Can people with diabetes take alcohol?

 

People with diabetes can have a moderate amount of  alcohol. Research has shown that the risk of heart diseases (which is usually increased in people with diabetes) can be reduced by moderate consumption of alcohol. If you have any questions about whether alcohol is safe for you, check with your doctor. People with diabetes should follow the same guidelines as those without diabetes if they choose to drink:

• Women should have no more than 1 drink per day.
• Men should have no more than 2 drinks per day.

*One drink is equal to a 12 oz beer, 5 oz glass of wine, 1 oz of alcoholic herbal drink (alomo bitters)  or 1 ½ oz distilled spirits (vodka, whiskey, gin, etc.).

Here are some tips

If you have diabetes, practice caution when drinking. Never drink on an empty stomach or when your blood glucose level is low. If you choose to drink, follow the guidelines above and have it with food. This is especially important for those on insulin and diabetes pills such as sulfonylurea and meglitinides (Prandin), which lower blood glucose by making more insulin.

• Do not omit food from your regular meal plan and replace it with alcohol. (If you use carbohydrate counting to plan meals, do not count alcohol in your plan as a carbohydrate choice.)
• Sip your drink slowly to savor it and make it last.
• Have a zero calorie beverage by your side to keep yourself hydrated like water, diet soda or iced tea.
• For mixed drinks, choose calorie-free drink mixers like diet soda, club soda, diet tonic water or water.
• Do not drive or plan to drive for several hours after you drink alcohol.

Alcohol can cause hypoglycemia shortly after drinking and for up to 24 hours after drinking. If you are going to drink alcohol, check your blood glucose before you drink while you drink and for up to 24 hours. You should also check your blood glucose before you go to bed to make sure it is at a safe level – between 100 and 140 mg/dL. If your blood glucose is low, eat something to raise it.

Takeaways

• If you choose to drink alcohol, follow the guidelines above and have it with food. Talk with your health care team about whether alcohol is safe for you.
• If you drink alcohol at least several times a week, make sure your doctor knows this before he/she prescribes a diabetes pill.
• Drink only when and if blood glucose is under control. Test blood glucose (if prescribed) to help you decide if you should drink.
•  

READ: symptoms of diabetes

see:  diabetes and heart disease

INFOGRAPHIC : How coke destroys the body

I saw this somewhere on the internet...

Fruits are the best alternative if you have a sweet tooth, though they contain fructose, the fibre in them help to reduce the adverse effects of the fructose.

Go natural...

Stay healthy!!!

OBESITY CAN TURN YOU INTO AN 'OLODO'

Adding to the list of 'wahala' obesity causes, a new study has suggested it may also increase the risk of memory loss.

It is a well known fact that obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers.

A new study at Iowa State University and published in the Journal of American Medical Association Neurology found a strong association between insulin resistance and memory function decline, increasing the risk for Alzheimer's disease (old timer's disease).

Auriel Willette, a research scientist at the university, said that insulin resistance is common in people who are obese, pre-diabetic or have type 2 diabetes.

Willette and co-author Barbara Bendlin, examined brain scans in 150 late middle-aged adults, who were at risk for Alzheimer's disease, but showed no sign of memory loss.

Stay healthy..

health : too much sitting is 'hazardous'

OBADWORKZ. SITTING IMAGE

Many adults can spend more than 70 per cent of their day sitting, being virtually immobile, says Professor Neville Owen of the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute.

'Physical activity is so fundamentally important and is being under-utilised in many areas of preventative health and medicine,' he told AAP ahead of speaking to a Melbourne health care conference on Thursday.

While the recommended daily 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise was to be commended, Prof Owen said this was only a tiny proportion of people's waking hours.

Studies had shown that sitting time was a strong predictor of health risks and resulting premature deaths, while others had shown the benefits of breaking up sitting time, especially in the workplace.

Baker IDI laboratories had done research where people sat all day then had their blood glucose, insulin and other levels measured.

'They then have one experimental day when they, very simply, just break up their sitting time every half hour, moving for two to three minutes,' Prof Owen said.

This resulted in 'huge improvements' in their levels.

'More activity is always better, but there is still so much more to explore, such as whether three or four longer breaks during the day could make a difference,' Prof Owen said.

Source : AAP

GOOGLE smart contact lens can monitor glucose level

Smart technology makes tracking personal health metrics — from posture to sleep quality — easier than ever. But one new device could be more medically useful than any yet on the market: a smart contact lens.

Developed by Google’s secretive Google X arm, the initial prototype is designed to monitor glucose for diabetics. It sports a tiny sensor that measures glucose in tears and an antenna that wirelessly transmits the data to a connected device.
Google’s clinical research studies demonstrate the device can take one reading per second, promising a constant, noninvasive alternative to diabetics’ routine finger pricks throughout the day. The lens could also immediately alert patients, doctors or caregivers to abnormal glucose levels.

A different twist on the same technology could produce lenses that work better than current bifocal contact lenses. By detecting eye muscle movements and automatically adjusting focus — similar to an automatic camera lens — the new lens could replicate the eye’s natural functioning.

In July, pharmaceutical giant Novartis announced it would license and commercialize the lenses, initially focusing on these two applications. CEO Joseph Jimenez said the company wants a prototype available for research-and-development reviews by early 2015, though Novartis says it’s too early to say which version of the lens will be available first.

Source : discovermagazine

SYMPTOMS OF DIABETES

    If you go through my previous posts, you'd find out that I write about diabetes a lot. It could be due to the fact that some people are ignorant of diabetes and others only know about it when they are bedridden by it.
    Below are some of the symptoms of diabetes (I put together) and if you're exhibiting any of the following symptoms, contact your doctor and have your blood glucose level checked.

• INCREASED THIRST AND FREQUENT URINATION

    This is caused by the failure of the kidney to filter the excess glucose in the blood, so it is passed out with the urine which leads to frequent urination as the body tries to remove the excess glucose. Sometimes there's excessive sweating
The body then becomes dehydrate and you feel thirsty.

• INCREASED HUNGER

Unavailability of insulin in the body reduces the quantity of glucose getting into the cell. Cells need glucose for energy, so the body tries to increase calories for energy which increases hunger.

• UNFORESEEN WEIGHT LOSS

This is due to the decrease in the amount of calories absorbed by the cell because of the excretion of glucose in urine.

• FATIGUE AND WEAKNESS

This is caused by the reduction in glucose that gets into the cells leading to reduced amount of energy to function.

• BLURRY VISION

Many people don't know this is a symptom of diabetes. High blood glucose affects the eyes causing swollen lens with abnormal shape, thereby leading to a blurry vision.

• SORE HEALS SLOWLY AND FREQUENT INFECTIONS

When the blood glucose level is high, it weakens the immune system which leads to slow healing process and the body is prone to infections.

Stay healthy.

Author

diabetes could be inherited - Researchers

Children born to fathers with diabetes are around five times more at risk of developing type 1 diabetes as those without it.

Those with mothers with type 1 diabetes have three times the risk, while the offspring of mothers with type 2 diabetes have almost double the chance.

A study, which looked at more than 1.2 million children in Sweden, also found that mothers who were overweight or obese in early pregnancy increased the risk of children developing type 1 diabetes - even if neither parent had the condition.

Researchers said better public health strategies are needed to encourage mothers-to-be to keep to a healthy weight, as type 1 diabetes in children becomes more prevalent all over the world. The latest National Pediatric Diabetes Audit revealed there were 1,000 more children suffering from diabetes reported in England and Wales last year.

In the Swedish study, a high body mass index was associated with a 33 per cent increased risk of type 1 diabetes in offspring of parents without diabetes when compared with maternal BMI in the normal range.

It added that maternal obesity within the three months only increased the risk of diabetes in the children of parents without diabetes, causing no 'extra' risk in the offspring of parents with diabetes, suggesting that heredity for type 1 diabetes is the strongest risk factor of the two for development of type 1 diabetes.

'This population-based study from Sweden demonstrates significantly increased risks of type 1 diabetes in offspring of both mothers and fathers with diabetes and regardless of parental migration background,' the authors concluded.
'The highest risks were noted in offspring of mothers and fathers with type 1 diabetes.

'Furthermore, maternal overweight and obesity in early pregnancy was associated with increased risk of type 1 diabetes in the offspring of parents without diabetes.

'Therefore prevention of overweight and obesity in women of reproductive age - currently increasing in all countries - may contribute to a decreased incidence of type 1 diabetes.'

The research, led by Associate Professor Tahereh Moradi, of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, is published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes).

diabetes + heart disease = early death

Ever heard of the term diabetic heart disease?

The term "diabetic heart disease" (DHD) refers to heart disease that develops in people who have diabetes.

Diabetic heart disease

People suffering from both diabetes and heart disease are at a greater early death risk than people with just one condition or no disease, a study said. After analysing more than 135,000 deaths that occurred during prolonged follow-up of almost 1.2 million participants, researchers from the University of Cambridge found that an individual in his/her 60s having both the conditions has an average reduction in life expectancy of about 15 years.”

A combination of diabetes and heart disease is associated with a substantially lower life expectancy,” said Emanuele Di Angelantonio from the department of public health and primary care in a paper that appeared in the journal of the American Medical Association.

At the age of 60 years, men with any two of the conditions would on average have 12 years of reduced life expectancy.

Men with three conditions – diabetes, stroke and heart attack (cardiometabolic diseases) – would have 14 years of reduced life expectancy.
For women at the age of 60 years, the corresponding estimates were 13 years and 16 years of reduced life expectancy.

The figures were even more dramatic for patients at a younger age.At the age of 40 years, men with all three cardiometabolic conditions would on average have 23 years of reduced life expectancy and for women, the corresponding estimate was 20 years.”Our results highlight the importance of preventing heart disease and stroke among patients with diabetes, and likewise averting diabetes amongst heart disease patients,” said professor John Danesh, study co-author. Measures aimed at reducing diabetes and heart disease among this group could have a dramatic impact on their lives, the study said.

The following conditions could increase the risk of heart disease ;

- high blood pressure
- abnormal cholesterol and high triglycerides
- lack of exercise 
- poorly controlled blood sugars
- smoking
- obesity

Live healthy!

Don't drink on empty stomach

Diabetes remains a major health problem and can cause a long term complications on the arteries or nerves. This artery damage results in medical problems that are both common and serious.

Although, some studies have shown that if you have diabetes, drinking alcohol will cause your blood sugar to rise, experts say people with diabetes can enjoy some alcohol but they must not drink on an empty stomach.

According to the experts, rules are the same as for everyone else: one drink per day for women; two for men. But you need to know how alcohol affects your blood sugar. A sugary drink might spike your blood sugar. But if you drink on an empty stomach or take certain medications, your levels could swing too low.

The experts warned against drinking on an empty stomach because food helps individual process alcohol. They argued that there was no need for people to drink their meals as booze lowers blood sugar. Don’t forget to test. Alcohol can affect your blood sugar for up to 24 hours.On drinking dos, they recommend that people should stay hydrated — it helps keep you sober. Be careful if you take insulin — alcohol can make your blood sugar drop.

What experts say about drinks and cocktails for diabetic patients:

Beer: 354 grams of beer has about 15 grams of carbohydrates, compared to 3 to 6 grams in light beer. Also, “light” and “low carb” are pretty much the same thing — and also your best bet. Be careful with craft beer. Most have twice the alcohol and calories as regular beer.

Wine: Some research says wine (red or white) helps your body use insulin better and may even make you less likely to get type 2 diabetes in the first place. It may also have heart benefits, to boot. A standard 147 grams serving has about 120 calories, nearly all of which come from alcohol, not carbs.

Sangria: Recipes vary, but depending on the fruit and juices involved, this drink may have as much sugar as a regular soda. Instead of sangria, go with one glass of dry red or white wine. Those only have about 4 grams of carbs. Avoid sweeter varieties, like flavoured wines and dessert wines.

Liquor: 29 grams of liquor, depending on the proof, has about the same amount of alcohol as 147 grams of wine. While liquor is often carb-free, mixers like soda and juice can send blood sugar levels through the roof. To prevent a spike, mix your liquor with a calorie-free drink like water or seltzer.

Source-vanguardngr