Critical Medicine and Treatment

Archive for the ‘Diabetes’ Category

Treatment for gestational diabetes mellitus (diabetes of pregnancy)

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may affect the health of both mother and baby, why should begin treatment immediately to avoid complications. Pregnant women should be seen by a medical team composed of medical obstetrician, endocrinologist, a nutritionist, educators and others.

The treatment will consist of a special meal plan, a program of physical activity, insulin treatment and education regarding the disease.

Diet therapy:

All women with GDM should receive the attention of a nutritionist. It will recommend an individualized meal plan for weight, height and activity level of women.

Should include enough calories to meet the demands of pregnancy. For obese women with a BMI (greater than 30%, the amount of calories should be reduced although not optimal gestation time for a very restricted diet. It has been shown that a reduction of 30 to 33% of calories demonstrated a reduction of hyperglycemia and plasma triglycerides.

Also the restriction of carbohydrates in a 35 to 40% has been shown to decrease maternal glucose levels and a great improvement in both the health of the mother and baby. Read the rest of this entry »

Diabetes mellitus is the result of altered metabolism of carbohydrates, due to inadequate insulin production (absolute or relative), accompanied by alterations in lipid metabolism and occurs by genetic factors or family.
There are different types:

* Diabetes Primary: genetic, hereditary or essential
* Diabetes Secondary: due to pancreatic injury, endocrine and glucocorticosteroids.

Classification of Diabetes Mellitus

* Type I or Juvenile: characterized by being insulin dependent, has unstable blood glucose. The pancreas produces little or no insulin.
* Type II or adult: is insulin independent (acidosis do not take insulin). Glycemia are more stable. The pancreas produces insulin and only on glucose load shows an increase in insulinemia. Development is slow.
* Type III or secondary is due to pancreatic disease, endocrine or corticosteroid administration
* Diabetes Mellitus of the pregnant woman:

Factors that may precipitate the disease Read the rest of this entry »

The researchers, led by Aruna D. Pradhan, conducted a study to determine whether insulin alone or in combination with metformin reduces levels of hsCRP, IL-6 and sTNFr2 in patients with recent onset of type 2 diabetes. At work included 500 adults who had been diagnosed about two years ago with glycemic control suboptimal and elevated levels of hsCRP.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of four treatments: placebo only metformin, metformin placebo and insulin, only active metformin, or metformin and insulin active. The researchers recorded the change in the measurement of inflammatory markers from the start of the test until 14 weeks.

The scientists found no association to demonstrate the reduction of glucose and improvement in the inflammatory state according to changes in levels of hsCRP, IL-6 or sTNFr2. Despite the substantial improvement in glucose control or insulin or metformin reduced levels of inflammatory markers assessed in the main effects or comparisons between treatment groups.

However, an interaction among groups to discover that compared to those receiving no pharmacological intervention insulin alone had a decrease in the attenuation of inflammation, an effect not observed among those receiving metformin and insulin, or metformin alone.

While there are no new data, the findings underscore the need to improve adherence to therapies that reduce cardiovascular events among diabetic patients, researchers say. In these treatments should include exercise, weight control, smoking cessation, blood pressure monitor and, if necessary, continue antiplatelet therapy and statins.

Treatment with insulin or metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes does not reduce cardiovascular risk.

This emerges from a study by the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston.

The cardiovascular risk in patients with type 2 diabetes is not reduced by drugs such as insulin or metformin. That is, at least, which suggests a study by the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston (USA) published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The paper concludes that treatment with insulin or the drug metformin reduced in patients with type 2 diabetes of recent onset inflammatory biological indicators, cardiovascular risk factors, such as C-reactive protein high sensitivity. However, it improved glucose control.

Taking into account that diabetes is in part an inflammatory condition, a potential therapeutic target for patients subclinical inflammation is a modifiable risk factor, the researchers explain. The pro-inflammatory mechanisms have been linked to major metabolic defects of beta cell failure and insulin resistance, whereas increased levels of inflammatory markers including C-reactive protein high sensitivity (hsCRP), IL -6, and sTNFr2 predict the incidence of type 2 diabetes in apparently healthy individuals.
Details of the test

To establish a rational approach to treatment, it is important to know the main cause of uncontrolled glucose.

In patients in whom dominant deficiency of insulin production by the pancreas, these patients should receive a drug that increases insulin secretion by the pancreas, such as drugs known as sulfonylureas, another treatment option for this group patients is the use of insulin injections.

In patients in whom resistance dominates the action of insulin in the liver for example, use of a drug from the biguanide family, these drugs inhibit the production of glucose by the liver and lead to a decrease blood glucose.
Read the rest of this entry »

Ingested Drugs

In the following lines we will refer to the medical treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 (formerly known as adult-onset diabetes), this treatment should be aimed at correcting the defects in the body that have triggered the development of diabetes mellitus

These defects are:

1. Decreased insulin production (insulin is the hormone that lowers sugar) by the pancreas (organ that produces insulin).
2. Resistance to insulin action, remember that insulin facilitates the entry of glucose into muscle and fat (for energy), both muscle and fat tissue are resistant to its action and not allow the entry of glucose , producing a decrease in energy in the patient and an increase in blood glucose.
3. Increased production of glucose by the liver, this increase was also caused by a resistance to insulin action in people without diabetes when they do a fasting, the liver produces glucose to avoid hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), but People with diabetes do not even fasting, the liver produces more sugar.

Diabetes is a chronic disease, as is well known, can not be cured, but treated to be endured in a better way. Acupuncture, this range of traditional Chinese medicine, also has answers to this issue.

Following the conventions of TCM, diabetes is closely related to dysfunction of the lung, spleen and kidney. That is why acupuncture in the hands of specialists, who can click on the appropriate fields to treat different problems, could be a valuable aid for the diabetes patient.

For example, some of the symptoms can be treated by acupuncture in diabetes include thirst, polyphagia, polyuria, tinnitus, anxiety, night sweats, asthenia, fatigue and headaches, among other symptoms. Also correct insulin secretion. Read the rest of this entry »

Peas, beans, these legumes such small, green, slippery wielded are still the focus of attention for its effects on blood glucose after eating. This feature can be very interesting for diabetics, it turns out that the glycemic index is very low, and decreased to foods they accompany.

For some time known the benefits of legumes (peas those are) in diseases such as diabetes, this is due to its low glycemic index, or what is the same as its ability to slow the intestinal absorption of sugar. This prevents, in large part, the damaging of blood glucose curves produced after eating.

This effect on blood glucose response to fiber and protein content of legumes. However, with respect to peas hypoglycemic effect is greater than would be expected, and their fiber content and protein unresponsive to this effect. Recently, much attention has been paid to substances isolated in pea and other legumes, inhibitors of pancreatic amylase, if respond to the effects described above. This substance has the problem of partially destroyed in cooking, but has the advantage of peas eaten fresh unlike other legumes, and therefore to benefit from their properties without major culinary efforts.

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