be asking yourself about Type 2 Diabetes, click on this link... Natural Diabetes Treatments

Type 2 Diabetes - Smoking And The Metabolic Syndrome

The metabolic syndrome consists of the impaired ability of the body to process dietary sugar which gives high blood sugar levels, high blood cholesterol, and high blood pressure. These three conditions are almost always tied together. It really makes sense they are tied together because high levels of sugar damage the lining of your arteries and cholesterol rushes to patch them up. And excess levels of blood sugar are stored as cholesterol and triglycerides and they tend to clog your arteries. Your arteries then become stiff and your blood pressure rises.

So the metabolic syndrome is the name for a group of risk factors that raise the possibility of a person developing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and stroke. Unfortunately, many people diagnosed with the metabolic syndrome do go on to develop full-blown Type 2 diabetes.

Researchers at the Diabetes Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China studied smokers to determine whether smoking could be a risk factor for the development of the metabolic syndrome. Their work was published in October 2011 in the journal Biomedical Environmental Science.

Six hundred and ninety-three men without the metabolic syndrome at the start of the study were followed for 2.9 to 5.5 years. At the end of that time smokers were:

more than twice as likely to have developed the metabolic syndrome as non-smokers.significantly more likely to have high blood fats and low HDL (healthy cholesterol).

Former smokers decreased their risk for developing the metabolic syndrome after 13 years.

Tobacco is unhealthful for anyone, and diabetics, prediabetics, and those with a family history of Type 2 diabetes now have one more reason not to take up smoking, or to quit.

It would help anyone considering beginning to smoke to consider the fact it is more difficult to stop an addiction than to start one. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance, going to the brain and stimulating pleasurable sensations. The pleasurable sensations soon cease and a craving for more nicotine results. Most smokers are aware smoking has severe health consequences, desire to quit, and then have difficulty doing so.

For those already addicted, help is available. At the website smokefree.gov... smokers can find a step-by-step guide for quitting, beginning with listing the reasons for wanting to quit. Suggested reasons include:

saving money,having more free time without the bother of having to shop for cigarettes,not needing to take cigarette breaks, etc.,being better able to breathe and not coughing as much,setting a good example for one's children, andavoiding the thousands of toxic chemicals in cigarettes.

Keeping busy, avoiding activities associated with smoking, and using a support system are also suggestions given at the site.

Medications such as nicotine patches and gum and wellbutrin are available by prescription. Patches and gum deliver nicotine without cigarettes, so smokers can stop the habit while controlling withdrawal and managing to cut down on nicotine delivery gradually. Wellbutrin is an antidepressant that has shown some success as an anti-smoking aid.

If you have diabetes and kidney disease, smoking puts you on a faster track for complications such as heart attack and stroke.

To discover answers to questions you may be asking yourself about Type 2 Diabetes, click on this link... Natural Diabetes Treatments

Type 2 Diabetes - Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Metabolic Syndrome

The metabolic syndrome is actually a group of risk factors that can predispose someone to developing Type 2 diabetes. These risk factors include things like:

high blood pressure,high blood sugar, andhigh cholesterol levels.

These three conditions are almost always tied together. It makes sense because high levels of glucose damage the lining inside your arteries, so cholesterol rushes to the rescue to patch you up so you don't bleed to death from the small lesions everywhere.

Excess blood sugar is stored as cholesterol and triglycerides along with all the other rubbish and clogs your arteries. The plague leads them to stiffen or harden which is atherosclerosis, and then your blood pressure rises. This is the metabolic syndrome.

Because these threats may contribute to other factors such as blood clots forming, and if they break away, cause a heart attack, it's important to ask your doctor the right questions about this condition which could also lead to full-blown Type 2 diabetes.

Here are some questions you can ask your doctor if you have been diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, or if you're worried that you may have it:

Do I need to lose weight? If so, how much weight do I need to lose in order to reduce my risk of metabolic syndrome and the associated complications with it?Do I need to speak with a nutritionist so that I can overhaul my diet?Are there any medications I'm taking which could be causing the symptoms that mimic metabolic syndrome?Will I need medication to control my symptoms or can I change my lifestyle to reverse the condition? (hint: Find another doctor if they tell you that you cannot reverse the condition by changing your lifestyle!)Does my family history play a factor in whether or not I develop the metabolic syndrome?Do you have recommendations for how I can get more physical activity? What if I'm too overweight or have medical issues?What is my BMI?Do I appear to have too much inflammation in my body that might cause blood clots or other issues? Do we need to do any additional testing?Should I be taking an aspirin a day?Can you recommend any nutritional supplements that might lower my cholesterol or blood pressure? In other words, do I have to take medication in order to reverse these conditions?

As you can see, there are lots of questions associated with the metabolic syndrome that you might want to ask your doctor. Some of them are specific to your own situation, however others are meant more to see if your doctor is geared primarily towards traditional treatment methods or is open to more natural methods as well.

Any doctor who says lifestyle modifications will not help you to reverse the metabolic syndrome has either not studied the recent research or is not open to these methods. It's important you know how lifestyle factors can greatly increase or decrease your chances of having metabolic syndrome. It is definitely crucial for you to eat better, exercise and include supplements and healthy foods into your daily regimen.

To discover answers to questions you may be asking yourself about Type 2 Diabetes, click on this link... Natural Diabetes Treatments