Jo's Cafe

Mark the day – March 25th.  Get tested for diabetes.

Diabetes is a devastating disease that affects nearly 21 million Americans. Of them, over 6 million American are unaware they have diabetes. An additional 54 million Americans have pre-diabetes, which puts them at greatest risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Among the primary risk factors for type 2 diabetes are being overweight, sedentary, over the age of 45 and having a family history of diabetes. African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders are at an increased risk, as are women who have had babies weighing more than nine pounds at birth. Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death by disease and has no cure.

via American Diabetes Association, “March 25 is the 20th Annual American Diabetes Alert(R) Day“

Next time you go to the doctor, ask them to give you a finger stick to check your glucose. It doesn’t matter the time of day, or when you’ve eaten. If the results are too high, your doctor will should ask you what your day has been like and when you last ate. Your normal sugar range should be back 2 hours after you’ve eaten. We all need to be more aware of what we are putting in our bodies and how it effects us.

Ask. Get tested.

An extract of Coccinia indica, a perennial herb that grows abundantly in India, may help people with mild type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar levels, the results of a new study suggest.

In the journal Diabetes Care, researchers note that while Coccinia indica, also known as Coccinia cordifolia, has been widely used in traditional treatments of diabetes, carefully controlled studies have not been done.

To examine the effects of this herb on blood sugar levels, the India-based researchers randomly assigned 60 adults with newly detected type 2 diabetes to receive Coccinia extract or placebo. The subjects were between 35 and 60 years old and were being treated with diet and lifestyle modification only.

According to Dr. Rebecca Kuriyan, from the Institute of Population Health and Clinical Research in Bangalore, and colleagues, there were significant differences in blood sugar favoring Coccinia extract over placebo after 90 days of treatment.

via MyDiabetesCentral.com “Indian herb may help diabetics control blood sugar“

The below article is stunning.

Women with type 1 diabetes who cut back on insulin to prevent weight gain face a threefold higher risk of dying early in life, a study reports today.
The study highlights the risk involved in restricting insulin, a practice that often goes hand in hand with an eating disorder, says Ann Goebel-Fabbri, a psychologist at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. Some type 1 diabetics, especially young women, cut back on insulin and then use other strategies such as fasting to stay thin.

Goebel-Fabbri and her colleagues studied 234 women and teens with type 1 diabetes, a disease in which the immune system destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin.

Type 1 diabetics must receive a daily injection of insulin, a hormone that helps the body use sugar as fuel.

via USAToday, “Study: Risk deadly for diabetic women who restrict insulin“

I can understand not wanting to gain weight, but look at Halle Berry — she’s healthy and beautiful .. and I bet she didn’t skimp on the insulin, especially when she was pregnant!