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

US approves new cholesterol drug

Praluent is the name of the new drug approved by US regulators for people with certain genetic risk factors for heart disease.

The new drug is not in oral form, it is an injectable drug, made by Sanofi and Regeneron, and it is the first of its kind to gain approval on the US market, and offers an alternative to popular pill-based statins.

However, the US Food and Drug Administration approved it only for adults with an inherited condition that predisposes them to high cholesterol and raises the risk of heart attack and stroke.

The drug is not currently available in Nigeria, but there's hope it will get to Nigeria soon.

Good news for those who says "injection better pass tablet"

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

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!