Controlling Diabetes

WORLD Diabetes Day falls on November 14 this year. The first such world diabetes event was introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to the alarming rise in cases of diabetes around the world.

IDF has made “Diabetes Education and Prevention” the theme of its World Diabetes Day campaigns for the next five years, from 2009 to 2013, to address the global gaps in education.

The latest IDF data reveals that over 285 million people worldwide now live with diabetes and this number will increase to 435 million by 2030.

Diabetes claims four million lives every year and is a leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, and amputation.

“Diabetes education is a basic human right for every person with diabetes. The International Diabetes Federation calls on the world to invest in the education, treatment, and care for diabetes for the millions of people with diabetes worldwide,” says Marg McGill, IDF senior vice president and chair of the IDF Consultative Section on Diabetes Education (DECS).

Diabetes defined

Diabetes is a debilitating disease in which your blood glucose, or sugar level, is too high.

Glucose comes from the foods you eat. Insulin is a hormone that helps the glucose get into your cells to provide the cells with energy.

With type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. With type 2 diabetes, the more common type, your body does not make enough insulin or use it effectively. Without enough insulin, the glucose stays in your blood.

Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause serious problems.

Diabetes can damage your eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Diabetes can also cause heart disease, stroke, and even lead to amputation.

Symptoms of type 2 diabetes may include fatigue, thirst, weight loss, blurred vision, and frequent urination.

Some people have no symptoms. A blood test can show if you have diabetes. Read more...

Dietary Supplements May Increase Longevity Of HIV Patients

HIV positive individuals may find long term benefits from using dietary supplements in combination with antiretroviral medication.

A midterm report of a study conducted by the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society showed that body mass index and hemoglobin count improved in HIV positive individuals that used nutritional supplements with antiretroviral therapy.

Body mass index is a calculation of percentage of body fat, and hemoglobin levels are proteins in red blood cells that carry oxygen.

Low body mass index and low hemoglobin levels are often problematic in those with HIV. Low hemoglobin levels can increase the risk of developing anemia, a condition in which red blood cells and hemoglobin in the blood are below normal. Anemia can often be caused by shortage of iron, vitamin B12, or folic acid.

According to a study published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, over 50 percent of people with HIV use alternative therapies, such as herbal medicines and dietary supplements.

Vitamin B, Selenium, And Spirulina

Research has shown that B vitamins, selenium, and spirulina are three supplements that can be beneficial for HIV patients.

Vitamin B12 deficiency has been associated with decreasing CD4+ cells, which are white blood cells that help fight infection in the body. Some studies have shown that without supplements, up to 95 percent of those with HIV may have B12 deficiencies. Vitamin B6 has also been shown to improve CD4+ cell counts. Read more...

Smoking Can Deplete Body of Various Helpful Vitamins

The health risks associated with smoking are well researched and documented. In fact, studies have linked smoking with some of the most serious health issues such as cancer, emphysema and heart disease. However, what many people don't realize is that smoking leads to nutritional deficiencies that may contribute to these and other illnesses.

Smokers should be aware of the impact that cigarette smoking has on their body's ability to digest and use food, use nutrients and support the body's immune system. Smoking prevents absorption of vitamins and minerals, interfering with the body's ability to use vital nutrients properly.
In addition, smoking has a significant effect on vitamins. For example, smoking interferes with your body's ability to use nutrients and depletes the body of vitamin C, an antioxidant that protects the body from disease. The more people smoke, the more vitamin C they lose from tissue and blood. The damage done by smoking may not be reversed by just increasing vitamin C intake through diet alone, so a supplement may be needed. Read more...

Arm Yourself for Swine Flu and Winter Illness

Many are conflicted - to get the H1N1 (Swine Flu) shot or not.

Regardless of what you decide for you and your family members, everyone would be wise to work at preventing the flu. Your best defense against the virus or any other infection is to strengthen your immune system. My naturopathic recommendation is to work on a strong, healthy body, and worry less about the outside bugs. Fear is not a good defense or offense, but just one more stress that we place on ourselves that will not only not protect us from getting the virus - but will probably make us more susceptible to getting sick.

Avoiding H1N1 is no different than avoiding illness in general.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"

- Vitamin D3: People living in the United Stated get sicker in the winter because bodily stores of vitamin D drop significantly without the sunshine (even in sunny areas like the Sacramento area).

There are two primary Vitamin D action steps you can take: First, to better determine how much Vitamin D to take, I highly recommend that you ask your healthcare practitioner for a Vitamin D 25 OH blood test . The optimal level for the test is: 60-80 ng/dL, NOT 20-100 as listed as the lab reference ranges! Read more...

Scientific Evidence of Vitamin D's Vast Benefits is Building

Want to build sturdy bones and strong muscles? Prevent cancer? Dodge the flu in all its forms? An increasing number of health care professionals, including some very vocal and visible ones, say a single supplement can help you do all that and more — and a growing body of research supports their contention.

That wonder substance that works wonders? Vitamin D — of which studies have estimated 1 billion people worldwide are deficient.


"It's clear that vitamin D is different from the other vitamins," said Dr. Rick Klamm, a family practitioner with ThedaCare Physicians-Neenah East. "It's really a hormone. It's not a vitamin."


Familiar as an additive in milk, vitamin D is unique in that we don't need to get it from a food source. Rather, our skin manufactures it upon exposure to the sun. That's part of the reason why, especially at northern latitudes like ours, the "D" in vitamin D could stand for deficient.


"In Wisconsin from October to April, we really can't make vitamin D, even if we do go out in the sun," said Dr. Roxanne Jadin-Cardelli, an internist with Aurora Health Center in Neenah.


In light of such geographical fluctuations, some scientists suspect that vitamin D helps defend against several conditions more prevalent in less sun-infused climates. Here, we consider a few of them. Read more..

Do You Need Information on Probiotic Therapy?

The use of probiotic therapy has been on the increase in the United States recently due to studies that have shown the health benefits that it can provide. These benefits have been known for some time in places like Northern Europe and Japan where they are more widely accepted.



We have come across a very informative web sight for people that would like to learn more about this type of therapy called USProbiotics.com that we would like to share with our readers. They are an up-to-date source of information on the research currently being done and the health benefits that consumers can expect.

Physicians and Nurses use and Recommend Dietary Supplements

Numerous surveys show that dietary supplements are used by a large proportion of the general public, but there have been relatively few surveys on the prevalence of dietary supplement use among health professionals, including physicians and nurses. Even less information is available regarding the extent to which physicians and nurses recommend dietary supplements to their patients.

An online survey was administered in October 2007 to 900 physicians and 277 nurses by Ipsos Public Affairs for the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), a trade association representing the dietary supplement industry. The health professionals were asked whether they used dietary supplements and their reasons for doing so, and whether they recommend dietary supplements to their patients. Read more...