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DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule that makes up our genetic coding to make us what we are. Telomeres are parts of DNA molecules, located at the ends of the ladder-shaped DNA molecules to keep them from unraveling.

Shortened telomeres have been found in diabetes, and diabetic patients with the shortest telomeres tend to have the most complications of the condition. Investigators at the Mexican Institute of Social Security in Leon Guanajuato, Mexico studied telomere lengths to get an idea of whether telomeres shorten during the course of having diabetes. Their results were published in August 2011 in the journal Aging Male.

The Study: Two hundred and eighty-seven men were included in the study.

Approximately:

1. one-third of these men had known they had Type 2 diabetes for at least 10 years,
2. one-third had received their Type 2 diabetes diagnosis less than one year ago, and
3. the remaining third were non-diabetic.

Results: It was found the group who had Type 2 diabetes for 10 years or more had the shortest telomeres, followed by the group who had been recently diagnosed. The longest telomeres were found in the non-diabetics. The researchers concluded that telomere shortening increases with the length of time after Type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance begins to take effect.

Telomeres are made up of parts of DNA called base pairs, and babies are born with 8,000 of them in each strand of DNA. The number of telomeres can decrease to as few as 1,500 in elderly people. Cells are able to divide about 50 to 70 times, with telomeres shortening each time, until cells become too old to reproduce or become cancerous. Researchers at the University of Utah in the USA discovered that among people over 60 years of age, those with the shortest telomeres were three times more likely to die from heart disease and eight times more likely to die from infectious disease than those with the longest telomeres.

Lengthening telomeres could someday extend lifetimes or end cancer, although much further research will have to be done before that possibility could become a reality.

An association between the length of time of having diabetes and having shorter telomeres does not necessarily show cause and effect. Further investigation will show whether a biological mechanism exists by which diabetes shortens telomeres. If diabetes is responsible for causing telomeres to grow smaller, then controlling your Type 2 diabetes could be one way to remain healthy longer.

Certainly, controlling diabetes is a good way to prevent complications, and slowing down aging could be another benefit. A vegan diet along with an exercise program that includes some weight training and aerobics, along with a medication regimen, if needed, can bring Type 2 diabetes under good control.

Controlling the amount of sugar in your blood is imperative for anyone diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic. When Type II diabetics experience high or low levels of sugar in the blood, they can develop significant complications. High blood sugar levels in diabetics can cause serious damage to the body, while low levels of sugar in the blood can cause immediate, life threatening complications.

LOW BLOOD SUGAR

Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) may not be as commonly discussed as high, but it can be life threatening especially for diabetics. When the level of sugar drops below 80 mg per deciliter of blood, the body begins to develop serious problems. Typical symptoms displayed by people with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) are:

• Dizziness
• Sweating
• Anxiety
• Shaking
• Hunger
• Confusion
• Sleepiness
• Numbness and tingling

If you are, or know a Type II diabetic showing these symptoms, it is important to check your level of sugar in your blood immediately. If your blood sugar level is low, it is advised that you have a small snack that has sugar in it, like drink some fruit juice or eat a few small pieces of candy. It is very important to remember to ingest the sugar slowly not having large quantities at one time.

It is also very important to remember to check the level of sugar in your blood again after ingesting the sugar. If the blood sugar level is still low, take some more candy. Checking your blood sugar levels every fifteen minutes to ensure that they are back to normal is recommended. If your blood sugar levels is frequently too low, seek medical advice and treatment as this could be a sign of a major problem that should be addressed immediately.

Diabetics that have low levels of sugar in their blood are prone to passing out. Because of this, it is very important for someone experiencing effects of low levels of sugar to be extra careful when driving or operating heavy machinery. People with low sugar tendencies should pay special attention to their individual symptoms and make sure they are not in dangerous situations when they start experiencing them.

HIGH BLOOD SUGAR

High levels of sugar in the blood can also be very damaging to the body. Moderately high sugar levels can cause long-term degenerative problems in the body, including ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar syndrome.

The warning signs for high sugar levels that people need to watch out for include:

• Dry Mouth
• High Fever
• Loss of Vision
• Sleepiness
• Confusion
• Weakness on one side of the body
• Hallucinations
• Warm dry skin without sweat
• Extreme thirst

If you, or someone you know if a type 2 diabetic and experiencing any of these symptoms, you need to seek the help of a doctor immediately. Both high and low sugar levels can be life threatening when they are not controlled.

It is important to know how energy drinks will affect a diabetic. Energy drinks are becoming more popular as they are a source of providing energy, especially for people involved in athletic activities.

It is vital to understand how these kinds of drinks will affect people with diabetes. The one major component of many energy drinks is caffeine, and as you know, caffeine can be quite dangerous for diabetics.

Caffeine can affect your system by increasing the level of insulin in your blood cells, which of course causes the insulin to break down glucose in your blood a lot harder, which subsequently will cause a rise in your blood levels.

The other ingredients that you will find in energy drinks are refined sugar as well as carbohydrates. As we know, refined sugar is one of the worst food items that a diabetic can have in their diet. Refined sugar can have an immediate effect on your blood sugar levels and will not provide you with the energy that you require.

Some other affects of energy beverages when consumed in high quantities can increase the risk of fatigue and dehydration and the high levels of caffeine found in these drinks are known to increase the risk of hypertension, headaches, irregular heartbeats, and insomnia. The general recommendation is consume no more than two energy drinks per day.

How energy drinks will affect a diabetic is that these drinks can be carbonated or noncarbonated; they contain caloric sweeteners like sucrose or in some cases high fructose syrup. This means that these sugary drinks can be a real threat from diabetes.

A recent study showed that people that consumed one to two servings of these sugar sweetened type drinks per day had a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 26%.

Unfortunately, energy drinks have been marketed and advertised to the general consumer as a drink that will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle, however, they can be very harmful when too much is consumed, causing weight gain and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Even though these drinks contain ingredients that are not in your general soft drinks like vitamins, minerals, amino acids and special chemicals they are still considered dangerous when over consumed.

The risk of developing metabolic syndrome by 20% as well as the high risk of developing type 2 diabetes is a certainty when consuming high levels of these energy beverages. Other risk factors are kidney failure, liver disease, heart disease and stroke.

It is important to maintain a healthy diet at all times and how these energy drinks will affect a diabetic is critical in the management of your diabetes.

You might think you have just one disease: Type 2 diabetes. But if it’s not managed properly, you could end up with a whole host of other problems. Heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, and stroke are all caused by clogged arteries, which are the blood vessels carrying oxygen to the heart, legs, feet, brain and other areas of the body. Having diabetes puts you at double the risk, or more, for developing these conditions. In fact, heart disease is the main killer of people with diabetes, and they get it earlier in life than those people without high blood sugar levels.
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Actually diabetes and major depressive disorders are both known risk factors for heart attacks. A group of researchers at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri set out to learn how having both Type 2 diabetes and depression might be associated with heart attacks.

Their study, published in the June 2011 issue of the journal Diabetes Care, used electronic medical records kept during the years 1999 and 2000. These records belonged to more than three hundred thousand veterans aged between 25 and 80.

They were divided into four groups:

• veterans with neither diabetes nor depression,
• those with diabetes and no depression,
• veterans with depression but without diabetes, and
• veterans with both conditions.

Results of the Study Revealed: The veteran patients with a major depressive disorder alone, or diabetes alone, had a 30 percent increased risk of heart attack, but those with both diabetes and depression had an increased risk of 80 per cent. Apparently diabetes and depression interact to make the risk of heart attack higher than both risks added together. It was therefore suggested by the researchers people with both diabetes and depression need to be monitored closely for heart and blood vessel disease.

Depressed people frequently are ready for “fight or flight”, tending toward more tone in certain nerves, and higher levels of the hormone cortisol. They have more inflammation, their platelets often form clots unnecessarily, and their blood vessels can malfunction. Type 2 diabetics often have increased levels of fats and cholesterol in their blood, allowing the coronary arteries, those that feed blood to the heart itself, to become clogged.

It is easy to see how the two conditions could interact to cause the coronary arteries to become sufficiently clogged so the heart would not be able to get enough oxygen and nutrients. This leads to a myocardial infarction, or heart attack.

if an electrocardiogram, or EKG, is abnormal, it can be the result of the heart’s inability to receive enough oxygen and energy due to narrowing of the coronary arteries,
an abnormal EKG is an indication for a stress test that shows a picture of the heart at work,
if an area of the heart is not getting enough blood, an angiogram can be performed.

The angiogram can show where there are blocked areas in the coronary arteries. Once a blockage is seen, it can be treated either with a stent, a device to open the vessel or, if the vessel is clogged along too much of its length, it can be replaced. The replacement procedure is called a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). Veins are removed from the legs and put into the heart to serve as new coronary arteries. The new arteries continue to conduct blood for about 5 to 10 years.

Anyone with Type 2 diabetes, depression, or, especially both conditions, should be under the care of a cardiologist. Having heart and blood vessel problems diagnosed early can lower the chance of major surgery and/or prevent a heart attack.

There are a number of ways to control and live quite comfortably with Type 2 diabetes. Of course, eating right and controlling your blood sugar levels are the main ways. If you haven’t put on a pair of sneakers for some time, exercise might be a scary thought but exercise is another important factor. Many people with Type 2 diabetes become more fit by simply walking, even if they have not been in the best of health, or have never really exercised before: how do they get started? There are actually some unique ways to add activity to your day without overdoing it.

A common misconception is that in order to efficiently exercise you need a gymnasium full of equipment at your disposal. But that isn’t true. For starters who are new to the exercise way of life, walking is one of the most beneficial ways to improve your health. It is easy, doesn’t require equipment or even a partner, and can be done almost anywhere.

You can walk around your house or even up and down the street. Running errands? Park at the far end of the parking lot. If you go into a store, cover every aisle and the perimeter, one or more times. When you get bored, go into another store and do it again. Of if you have a mall nearby do some laps around the inside.

Does your home have two stories or a basement? Use the stairs and make multiple trips to perform a task on an opposing floor. Or just make some runs up and down the stairs. It won’t take much to get the heart pumping and it’s easy to stop when you need to.

Walking a dog can use a lot of energy, depending on the dog. Walk them several times a day and both of you will benefit.

If you like being outside then look for an activity such as raking, sweeping the driveway or washing and waxing the car. Cleaning out a flower garden or prepping one for new flowers can work up a sweat.

Stuck inside? Clean house. This can include everything from vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, doing dishes, laundry or just general cleaning. Something as simple as cleaning a bathroom burns more calories than you can imagine. Your house will reflect how well you are doing.

If you need outside motivation, turn on the TV. There is almost always an exercise program on at any given time of the day. If you need to, tape some of your favorites and watch them when you are ready. No matter what level of exercise you partake in, just getting your body moving is the key.

After taking that first step, you will have the confidence to work up to higher levels of fitness. The good news is all types of exercise work, all help to lower your blood sugar level.

Diabetes meal plans seem to have an unholy alliance with chewable fare. It seems that the designers of these meal plans assume that every diabetic has switched to water as his or her favorite beverage as soon as they were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

In reality, the drinks that you swallow have a significant effect on the management of your Type 2 diabetes. Of course, food is the primary source of calories in people’s diets and shouldn’t be ignored. But paying at least some attention of what you wash down your healthy diabetic friendly foods with can help you manage your blood sugar
levels.

Fat-Free Milk: Protein is a crucial nutrient that’s often lacking in diabetic diets. Protein helps you retain precious muscle and puts a lid on an out of control appetite. Unfortunately, portable protein sources are harder to find than an honest politician. Fat-free milk can be taken just about anywhere as long as it’s kept cool. A single glass of fat-free milk contains 8 grams of top notch protein.

Green Tea: Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of diabetics? The NIH states that diabetics have twice the heart disease risk of the general public. To keep heart disease from striking, keep your body weight in a healthy range and eat a healthy diet. Tossing green tea into that heart disease preventing formula can reap significant dividends.

Green tea is bursting with special antioxidants known as EGCG. Studies show that EGCG protects the vulnerable cells of your heart’s arteries… reducing the risk of plaque formation.

Coffee: As if the rush you get from your morning cup of coffee wasn’t enough, a 2009 research study published in Diabetologia found that Type 2 diabetics who drink at least four cups per day have a slightly lower heart disease risk compared to non-coffee drinkers. They also found that drinking two cups of decaf coffee per day helped Type 2 diabetics control their all-important HbA1c levels.

Water: It may seem like an obvious inclusion onto this list, but the benefits of water for diabetics cannot be overstated. Firstly, water is a calorie free beverage. Switching from fruit juice or soda to water is enough to help you drop serious pounds or kilograms. Also, research presented at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society found that drinking at least 8 oz (237 ml) of water before a meal helped people eat less.

And because diabetics who suffer from regular blood sugar spikes generally have to urinate more often, it’s crucial to rehydrate with healthy life-giving water.

Type 2 diabetes is becoming more and more of a problem in our society. With the seriousness of this condition it is important to know what you are looking for to be able to make an accurate diagnosis. Since it generally takes years for the symptoms to be accurately identified it is imperative that individuals stay informed.

Type 2 diabetes is characterized by two factors; abnormally high blood sugar levels, either before breakfast or after eating, and abnormally high levels of insulin. In pre-diabetes, blood sugar or insulin levels, or both, have begun to creep up.

When looking over a list of early warning signs some of them can be easily confused with other conditions, which is why many people who are in the beginning stages of the disease are not necessarily in denial, but in confusion. They take their symptoms and inaccurately apply them to something else. Since this disease can progress into more serious conditions if left untreated, it puts even more emphasis on correctly spotting what these signs mean.

However, denial does play a part in this, too. We do not like to accept that something may be wrong with our health, but in this case Type 2 diabetes is a condition that not only will refuse to go away but also will become progressively worse over time. This will lead to further complications than if the diagnosis were determined early. In fact, early diagnosis for example in the pre-diabetic stage, gives you the easiest and most likely outcome of reversing the disease.

Some of the early symptoms include fatigue and headaches, which most people will typically place in the same category, since not getting enough restful sleep can result in headaches and feeling run down. Increased thirst and dry mouth can also be possibly associated with an increase in salt intake, a hot, dry time of the year or feeling as if the individual is not consuming enough water.

Even something as telltale as blurred vision can be considered a natural aspect of aging if the sufferer is getting into middle age. This is typically when the eyes start requiring the assistance of glasses, anyway.

But the dangerous signs that should really be focused on more are:

• frequent urination
• unexplained weight loss, and
• increased hunger, especially when it occurs right after eating.

Putting an increased feeling of hunger with weight loss is a definite red flag, especially since the body’s metabolism starts slowing down as we age.

But the list can continue from there. Numbness and a tingling feeling in the hands and feet, itching of the skin around the groin area, and wounds and cuts that are slow to heal are also signs. Symptoms can even be gender specific. Women can experience frequent yeast infections while men can be hit with impotency.

This list is even more important to keep in mind if there is a history of the disease in your family. When a parent develops the disease it puts their children at an increased risk also. If both parents develop it, the likelihood increases even further.

Knowing the early signs of Type 2 diabetes is important not just from a diagnosis standpoint, but to prevent further damage to the body form residual complications. If any of these symptoms start to appear, don’t hesitate to check with your doctor immediately.

Going to college? Have diabetes? That is a recipe in itself for the freshman fifteen. What is the freshman fifteen? This refers to extra weight that many students gain when they first enter college. Students deal with diabetes while doing all of the rest of the same things as other college students do; stressing out, over eating, staying up late to study and partying. Finally getting out of the parent’s home gives a young freshman the desire and power for freedom of choice. Sometimes this causes choices that are not wise for people who are diabetic. Many diabetic college students end up gaining the freshman fifteen due to lack of exercise, making unhealthy food choices and staying up late with not enough sleep. Lack of sleep can be caused by either studying or partying.
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There are ways to avoid gaining the freshman fifteen and staying healthy throughout the college years. These will also better help the student to live a healthier lifestyle while attending college and thereafter.

Steps to avoiding the freshman fifteen:

• Get plenty of sleep. Getting enough sleep keeps your body stronger to maintain a healthy immune system and an alert mind for classes.
• Try to keep late night binge eating to a minimum. If you stay on a healthy diet for diabetes, rewarding yourself once a week to splurge is acceptable. This is as long as you continue to test your sugar levels on a regular basis to ensure your levels are not fluctuating.
• Exercise is the key to keeping fit and healthy even if it means using the stairs rather than elevators. Another choice can be walking around campus rather than driving to and from classes.
• Eating healthy choices at mealtimes and choosing fruits or vegetables for snacks will give the body fuel during the day. Limit the use of fast foods and comfort foods. These foods will make your diabetes less stable and cause weight gain
• Limit the amount of alcohol due to diabetes. Binge drinking is very dangerous when being treated with insulin or diabetic medications.
• Excessive beer can cause high heart rates and blood sugar levels to fluctuate severely. Sugar levels that fluctuate very high or extremely low can cause many medical complications to arise.
• Drink plenty of water as it helps stabilize many key body functions and keeps diabetes under more control. Water is a wonderful way to replace minor snack cravings because it can help you feel full and also helps to keep diabetes from spiking.

Keeping a close watch on what you eat, making sure you get enough sleep and providing ways to do some exercise will keep the freshman fifteen out of the way. This will help to have a healthy and happy future because the diabetes during college was kept under control through wise decision making. Always accept that there will be some fluctuating sugar levels. However, with careful planning and consideration, college life can be fun and full of wonderful memories. Diabetes is not a handicap or a disability; it’s a metabolic disease. This means that it is controllable and manageable with the proper care and decisions.

Most people think of Type 2 diabetes (a chronic condition) as some sort of a “poor lifestyle” disease. They say “oh Dr. Beckingham they just ate bad food, are overweight, didn’t exercise and now look at what happened to them, They have Type 2 Diabetes”. For some people this is the case. Diet, lifestyle choices, and exercise are major factors in developing Type 2 Diabetes. But for a large portion of Type 2 diabetes sufferers they exercise regularly, have a medium body size, and eat fairly well. So how did they get the “poor habit disease”?

First off the underlying cause of most chronic conditions is autoimmunity. Autoimmune disease is where your immune system mistakenly attacks a particular area or system of the body, in this case your pancreas. If you do not address why the body has turned against itself you will continue to have worsening symptoms that result in permanent damage. The auto immunity does not stop or sleep and searches for new tissue to kill. Scientific studies show that around 25 percent of people that are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes actually have an autoimmune disease; this translates to millions of people. In the functional medicine circles this is known as LADA, latent autoimmune diabetes mellitus of adults.LADA is basically when your immune system mistakenly attacks your pancreas, or some other critical blood sugar regulatory system and this causes the condition. This is usually how a healthy looking person develops Type 2 diabetes, an ever increasing autoimmune disease.

To find out if you have an autoimmune disease I insist on antibody testing on all my chronic condition patients. An antibody is a protein marker. The body’s immune system produces antibodies in response to unwanted material like molds, virus, bacteria, and parasites. These substances are labeled antigens. Antibodies can be produced when the body has a reaction to a food it is sensitive to or comes in contact with a harmful chemical. Antibodies can mistakenly be produced against a bodies own healthy tissue when the immune system becomes confused. The antibody marks the tissue for removal and signals the immune response. This is the cause of autoimmune reactions. I like to check for gluten antibodies, myelin (fatty sheath around the nerves) antibodies, cerebellar (back part of the brain controlling balance, coordinated movement, and spinal muscles) antibodies. More examples are antibodies to skin tissue often called psoriasis, antibodies to the thyroid tissue called Hashimoto’s disease, or antibodies to nerve cells conductive coating known as multiple sclerosis.

Common treatment protocol for Type 2 Diabetes is insulin or Metformin, this is commonly a huge disservice to patients because it is missing the big smoking gun of autoimmune disease. These medications will do nothing to help the fact that your body has turned on itself and is destroying its own tissues. It is extremely important to rule out autoimmune disease with diabetes patients because you can stop further systemic damage that could be life altering. To rule this out you have to do the proper testing and look for the antibodies.

Autoimmune Type 2 Diabetes can attack almost anybody no matter what the sex, age, or body type. The disease will show clinically just like run of the mill Type 2 Diabetes. The only difference is in the diagnosis and lab testing stage. Proper testing for antibodies and other autoimmune markers is crucial. It is as simple as testing for the antibodies and if they show up it is autoimmune clear as day, and that is what should drive the treatment protocol for the patient.

As I meet with patients it never ceases to amaze me that they are on all kinds of treatments without an accurate diagnosis. I can count on my one hand the amount of times I have come across a Type 2 Diabetic who has had all the proper testing. I go over the patient’s history and they tell me about having Psoriasis, Vertigo, Hashimoto’s, and Lupus. I next ask about the Diabetes diagnosis and it shocks them to hear about the huge possibility they have autoimmune diabetes. If they tell me they have symptoms that continue to get worse no matter what medication they are on a giant buzzer goes off in my head, autoimmune! I next have to tell them about the facts of autoimmune and how more and more damage will be done to random systems of the body unless they modulate the autoimmune response.

What to do now? Healthcare practitioners and patients alike have to get educated about autoimmune disease, proper testing methods, and valid treatment options. Most beneficial to a Type 2 diabetic is antibody testing to not only the pancreas but several other tissues as well. Tissues such as cerebellar, thyroid, connective are but a few of these. If the patient is truly suffering from an autoimmune storm it makes perfect sense to pursue that avenue, find the cause and put the brakes on this runaway train. What is causing the autoimmune reaction, what is driving it, what is not beneficial to it, and what can we do about it? Proper testing is the foundation to all proper diagnosis.

Many treatment options exist for these patients some are medications, some are natural, and some are true lifestyle changes. You most importantly have to focus on regulating the immune system and putting out the fire before it causes more damage.

Type 2 diabetes or better known as onset diabetes for some is a non-insulin dependent abnormality which can be distinguished by high blood sugar in the perspective of insulin resistance and lack of insulin. Type 2 Diabetes is the milder form of diabetes but it is also the most widespread as it affects about 250 million people around the globe. It can easily be handled with just exercise alone. Scientist believes that it is the result of the ever-growing technology. People become so reliant on the technology that they have given up the old ways which requires manual work. The outcome of being lazy is disease as the body becomes weak and has become obese. Another factor that contributes to diabetes inheritance, scientist believes that the child of diabetic parent has more chances of being diabetic compared to those bore by a healthy parent.

Now, based on the new study that is conducted by Antonio Brunetti, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy and associates, genetic material as well play a part on diabetes onset. According to the research, the gene HMGA1 is a crucial controller of insulin receptor (INSR) gene expression.

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Brunetti, together with his associates performed a study to determine the association of HMGA1 with type 2 diabetes. They gathered a total of 8938 patients from different countries that are all suffering from type diabetes. Each of the inherited DNA were analyzed for mutation.

The researchers found out that the occurrence of HMGA1 is high is great for type 2 diabetic patients.

This is not the first study that shows that a gene is one of the sources of diabetes. Back in 2000, scientists were able to identify the Beta3-adrenergic receptor gene also plays a role in type 2 diabetes development. Beta3-adrenergic receptor gene produce a protein in fat cells which is involve in determining how much fat will your body burns as it rest. It encourages the body of a person to become severely fat. Obesity gives way to developing diabetes in adulthood.

With the new findings people are better than ever understand and manage diabetes. Further studies are needed to prevent genetic mutation from affecting diabetes development but this is definitely a good start. Someday drug manufacturers are able to produce drug that could limit or even stop genetic mutation from happening but now people will have to avoid diabetes through exercise and making a healthy habit.

The information may also lead to therapy that stops diabetes, if not could perk up the health of patients with type 2 diabetes.